Hay season is coming IH1100 sickle bar mower

DJL · Apr 27, 2009

Well, i"ve decided to wait another year before I spend any money to buy a mower/conditioner. Haven"t had much luck finding a NH488 or JD1209 to put behind the JD4030(oops, did I say that in the farmall forum? My apologies! ha ha.
Anyway, I think I"ll resurect my dad"s IH1100 sickle bar mower (I think it"s an 1100, it"s trailer type and has a 9" bar. I"m planning on putting it behind the Farmall H. I"ve mowed alot in the past with an M and a 7" mounted mower. Will the H handle the 1100 okay? I plan to go over it and replace all the sickle sections/guards/ledger plates and grease it up. Anything else I need to do? Any input on these old 1100"s? I"ve got about 50 acres of hay to put up this year, mostly grass. Will she be up to the task?
Thanks

Dave H (MI) · Apr 27, 2009

I can't see a problem with that. I have the manual for that mower if you need any info. Would also be interested in the mower itself if you ever decide to upgrade to M/C. Let me know if you need anything out of the manual.

DJL · Apr 27, 2009

Thanks for the offer on the manual information Dave!
Youre a perfect example of what makes this site great, I mean to volunteer your time to help a guy out with some information.

D Slater · Apr 27, 2009

If its like this model 1000 its not much of a load on the 400 D.

GordoSD · Apr 28, 2009

It's going to take some time

You will be ready to bale by the time you are done mowing.
The biggest problem is in raising the mower and getting it unplugged. No live PTO so you have to stop and shift to neutral if you plug. I used my Sh and an 1100 last year on just 18 acres of alfalfa.
I just acquired a 2160 Gehl, moco, rubber on steel, 10 foot. Just finished installing new reels, rake teeth, hold downs, sections and some guards. Pretty much new, new correct tires. About 750 dollars in parts but it should work like new. We'll find out about the 1st of June.
Good Luck.

Andy Martin · Apr 28, 2009

I used an 1100 on a C with a 9 ft bar for several years. No problem. If you don't mow when it is wet, and everything is sharp, you should not have any problems with plugging it.

I have also mowed with a NH489 on an H and an M. The H handles a 489 just fine, and that is a little heavier mower than the 488. I also used to pull a 490 (12 ft) with an M. It was a load in alfalfa but got the job done just fine. The only problem is having enough belly pump pressure to lift the mower. Keeping the springs adjusted on the mower float and using heavy oil in the belly pump solves the problem for me. We mow about 200 acres.

I lost my 1100 in a fire and would like to find another one.

Dave H (MI) · Apr 28, 2009

You're welcome, and thanks back at you! Just paying back my debt to those what help me...past, present, and future.

Steven f/AZ · Apr 28, 2009

I use an 1110 mounted mower on one of my H's and a 100 trailer mower on my other H to mow all summer. If the mower is in good shape (sharp sickle, good guards, set correctly) you shouldn't have any trouble plugging. The only time I have trouble is when the sickle gets dull or it's too wet to be mowing.

I am hoping to put a 9' bar on the 100 trailer mower this summer so we can get a few more acres in a day. Sickle mowers pull easy, I wouldn't be afraid to pull a double 9 with my H if I could afford to buy one!

Here are some grease charts for the IH balanced-head mowers (print them out and FOLLOW them):
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a6/smgussey/instructions/1110lube1.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a6/smgussey/instructions/1110lube2.jpg

Do NOT over-grease the bearings inside the wobble-box - you can blow the seals out... And, you can not over-grease the head pin on the end of the sickle bar - I like to give it a shot or two every hour or so.

Videos of my H's in action mowing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opMByfDDfzk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWLEffYTPBk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mmi7Yq1Al4

dhermesc · Apr 28, 2009

Worn out ledger plates will make mowing a lot tougher too - especially in prairi grass. We used to replace ours every two years - but then we were covering a lot ground.

Steven f/AZ · Apr 28, 2009

(quoted from post at 08:09:05 04/28/09) Worn out ledger plates will make mowing a lot tougher too - especially in prairi grass. We used to replace ours every two years - but then we were covering a lot ground.

We use what our parts dealer calls "swather guards" on our mowers. No ledger plates on them, and they seem to last for at least two or three years... I would say we run the mowers about 40 to 60 hours per year depending on how many miles of road ditches and waterways we cut. I know that I sure enjoy NOT changing ledger plates!

Anonymous-0 · Apr 28, 2009

An H will handle that mower fine, we used to mow with a "C" 7ft mounted. That was a nimble mowing machine. Only limited to the sharpness of the blades otherwise 2nd or 3rd gear easy going for about 100 acres 3 times a year before we added another tractor to speed up the process.

Steven f/AZ · Apr 28, 2009

Forgot to also add...

I've pulled our 100 trailer mower w/7' bar with my F12 (too slow), and also with our Farmall A. 3rd gear on the A works OK, but you can go faster than that.

I use 4th gear on my H's, and sometimes wish I had the 7 mph 4th for the really smooth fields... Very rarely in really heavy (lodged over) grass I've had to shift down to 3rd with the H.

And also, if you need any parts for an IH balanced-head mower, I can put you in contact with a dealer in ND that can get pretty much anything, including rebuilt wobble-boxes (last time I checked they were over $1000 exchange).

Hay season is coming IH1100 sickle bar mower

DJL

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Dave H (MI)

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DJL

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D Slater

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GordoSD

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Andy Martin

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Dave H (MI)

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Steven f/AZ

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dhermesc

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Steven f/AZ

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Anonymous-0

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Steven f/AZ

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