Sickle bar for ford 8n

B stoll

New User
I currently have a Oliver 351 3pt sickle bar mower for my ford 8n. I am looking to get a different one cause parts for this one seem to be obsolete. Was wondering if a NH 451 would work on my tractor or should I get something else.
 
If you buy the mower that was made to go on the tractor, I think it has clamps to go over the lift arms and a grass shield to keep the PTO from making round bales that would maybe be your best fit. Just seems like original equipment is the best plan.
 
The only reason I was thinking about the nh 451 was bc I have always heard good things about em. So any suggestions on what mower would be a good fit on my tractor
 
I have a MF mower, one of the easiest to hook up, but I do not think it's as good as a NH or JD.

Be sure you can still buy parts that is the main thing no matter the brand you buy.
 

Originally Ford sold a Dearborn 3ph sickle bar mower driven by a pitman rod. The NH451 AFIK does not use a pitman rod and is a much better mower. I would be concerned that it would be too heavy for the 8n.

KEH
 
I used a JD number 9 for quite a while. Sold it last year It cut very well. Don't fool with hay anymore.
Richard in NW SC
 
The problem with the 451NH is that mower is made for live pto. With you having ground pto on your 8N you will not be able to get the proper sickle speed. When the 8N came out the mower was a Dearborn 14-15. Later when Ford came out with the 501 mowers and the 515 mowers they offered optional sheaves for tractors that did not have live pto to enable you to get the proper sickle speed. Your best bet is to find one of those with the proper sheave on it. The 501 was a pitman arm mower and the 515 was a belt drive mower.
 
You use an incorrect term the 8N has a transmission/clutch driven PTO not a ground type like some MF used. Yes it is not a live PTO as in you push the clutch down and it stops. Many old tractor that had sickle bar mowers on them did not have a live PTO. Example is the AC/B/C or the Farmall A etc and those have mower thousands and thousands of acres of hay. As for that NH451 fitting yes it could be done but yes not the best set up. I put one on a Ford 1700 this past summer and it did fine
 
A good many sickle bar mowers that are 3 point can be made to work on a 8N. JD-#9 or the NH541 etc but you may find it not as easy as hooking up say a 3 point blade since there are break away thing etc. The ford 501/515 would probably be one that hooked up pretty easy but you still may find you need the swinging draw bar that fits under the rear end
 
Jason, an 8N PTO will run ABOVE the now-standard 540 PTO RPM's if you throttle it all the way up, so NO issues there.

And the PTO not being "live" will cause no more or no less issues than it does with the old Dearborn mowers.

And the NH451 is a HECK of a mower!
 
What parts would you be needing, Think every thing that could go bad should be avaible or be able to be made. All bar parts easy to get, bearings and seals only other wear parts and should be avaible to get them at any good bearing supply store and the belt there are lots of options.
 
I have an MF 31 mower that's been used on a Jubilee for years. It's a good mower BUT like that Oliver some parts are made of unobtainium.
 
And the old Fergusons and Masseys also had a transmission driven pto. It is a term that your pto speed is relative to your ground speed. I have owned a NH451 and a Ford 515 and have run them on non live pto tractors. It is not a good match. The Dearborn 14-15 I have now works perfectly with my transmission driven pto. If it wasn't a big deal then Ford would not have recomended changing sheave sizes.
 
Funny I have run MF NH JD and many others on my tractors in the past 34 years of mowing hay and up till I got the Olivers non of my tractor had live PTO and never had any problems with running them. Had them on fords also like my 841 which is just a newer tractor then the 8N but both have non live PTOs. Never found them not to be a good match. We have a NH451 now on a non live PTO ford 1700 and it works just fine
 
By the way since I left this out. On many of hr MF tractor there is a lever that you move and it engages the PTO in such a way that the PTO will only work if the tractor is moving be it under it own power or rolling down a hill out of gear and that is a true Ground Drive PTO which the Fords do not have
 
unobtainium: good description of some parts on these old MF mowers, never heard that word before.

My old mower is a MF #32
has a pitman, just this last summer I learned that you must adjust the bar and keep it in time. That information is in the original owners manual that came with my mower when dad bought it back in or around 1960,
I have replaced many parts on the old mower over the years, but did not know about timing the mower.
so we put it back in time this year, I believe it does cut better, but I only use it to cut around ditch banks.

again, the old mower is very easy to hook up to a std 3 pt hitch tractor.
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Wow. Thanks a lot everyone. I really appreciate the advice. I've never been on one of this discussion boards before but have always read em. The weight of the nh 451 was my concern cause it weights a lil over 600 # or least I thought I read some where it did. My Oliver 351 is pretty heavy for my tractor I think. Wanted to find something that fit my 8n and possibly a bigger tractor here in the next year or two like a d 19 but think I'm just gonna find something that suits the 8n for now. Would like to stay away from the pitman arm style mowers so I'm leaning towards the ford 515.
 

Keith I would possibly be interested in that mower. I'm located in north east Indiana. Gonna do so more looking around but once I decide on what I should get I plan on doing a lil driving to go get it.
 
(quoted from post at 04:50:29 02/12/14)
Wow. Thanks a lot everyone. I really appreciate the advice. I've never been on one of this discussion boards before but have always read em. The weight of the nh 451 was my concern cause it weights a lil over 600 # or least I thought I read some where it did. My Oliver 351 is pretty heavy for my tractor I think. Wanted to find something that fit my 8n and possibly a bigger tractor here in the next year or two like a d 19 but think I'm just gonna find something that suits the 8n for now. Would like to stay away from the pitman arm style mowers so I'm leaning towards the ford 515.

You are correct. The 451 with a 7ft bar weighs 609 pounds.
 
Our MF 165 has a 2stage clutch driven pto or ground driven(very slow). The ground driven pto was for a line of pto driven planters that MF had. Ford, or no other line that I'm aware of, ever had a ground driven pto.
 
I have three Ford 501 mowers, and besides the occasional breaking of a pitman, they are d^mned good mowers! I don't cut a lot, only 3 or 4 acres, but the neighbors up the road had one on a NAA, and one on a 4000, and they would tag-team 400 acres of hay every year, and 200 acres of Alfalfa twice a year! The guy and his brother that owned them said that they thought they both broke 3-4 pitmans every season per mower, so I think that is pretty good!
 
Something is wrong if they broke any, should never have a pitman break if rest of mower is in condition it should be for working. Mowed a lot of acres and never broke a one.
 
(quoted from post at 01:37:52 02/13/14) Something is wrong if they broke any, should never have a pitman break if rest of mower is in condition it should be for working. Mowed a lot of acres and never broke a one.
robably going a little too fast and plugging the guards
 

I'm interested in one of those 501 mowers or if anyone has a 515. I'm in north east Indiana. North of ft Wayne. Sorry not very computer saevy. If u give me a way to contact u I'd like to check em out
 

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