Holy prices - Batman!

RayP(MI) · Jul 30, 2010

Several years back I got a Deere 350 sickle bar mower from my father-in-law. Used it for a couple seasons, and broke the sickle bar - (the bar with the knife sections.) New one cost me about $125, as I remember.
Was cleaning out his pole barn a year or so ago, and my son found a couple more bars stuck in the wall. Threw "em in the truck, and brought them home, stuck "em in my polebarn wall. Broke my new one (not so new) today. Went to Dad"s old one, and it turned out to be brand new! Price tag still on it. $68, sale price $40!
Looked them up on line just now, just short of $150... OUCH! Thanks Dad! (He"s probably looking down on us now, saying, "Told you it was a good buy")

armand tatro · Jul 30, 2010

Do not throw those old sickles away! A GOOD welder can fix those broken sickle bars to like new condition. Another place to find experenced welders are the blacksmiths at the old tractor shows. Where are you located? There may be some shows or blacksmith meetings near you. Armand

Russ from MN · Jul 30, 2010

What are you doing to break them? I mowed a lot of soilbank in the 60's with ant hills all over and i never broke one. But we had a really nice IH trailing mower.

flying belgian · Jul 30, 2010

I agree. I have mowed hundreds and hundreds of acres with a sickle mower and never once broke a bar.

Bob · Jul 31, 2010

A 9' knife is $200 at Deere.

gene bender · Jul 31, 2010

So what are you doing wrong to break the sickle bars never heard of such and we made tons of hay every year.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 31, 2010

I don't know how all you guys mowed so much without breaking a blade, you must not have any rocks or locust sapplings like a good Ky. hillside! The bar is an easy weld, they always break at a rivit hole, I use an old bar and weld behind a knife section. If you can do a forge weld my hat is off to you, we had a blacksmith here in Versailles that would not charge you for the repair if you could see it, it was beautiful to me anyway.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 31, 2010

Maybe cutting sapplings like my father, he's broke a few in his lifetime, but take them out and weld it back together, and good as new!

RayP(MI) · Jul 31, 2010

GUYS! not the heavy bar with the gards on it, the light weight bar that slides back and forth with the sharp triangle knives on it. Have broken a few over the years. On the JD, it likes to break where the head unit couples to the wobble drive. Think what happens is a combination of metal fatigue, and perhaps picking up a rock in just the right spot between a knife, and a gard. Given some time, I"ll probably try to weld it back. Meanwhile, I got a lot of cutting needs doing.

wilamayb · Jul 31, 2010

Sounds like you may need to add a rotary cutter to the fleet and leave the sickle mower to the light duty clipping...

I'll break the news to the wife.

Holy prices - Batman!

RayP(MI)

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armand tatro

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Russ from MN

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flying belgian

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Bob

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gene bender

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Anonymous-0

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Anonymous-0

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RayP(MI)

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wilamayb

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