#5 mower stands

jd2cyl

Member
Have been using my mower for a number of years and still don't know how the support stands work. In looking at the operators manual it doesn't address this subject and was just wondering how others unhook and support their mowers. I have added a bracket to a trailer jack that I use to lift it off the drawbar mounts and then just block under the left front and inner shoe. Just this year suddenly I'm unable to get the end of the sickle bar to raise, I am using a cable from the mower to the rockshaft arm. Any suggestions for this problem are welcome also.

Russ
 
There never was a good way to unhook them, I remember when I was young we would use an old car bumper jack on them. Ans I also remember using an old B with power lift on a #5,using a cable like your doing, it was ether up..or..down..one day while I was mowing with it the bolt where the trip away hinged jiggerd out,the front of the mower fell down,,dug into the dirt and the cable flipped the mower upside down, in an instant,,I still remember that cutter bar whipping close to me as all that happened...
 
Is the stand on the right (sickle bar) side present? It will support the right side. Uses a fulcrum type lever that is riveted to the frame just above that big round bar that attaches to the inner shoe. One the left side should be, depending on the year of the mower, either a pipe affair with numerous holes that is adjustable, or the older style was just a leg that attached to the left side of the frame, and hinged downward and had a locking rod to hold it in place. It had no height adjustment, we just used wood blocks if it needed to be raised higher. I agree that they can be a PITA to hook, unhook, especially for a skinny 12-13 yr old kid.
 
I bought a set of car jack stands for mine. I put a cement block under each so the mower wouldn't settle while off the tractor. Before that I had tried using the hack stand as described and it was always at the wrong height. Need a car jack like was already mentioned to put it on or off. Jack stands worked great for me, kept it at the right height and I found a cheap set at a flea market. Was well worth the saved time and aggravation.

Bar not lifting - Key # 30 - on the No.5 I had this bracket became loose and slid on the square shaft one time. This changed the angle and adjustment of the lifting rod and did not allow the sickle bar to lift.

Another time, Key #29, the lifting rod, got kind of moved around where it mounts to Key #30. It got stuck in a weird position while putting the mower on the tractor and was flipped in the wrong direction somehow. This stopped the bar from lifting as well.

I would also check Key #45 which is the adjusting bolt of the lifting spring... Maybe time for more tension?
 
The sickle bar side has a sort of block setup with overcenter lever to lift mower up, you just don't ever want to forget to release that before trying to raise mower, things will break. Mine had the newer style jack on it, a tube with holes. Problem is you have to lift the front up enough to get to one of those holes. I have generally used a car bumper jack, but hard to get it in there also
 
"<font color="#6699ff">[b:654c4848f0][i:654c4848f0]just wondering how others unhook and support their mowers.[/i:654c4848f0][/b:654c4848f0]</font>"

Take a look at the [b:654c4848f0]MAIN FRAME[/b:654c4848f0] diagram below.

a160486.jpg" width="650"


Note the R.H. Main Frame Support (Key 8), R.H. Support Lifting Bar (Key 10), L.H. Support Brace (Key 18), and L.H. Main Frame Support (Key 19A).

This is one method of unhooking and supporting the mower.

Take a look at the photo below.

a160487.jpg" width="650"


Lower the cutter bar.

Raise the right side of the mower frame on until bottom yoke of the R.H. main frame support will "fit" on top of the drag bar.

Lower the R.H. support lifting bar to "lock" the R.H. main frame support.

Lower the right side of the mower frame.

Take a look at the photo below.

a160489.jpg" width="650"


Raise the left side of the mower frame until the L.H. main frame support is vertical to the frame.

Lower the "curved" end of the L.H. support brace until it "locks" at the main frame.

Lower the left side of the mower frame.

In the [b:654c4848f0]MAIN FRAME[/b:654c4848f0] diagram above, note the tail nut (Key 2) and latch rod (Key 9).

You might consider raising the cutter bar and securing it to the latch rod with the tail nut if you choose to do so.

a160491.jpg" width="650"


Hope this helps.
 
I have two of 'em (one hydraulic lift one mechanical) and both attach with bolts not the quick attach clamps. I always found the easiest way to attach & remove these was to first NEVER park it where I could NOT lower the cutter bar! You'll see why this is important. Here are my steps:

1. If your mower's right bolt hole is say 2" lower (closer to the ground) than the bolt hole on the tractor, you'll need to put like a 3" block on the floor and let the cutter bar down with the inner shoe on that 3" block. This will raise the frame enough to have the mower slightly higher the the tractor's bolt hole while it's on the stand.
2. Back up to it with an eye to inserting the right bolt first. Line the holes up forward & back then get off & using the right hand stand lever, lower the frame until the bolt holes line up and insert the right side bolt.
3. Do NOT forget to immediately set the right stand into the stored position especially if you have hydraulic lift!
4. Turn the crazy wheel so it's crosswise and to the right (towards the cutter bar) not the left!
5. Raise the cutter bar roughly 1/2 way. If you have a hydraulic lift & did not complete step 3 you're likely now at least muttering bad words!
6. Take the left side of the frame off of the parking stand by folding it up to the transport or in use position.
7. Push or pull forward or back on the swath board or stick until the left bolt holes line up forward & back. With the cutter bar raised, the entire mower balances on the right bolt & it's fairly easy to push up or down on the left side of the mower frame to line the holes up vertically. If you have a hydraulic lift, you can put some weight (a helper's foot) on the outer shoe which will raise the left side of the frame. Then as you operate the hydraulics (as if lowering the cutter bar) it will lower the left side of the mower frame until the bolt holes line up. With mechanical lift just latch it up & have a helper lift up or push down as needed on the outer shoe. Insert the left attaching bolt.
8. Raise the cutter bar to the vertical position.
9. Always (dead last) attach the PTO shaft.

If I didn't have to move the right wheel in or out, I usually had it on the tractor in about 15 minutes alone with nothing but the two 12" crescent wrenches that were always in the tractor's tool box. It's even easier with help.
 
Thanks to all who responded, this is a wonderful forum and a great group of guys who are willing to share their knowledge. I recognized every ones name because I look at the posts most every day. I'm going to work this weekend on the lift problem and what I wasn't doing was trying to put the support on the drag bar while the frame was up in the air. Guess I thought that you should be able to engage that support and that would lift the mower off the tractor.
Thanks again and I look forward to reading more on here.
 
Just wanted to thank you personally for your response to my question. You were right on the money about the lift problem in that the bracket had moved on the square shaft. I lined it up with the fixed point for using a cylinder and it works fine now. The whole unit is so rusty that it is hard to tell that the bracket had shifted but moving it fixed the problem. Now if I could just keep everything tight, it seems about every time I use it I have to replace a guard or something.

Thanks, Russ
 
I had a quick tach style one. From what I remember it was not bad at all to remove and install. Only thing I didn't like was you had to have the cutter bar laid down. I don't remember the exact steps though. After reading through the below info I don't think I did mine like what was written ?
I'd get yourself a copy of an original owners manual. It should help. I say original as many of the reprints seem to leave out some important pages.
 

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