Pro's of a sickle: Cheap to buy, relatively cheap to maintain, operate fine on a minimum of tractor horsepower and even tiny tractor size.
Con's of a sickle: Obviously no conditioning rollers (but you do not get conditioning with a modern drum mower or plain disc mower either). Sickles can be very tempermental if conditions are not perfect (i.e forget wet and damp conditions must usually wait till dew burn off). Generally they must be kept in tip top shape or they plug.
If you want conditioning you might find and older stand alone crimper but they are getting rare and it means another trip over the field and they can be tempermental with wrapping the rollers too. Or you could simply opt to use a tedder as needed. Really depends on your crop type for best answer.
A haybine (or mower conditioner) will generally cut better even when its sickle system is worn compared to a stand alone sickle in tip top shape. (the reel really helps) - plus you get conditioning too all in one shot. Downside is they can be heavy and have lots of tongue weight so you need a tractor weighing at least 4000 lbs or more at minumum and at least 30 PTO hp at a bare minimum. More chains, belts, and bearings to maintain though on a haybine but the benefits are more than worth it. Haybines can be bought reasonable as all the BTO pretty much use discbines so lots of good values to be found for small time operators.
FWIW: I have run my 9' Hesston 1120 moco (same as haybine) with my 1950 John Deere model A on many occasions. Have also used my ole Farmall h once too to run it. I do not even use a hydraulic cylinder and simply use a manual ratchet cylinder. I never plug and simply mow round and round the field to the center.
This post was edited by rankrank1 at 19:28:41 12/09/12 2 times.
We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]
Today's Featured Article - The Nuts and Bolts of Fasteners - Part 2 - by Curtis Von Fange. In our previous article we discussed capscrews, bolts, and nuts along with their relative hardness and thread sizes. In this segment we will finish up on our fasteners and then work with ways to keep them from loosening up in the field. Capscrews, bolts and nuts are not the only means of holding two parts together. When dealing with thinner metals like sheet tin, a long bolt and
... [Read Article]
Latest Ad:
Oliver 550 Diesel runs like a watch three point hitch pto engine gone threw about two hundred hours ago nice clean tractor
[More Ads]
All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy
TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.
