Ford 501 mower swath board

Barkeep1977 · Aug 20, 2015

I'm in the process of fixing up an old Ford 501 Pitman mower. I've replaced or rebuilt missing parts, removed the rust (or most of it),
replaced a bunch of guards, redone the sickle, have most of the paint done on it. Just need to finish putting the guards back on it and
remounting the sickle, and paint on a couple of ford logos.

Question I have, is that I need to fabricate a new swath board and grass stick. Can anyone take a picture of the mounting of theirs?
Don't care if the board is pretty or anything, just want to make sure I'm attaching it right. I've look all over the interwebs and can't
find a good image or diagram. Most of what I see is the new metal ones that everyone is buying. I won't be mowing too much with the 501,
mostly my ditches and my neighbor's roadsides since he seems to not like to take his riding mower out there.

Any help is appreciated.

<image src="http://forums.yesterdaystractors.com/photos/mvphoto26316.jpg"/>

old · Aug 20, 2015

Send me an e-mail and I can scan a page form the 515 manual of a picture of the swather board it has and how it mounts

Barkeep1977 · Aug 20, 2015

Thank Old. I sent you over a message with my email in it.

dahlin · Aug 20, 2015

Here is the swatter board I made thanks to Olds blueprint. The metal mounting and the spring I got from a guy in Montana. It works very good.
<image src="http://forums.yesterdaystractors.com/photos/mvphoto26319.jpg"/>

<image src="http://forums.yesterdaystractors.com/photos/mvphoto26320.jpg"/>

<image src="http://forums.yesterdaystractors.com/photos/mvphoto26321.jpg"/>

Barkeep1977 · Aug 20, 2015

That's a nice looking board and tractor, dahlin. I'm going to work on fabricating the board and the stick mount tonight. Luckily my 501 still had the mounting bracket so it should be easy to deal with once I get everything built. Haven't decided if I want to just stain the board or paint everything to match the tractor.

Before picture included.
<image src="http://forums.yesterdaystractors.com/photos/mvphoto26322.jpg"/>

maxwell99 · Aug 20, 2015

Bar, mowing ditches and road sides, I would not spend too much time on that board,
May get it hung and broke off.

Back in the day, no way would my dad ever let you use his mower to cut roadsides or pond banks. It was strictly for hay and clipping weeds, the board worked great for moving the hay over for the next round.

Cutting pond banks and ditches it was just something to get hung up and broken.

Good looking mower. If you are not familiar with this machine be very careful raising and lowering the bar, the blade can slide, if your fingers were in the wrong place you could get cut bad.

Stay safe.

maxwell99 · Aug 20, 2015

I am just full of good news:

Forgot to mention, Be sure the kickback release is working on your mower,

If you hit something, the kickback must trip and let the bar swing back, this will keep you from destroying your mower.

Be sure this device works, do not lube it, just be sure it's not rusted up and will trip when needed.

My old mower has trip a number of times over the years when I hit something.

If you put a new pitman on the mower be sure the blade is still in register or time, blade must be in register to cut properly.
Stay safe,

Barkeep1977 · Aug 20, 2015

Thanks maxwell. I've checked out everything except for the new pitman in regards to the sickle. I pulled it out and put all new sections in it and was waiting till after I figured out which old guards were okay and got them cleaned up and the those and the new ones painted up before I put the sickle and everything all back together.

My dad always put me in charge of mowing his roadsides growing up as a kid. He farmed about 4,000 acres so I sat on a IH 656 with a sickle mower way too much of my early years and besides a few sections and belts, I never busted his mower. I'll keep on eye on my fingers though, that a good reminder since it has been a few years since I ran one. When I'm done putting everything back together this weekend, I'll post some final pictures.

12251HD · Aug 21, 2015

Several years ago my swather board fell apart on my 501 mower. I still had the metal parts, so I cut an oak board to match the old one and added a large hickory dowell for the stick. In addition to the bracket with spring on the bolt, a metal strip runs along the bottom of my board for reinforcement and to prevent board from snagging grass. Ensure the board slopes upward to the back for ground clearance. Good luck.

wellmax99 · Aug 21, 2015

if you install that hay board,
be sure to install a heavy spring on the bolt that attaches the board to the bar.

this spring allows for some movement of the board, if the board gets in a bind and will not break the board as quickly.

the spring goes between the outer flat washer, and locking nuts, I always used two nuts locked together to secure the board with lock tight on the bolt.

a sickle mower is much like a combine, always trying to shake it self apart, I found lock tight, the semi secure type, a good friend when attaching any part of the old mower.

our mower came with that spring when new!

Ford 501 mower swath board

Barkeep1977

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