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tractorman 
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Joined: 22 Sep 2009
Location: west central wi
Points: 1038
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 Topic: sickle bar mower on b
Posted: 10 Jul 2010 at 10:53pm |
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so i have an early b{38) with a 5 foot sickle mower.. i often brake the wood pitman, make my own replacements, often i use red or white oak which i have. so the price is right. but what if ? what would happen if i made a pitman out of iron pipe ? what if anything would i break instead of the wood pitman??? thoughts appreciated. J
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dadsdozerhd5b
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Joined: 27 Sep 2009
Location: lansdale pa.
Points: 527
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Posted: 11 Jul 2010 at 7:21am |
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what keeeps jamming to break your pitman arm? i have had one for a long time and never broke one. if you strengthen that part, something else will break, the next weakest link. there should be some clutch or something to slip before breaking the pitman. if you are using the arm on too steep of an angle, this will break the pitman everytime. post some pics to let us see what you have.
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HD5B, HD5G, (2) FARMALL A's, CUB. DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME, IGNORE THE LAUGHTER. FLANNEL IS ALWAYS IN STYLE.
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CTuckerNWIL
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Joined: 11 Sep 2009
Location: NW Illinois
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Posted: 11 Jul 2010 at 7:51am |
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If everything is in proper working order, the pitman should last a long time. One on my JD mower stayed till it rotted. There is something wrong if you are breaking them and like Tim says, you will find the next weakest point if you replace it with steel.
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Gary in da UP
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Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Location: EUP of Mi.
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Posted: 11 Jul 2010 at 9:51am |
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I would use ash, maybe hickory.
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Bill Long
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Joined: 12 Sep 2009
Location: Bel Air, MD
Points: 4556
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Posted: 11 Jul 2010 at 10:15am |
While the wooden pitman rod looks very basic it is a precision product. It is very important that it be precisely the right lenght with the holes drilled exactly. That is because the pitman rod drives the cutter bar.
Someone with more exact knowledge can chime in here but from my rememberence it is extremely important that the stroke of the cutter bar be properly times so that it ends in the middle of a guard and move to the middle of another guard. Anything less will cause the sickle bar to become clogged.
I remember I sold the wrong pitman rod to a very forgiving customer who messed up a mowing job cause it was not properly timed. Pop was not so forgiving.
Good Luck!
Bill Long
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steve(ill)
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Joined: 11 Sep 2009
Location: illinois
Points: 78054
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Posted: 11 Jul 2010 at 10:36am |
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tractor man, i bought an old sickle and rebuilt it, put on a B and made my own wooden ar. Broke a couple the first month.. Last one has been on there 2 years.. You can use oak, or hickory, etc. To get the right length you need to look at the position of the trianglar knife with respect to the stationary fingers. You cut by pushing the triangular cutter from one stationary piece to the other. They should overlap a little before it chages directions... next, make sure you dont have a lot of slop in the ball sockets on the ends.. i had to grind down the sticks a little to pinch the ball harder when you tighten the two halfs of the socket... last, cut in firsts gear at about 1/2 throttle untill you get the hang of it.. then go to second gear at 1/2 throttle, unless the grass is too deep.. dont go to 2/3 or full throttle.. parts are moving too fast to do that... alos befor you put the pitman arm back on, make sure you can slide the bar back and forth without the cutters hitting or dragging... also helps to dump a quart of old waste oil on the bar and run it for 30 seconds to lube everything before you go to the field.. use a LOT of old oil, dont be stingy.
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Like them all, but love the "B"s.
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Dick L
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Joined: 12 Sep 2009
Location: Edon Ohio
Points: 5082
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Posted: 11 Jul 2010 at 11:06am |
My Oliver mower is housed out side year around. I went to a saw mill and had them cut two tapered blanks from oak. Over several years they both broke from rot. Five years ago I took a treated green pine deck 2" X 4" cut off that had been in my shed for years. It shows no sign of going bad yet. Took A Quick Picture 
Edited by Dick L - 11 Jul 2010 at 11:15am
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morton(pa)
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Joined: 11 Sep 2009
Location: Lancaster, PA
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Posted: 11 Jul 2010 at 11:08am |
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If your breaking them you should look into more then just a new pitman arm. They were made out of wood so they DO break in case anything is done incorrectly. It was kinda like a primitive safety feature. Check either what keeps jamming it or watch what you mow, IE watch for rocks, trees, etc. I have never replaced the pitman arms on the 2 sickle bar mowers I have. Don't make it out of metal, I think that is just asking for trouble.
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tractorman
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Joined: 22 Sep 2009
Location: west central wi
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Posted: 11 Jul 2010 at 11:58am |
very good advice on all parts, i do you oak, sometimes red and some times white, it does sit outside most of the time, they have lasted a year or two seldom longer. do get them registered correctly. Most times they break on a tree that is too big, or a tpost. so i am to blame for that. i will not put steel in, and will be more careful in the future.
thanks.
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GlenninPA
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Joined: 11 Sep 2009
Location: Ashley, PA
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Posted: 11 Jul 2010 at 12:09pm |
I have one the guy put a steel pipe on for a pitman.
He mowed very small brush with it. He set the belt tension very close to loose, so that if he hit anything too big, it would just stick and spin the belt on the pulley.
The belt that was on it was shot, it looked like he spun it a lot....
I had made up my mind not to run it that way, but I have not got a new pitman and have not used the mower either.
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BrettPhillips
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Joined: 11 Sep 2009
Location: Strasburg, VA
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Posted: 11 Jul 2010 at 3:10pm |
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From my experience, the best insurance for not breaking a pitman is to have a spare or two waiting on the shelf. The one on my B/C mower has been on it for close to ten years now and shows no sign of giving up. As Glenn mentioned, a loose belt will contribute to longer pitman life as well. I also find that leaving the belt a little loose makes my mower run smoother and quieter.
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jjrosty
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Joined: 15 Sep 2009
Location: Broken Arrow OK
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Posted: 11 Jul 2010 at 3:14pm |
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while we are talking about B sickle mower, I left my mower set outside & some one borrowed the pTO Pully , (probably sold it for scrap and got $.10 for it), does any one have one for sale?
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Murph-NC
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Joined: 11 Sep 2009
Location: Western NC
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Posted: 11 Jul 2010 at 3:19pm |
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jjrosty, I hate to hear they got your pulley. That's a pretty hard item to find. I sold mine last year sometime as my mower was too far gone to save. I'd start a new topic with what you need in the subject line... somebody else may have one.
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