Are New Holland number 47 sickle bar mowers any good?

Alan K

Well-known Member
Might go look at a New Holland number 47 sickle bar mower. Does anyone have one they can post a picture of? Are they a decent mower? Just do a few waterways of grass hay. When were they made?
 
They are older. late 1950s to early 1960s. They are a pitman arm type of mower. I personally would buy a NH 450 or 451 for mowing waterways and such. The belt driven sickle head is much better.
 
Well, I want to move up from a #5 JD mower to something more "modern"....I guess late 50s early 60s is a little more modern lol.
 
What JD S is talking about re newer mowers, belt drive vs pitman is....the belt drives with the gearbox on the mower bar lets you cut ditches, ditch banks, etc....where the mower bar runs higher or lower than horizontal, which a pitman drive does not do well. Simply clatters too much, and breaks things when you get a bit far from horizontal. AC had the Twin Wheel drive...I like running it in parades, with the mower bar vertical, mower running...it also runs ok 45 degrees below horizontal. IH model 100 is another, plus the NH ones that JD S mentioned.
 
An older disk mower will be better for ditch banks than any sickle mower. My sickle mower wants to plug on the old grass from previous mowings. The disk mower just laughs and chews it up.
 
I dont mind the disc mowers but I dont have a heavy enough tractor to run one. I agree, grass likes to bunch on a sickle mower. I guess Im used to it after all these years lol.
 

Keep looking and find yourself a NH 451, one of the best sickle bar mowers ever made.
I got mine in the early 90's, rebuilt the bar and wobble links one time, installed the high hold downs later to change to bolt on sections instead of rivets.
Disc mowers do most of the hay mowing now but we still use the 451 for trimming and mowing ditch lines, also a good training tool for teaching younger generation how to mow.
 

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