Question on McCormick Sickle Bar Mower

There is a piece of the equipment that lies on the ground and is near the bottom of the sickle bar. There is a long steel pipe that come from below the pulley and below the pitman that runs to this piece. If I just hook up the bar to my hitch, this piece will just drag on the ground. Any tips on how to get this home by using either tractor or truck? Thanks

you probably have a model#24 or #27 mower . I have copies of the manuals for both mowers. does yours have a hyd.cylinder to raise the bar or just a long lever to raise it by hand? the bar on the front of the mower has several holes in it they line up with the holes in the draw bar of the tractor I use two 3/4" bolts on mine. like was said respect that sickle bar those sections will cut very quickly. Tom in N.E.Ga.

I'm guessing the long bar underneath is the break-away bar. It usually goes from the right side of the mower up undeneath the right axle of the tractor, and locates the cutting bar front-to-back while mowing. When you hit something too big to cut, the bar is supposed to disconnect and allow the cutting bar to swing away backwards. This gives you time to stomp on the brakes and helps prevent damage to the cutting bar. Most re-connect when you back up. You'll need some kind of bracket on the tractor to hook this onto.

The wooden bar is called the pitman arm. Replacements are available from most good tractor supply houses. They're made of wood so that if you hit something bad, they will break before something more expensive does.

There's a lot to know about sickle bar mowers. Manuals are usually still available from a good dealer. BE CAREFUL! These things will slice off a 1" sapling easily, and fingers present no problem. Never touch the thing when running! A lot of old time farmers were nicknamed "Lefty" for a reason.

Hope this helps.