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Sickle mower pittman arm vs belt drive

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Mosey

02-18-2002 05:57:29




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After my recent post, "Where did all the 3pt sickle mowers go?" I came up with a new question. What is the advantage of a belt drive over a pittman arm on sickle mowers? We have a Farmall A on the farm where I grew up that has a 5' sickle bar mower. Is the pittman arm that thing that converts the rotary motion to a back and forth motion? How does the belt drive work?




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rem

02-19-2002 17:39:09




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 Re: sickle mower pittman arm vs belt drive in reply to Mosey, 02-18-2002 05:57:29  
I've used both kinds. The belt drive is the best by far. I've cut hundreds of acres with MF 7' mounted on a Ford 3000. Just used for roadside cutting and some field clipping now. Only worn parts are the shoes. Good ones are hard to fine and when found they bring better than new prices.
Go Belt Drive!!!



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Joe Evans

02-18-2002 20:17:07




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 Re: sickle mower pittman arm vs belt drive in reply to Mosey, 02-18-2002 05:57:29  
All these posts are great answers. I will add that the ability to operate the sickle bar from 0 to 90 degrees with a belt drive was utilized extensively years ago with road mowing crews maintaining banks along roads. This was before the popularity of the side mounted and boom mounted rotaries (more rugged) we see used now.



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Steven@nd

02-18-2002 18:23:19




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 Re: sickle mower pittman arm vs belt drive in reply to Mosey, 02-18-2002 05:57:29  
Having operated both, I would go with the pitmanless style. Generally called "wobbleboxes" they are tough and stand up to abuse, and also last a long time when properly serviced. We have an IH 100 pitmanless mower, these were built around the early 60's I think. We mow quite a bit with it every year and the wobblebox has been rebuilt only once. However; if not properly maintained, just the crankshaft for the wobblebox costs around $500.

Look around and you will find a pitmanless mower for $500 or less. I know of a couple of 9 footers that are in good condition for $1200 each.

Steven

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JD70Jim

02-18-2002 06:52:57




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 Re: sickle mower pittman arm vs belt drive in reply to Mosey, 02-18-2002 05:57:29  
I think the belt drive models had the belt turning something called a "wobblebox" or "wobblejoint". (Seriously!). This used a slightly different method of converting rotary motion to back and forth motion. It had the advantage of NOT having a pittman arm to break and also used a flexible belt which was a lot harder to hurt than the wooden pittman arms and yet still could absorb stresses. I think that the "wobble" mechanism needs more servicing attention than does the other style and is likely to be more expensive. It is sort of like the question "which would you rather have? A $1.10 shear pin or a $499.99 slip clutch?" The shear pin is a whole lot less expensive to replace, but you can be doing it often, whereas the other usually needs no attention but when it does, bring your pocketbook! A wooden pittman arm is sort of like a big wooden shear pin. You break a lot of them but the basic mechanism is stout! Burn out a belt or forget to grease the "wobblebox" and the costs just add up quicker!
In defense of the belt---they are "said" to be smoother and faster" but I don't know. I haven't used a pittman type mower since the #5 was retired 30 years ago!

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paul

02-18-2002 08:16:06




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 Re: Re: sickle mower pittman arm vs belt drive in reply to JD70Jim, 02-18-2002 06:52:57  
Good explination!

I'll add that the wood pitman design limits the angle the sickle bar mower can operate - up or down less than 30 degrees from horizontal to the tractor or so. While most wobblebox drives can operate (actually be mowing) from vertical to hanging steeply down. This rarely is important, but a difference.

--->Paul



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Mosey

02-18-2002 08:40:26




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 Re: Re: Re: sickle mower pittman arm vs belt drive in reply to paul, 02-18-2002 08:16:06  
Thanks for both of the responses. The ability to operate at steep angles would come in handy for mowing the side of a steep bank that I have. It's too steep to drive on (40 to 45 degrees), but I could go along the bottom edge of it while keeping the tractor on flat ground. I'll have to decide if it's worth the extra money for that though!



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Harold Hubbard

02-19-2002 04:12:36




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: sickle mower pittman arm vs belt drive in reply to Mosey, 02-18-2002 08:40:26  
The Wobblebox also allows you to stand the cutterbar up straight and shake off a !@#$%^& clog that you would be thrashing around with for five minutes before you finally get off and clear it by hand.



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stevie_alc

02-19-2002 09:17:33




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: sickle mower pittman arm vs belt drive in reply to Harold Hubbard, 02-19-2002 04:12:36  
I have an IH 1000 belt drive mower. I cut about 100 acre per year. I have had to replace the knife pin and bushing several times over the years. I stop to grease this pin about every hour. I keep the mower well greased and replace guards and sickles as needed.

stevie



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