A rookie, a 450, and a sickle bar

Tim in the Pequea · Aug 23, 2009

OK fellas, here is my tale- laugh if you will. Bought my first tractor sometime back(1958 Farmall 450 at auction, then a good restoration at a local shop) and today spent 3 hrs trying to lash it to the fast-hitch sickle bar mower I just got. Problem is, since I have never done this before, my whole "just slide it on and attach the PTO shaft" idea went out the window. If you can access the picture I downloaded with this post, my questions keyed to the photo are:
1. What is this thing and where does it go? Looks like it should bolt onto the axel but the shaft is nowhere near long enough for my 450
2. What is this thing and where does it go? Looks like it actuates the bar and should attach to a lever on the tractor- no such lever on my 450.
3. The PTO shaft, even fully extended, is not nearly long enough to reach... can I get an extender or am I up a creek? And is this sickle bar for a C or something- will it even work on my 450?
4. Can anyone tell me the model of the mower so I can at least find a manual for it?

Like I said- laugh at the rookie but please help if you can!

All the best, Tim

Wayne in MN · Aug 23, 2009

This mower is a C-21 made for use on a Super C or 200 Farmall equipped with a Fasthitch and rockshaft arms to lift the cutter bar using a rod attached to item marked 2.
The axle clamp is for the hexagon axles on the same tractors.
I have that identical mower tho it is not painted!

Wardner · Aug 23, 2009

Based on your post, I have to assume that your 450 has a fast hitch. You have learned the hard way that there are large points and small points. You have small points on the mower. Your tractor has large point sockets. You can add 1/2" flat bar in the sockets to make up the difference.

PTO shafts can be made to any length.

Axle clamp, if used with your large framed tractor (?), needs to be square. Not hexagonal as in the photo.

Just a minor point, it should be painted International blue.

Will this mower work on your tractor? I could make it work but I like to fabricate stuff. If you don't have that capacity, take it back and look for a "wobble box" sickle bar mower with large points. The model number will be three or four digits like 130, 1300, or similar such as 120 or 1200. I am no expert on implements so perhaps someone else will give you better advice.

ScottyHOMeY · Aug 24, 2009

Pretty sure that's a Model 21 for a Super C, or a C fitted with the Touch Control as an option.
1) is an axle clamp
2) isn't all in the picture, but it appears to be the lift rod. It runs up to an arm on the hydraulic block and is used to lift and loweer the bar
3) It will take some hunting or some work to extend that shaft. Mine isn't a fast hitch and the shaft, though really pretty short, is long enough that you have to trip the latch to swing the bar back on the frame to get the shaft on the tractoronce the mower is mounted. And it isn't easy to just replace the shaft with a longer one, though a good welder could do it. Can't recall exactly what shape it was, but the drive on the rear yoke, where it joins the mower, is of some odd, VERY difficult to find shape -- not a regular spline.

KenB_Texas · Aug 24, 2009

WOW
Tim did you ever take me on a ride down memory lane, tho unintentional on your part, I really enjoyed it....
I was looking up Pequea to see if maby I could do a trade for that mower and found you were near Lancaster Pa.
(or at least so Google says).
Since I was in the neighborhood I decide to look up where I used to live behind the Conestoga CC, 618 fairway drive Lancaster near as I can tell.. AND there is something RED in the driveway..
A Farmall perhaps..
Anyway I just the better part of an hour writing down my memmories of living there and now I can better share those with friends and family...

Oh yeah and this was all at a time when my 300 would have been considered a NEW and modern machine ;-)
Man do I feel old
hehe

THANKS
Ken

mkirsch · Aug 24, 2009

To extend the PTO shaft, I would think you could take the rear yoke of the rear universal joint and attach it to a completely different shaft that is long enough.

If you just want basic functionality, I don't think you need the axle clamp or the lift rod. The bar will hang level instead of lifting slighty when you raise the mower, and you'll have to get off to lift the bar into transport position, is all.

All you need is a longer PTO shaft, and a couple of pieces of metal to make spacers for the fast hitch sockets.

A rookie, a 450, and a sickle bar

Tim in the Pequea

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Wayne in MN

Well-known Member

Wardner

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ScottyHOMeY

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KenB_Texas

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mkirsch

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