Front mount sickle mower

[Shirk 14]

Bought this a couple years ago. It is some type of attachment for a Montgomery Ward walk behind. I fabricated it up once orrinally to work on the back and powered it just like a tiller. I had an idea to use my mount from my snowblower and fromt mount it. After a little head scratching and a couple do overs i think it will work. What do you think?

[Dakota8338 115]

I have a front mounted sickle mower which came with the old Sears David Bradley two wheel walk behind tractor.  I never had any success using the sickle mower myself.  It just wanted to push grass & weeds over, but cut very little.  Woodier and stouter plant life, it mowed fairly well.  (Possibly if the tractor was walking a little slower, the sickle mower would have cut better.) 

 

It looks like you have the basic engineering worked out.  Are you going to be able to lift it for various cutting heights?  Gauge depth wheels could always be added to the bar behind the sickle to determine various cutting heights.

 

Good luck with the sickle mower.  Be sure & let us know how it mows.

[Shirk 14]

It will lift it high enough to maneuver around the yard. There is depth runners on the end kinda like snowblower feet. I mostly use it to cut the under brush where my yard meets the woods. Its usually heavy with bushes vines and a lot of poison ivy and oak. The sickle mower keeps me from getting covered in clippings from the weed eater. And i dont have to worry about the rattlesnakes when im on the tractor. It worked fairly well when i had it rear mounted it was just a pain to back up and cut. I just have to keep the engine rpms down. 

[ZXT 2,401]

Looks good to me! Keep the teeth sharp and it ought to cut just fine. Have you belted it up and tried it yet? Should be a major improvement over having to mow backwards.

[Shirk 14]

Not yet. I tried all the belts i had last night and they were all short. I will load it up on the trailer and take it to tractor supply so i can try on a coulpe till i find the right one. 

[Dakota8338 115]

On 6/3/2019 at 8:50 PM, Shirk said:

It will lift it high enough to maneuver around the yard. There is depth runners on the end kinda like snowblower feet. I mostly use it to cut the under brush where my yard meets the woods. Its usually heavy with bushes vines and a lot of poison ivy and oak. The sickle mower keeps me from getting covered in clippings from the weed eater. And i dont have to worry about the rattlesnakes when im on the tractor. It worked fairly well when i had it rear mounted it was just a pain to back up and cut. I just have to keep the engine rpms down. 

The sickle cutter might just be the ticket for snakes.  

[DEH 0]

DEH here !  you mentioned snakes , "RATTLERS " just to let you know, most snakes are lured to vibration. Believe me ( I got snakes " TIMBER AND BLUE RACERS" ) . You might want to carry a corn knife with you .The snakes where I live are aggressive , mower or not. I've lost count how many have tried to get at my legs while on my 312-8 while mowing.   Just sayin !

[Shirk 14]

Knock on wood i haven't had any that ive known about. All the ones ive come into contact with ive spotted before i was in sticking distance. The mower cuts good with the size of the pulleys if you get above 2k rpm it runs too fast. Other than stopping now and then to clean the high vegetation from the rotating parts it works good. Just a few small adjustments. 

[WVHillbilly520H 10,373]

On 6/3/2019 at 9:17 PM, Shirk said:

Bought this a couple years ago. It is some type of attachment for a Montgomery Ward walk behind. I fabricated it up once orrinally to work on the back and powered it just like a tiller. I had an idea to use my mount from my snowblower and fromt mount it. After a little head scratching and a couple do overs i think it will work. What do you think?

I have a couple for walk behind tractors that I keep toying with the idea of doing the same thing you are , way to go and thanks for the inspiration, Jeff.