[Jay]

In my experience, the biggest single cause of extra draft in a mower is little bits of slack or shuck in the drive train to the knife. Slop in the flywheel shaft, the flywheel bushing or bearing, slop in the knuckle connecting the pitman stick to the knife. Just a little bit doesn’t seem like much but if there is just a “little” more in another spot, 1+1 does not = 2, it equals 6 or 8 in terms of increased draft. The same applies to register being off “just a little”. It makes a huge difference. A mower running really right and smoothly is such a pleasure to use… IMHO Jay

[Jay]

I have seen both 3 and 1/2′ and 4′ bars on McCormick 1 horse mowers. I have also seen a 5′ bar on a #7 made into a one horse mower. Jay

[Jay]

I second George’s thoughts on the seal- replace it when you can, with 2. It’s worth not loosing all that oil all the time. An inexpensive seal puller will take the old one out in about 2 shakes, usually. Jay

[Jay]

I’ve had a couple of mares over the years who seemed to get them most often this time of year. I 1)clipped the hair short up to the hock to alow it to stay drier and then used athelete’s foot cream on it. If I was consistent with the cream, it generally cleared up fairly quickly. Some thing to try any way. Jay

[Jay]

I work with my horses to stop, start, and turn by voice much of the time while driving regularly with lines. So I will at times just ask for the motion without touching the lines. I have then taken this a step further when gathering sap and asked them to “come up” and “whoa” on the known trail. There have been times when I didn’t have to touch the lines for the whole route. It’s mostly an extention of the way I drive most of the time. Jay

[Jay]

It didn’t sound as though they had even thought of horse drawn mowers still existing, so I think it’s mostly haybines, etc. Jay

[Jay]

I called these folks up and the cost is $16.50 each. They look like they could be a long lasting hold down. They say they’ve been making them for over 10 years. I’m inclined to try a set. Jay

[Jay]

I haven’t seen them before. Any idea on cost? They look like they might be worth trying. Jay

[Jay]

Yes, it is certainly possible to replace the gear in question with one from a different model if you have one. My understanding is that the only difference between the “High Gear” and the “Regular Gear” is 1 extra tooth on the regular gear gear, making it turn slightly slower. Otherwise the gears are the same, so I would imagine from the description that the trailer gear gear would have one more tooth than the regular gear gear. I’ll have to count again, but I believe they are 11 and 12 teeth on the small gear on the rear end of the pitman shaft. Jay

[Jay]

I don’t think I have ever seen a trailer gear mower- has anyone else seen one? Jay

[Jay]

Anton, your questions are good. My understanding is that “trailer gear” was made for 1 or 2 mowers to be pulled behind early tractors with some sort of specific hitching mechanism to pull them in the right relationship to each other. The “high gear” means that the knife runs approximately 10% faster at the same ground speed compared to a “regular gear” mower.
In terms of what to look for, things I look at are first off, check the frame and wheels for cracks or breaks which generally eliminate a mower from easy rebuilding, in my experience. (Some really good welders can weld cast steel- it always seems to be a challenge to get it right). I then check the amount of wear on the crosshatch on the axel where the driver’s feet rest, amount of wear (or lack of it) on the wheel treads. I check to see how much play is in the pitman shaft (if it has play in it, the bushing at least needs replacing as it most often does). If indeed the mower is “field ready” that bushing will be tight. Replacing it with out the right tools is a bear, with the right tools it takes less than 2 hours. If the pitman shaft needs replacing as well, that’s about another hour plus the $35 for the shaft. The bushing is about $10 from Norm Macknair. I charge $30/hour for shop time. In my experience, the biggest single (!) thing criticle to a mower running really right is that there is NO slop in the 1)pitman bushing or pitman crank bearing, 2) the knife/pitman ball/socket connection, 3)the knife is sharp and the register is dead on,4) the ledger plates (if any)are all good with sharp serations, 5) the lead is at least not far from where it should be (about 1″ of lead). If these things are right and the rest of the mower is decent, it should mow reasonably well in my experience.

I figure it costs about $300 to put all new parts on a 5′ cutterbar. That is new guards, hold downs, wear plates, bolts ledger plates, and knife. The original bushing on the pitman crank is a cronic place for slop to start. I as a rule replace it with a good bearing set up made for that appication.
I’m apt to sound like a broken record on this – any slop in the whole set up and when the going gets tough, the mower will plug on you. Don’t be cheap like I used to try to be and make sure everything is snug, sharp and runs smoothly. Sure makes mowing a pleasure when you get it right.

A couple more thoughts on mowers in general: in my experience, of more importance than the # of the mower (7 or 9) is the general condition of the mower. My favorite is still the #7 I’ve had and used for 35 years, though I also have and use a couple of #9s and I like them as well. Rubber tires are nice – smooth if you have to go on a paved road much, but they are expensive to replace – they require more care than steel wheels do. My mowers are all on steel. If you have a fast walking team, you probabaly aren’t interested in a high gear. If you have a team that works well at a slow speed and have thick heavy hay, a high gear mower might be worth considering. (I’m sure this’ll bring some comments from others). This is a start anyway. Jay

[Jay]

That’s fine, Erika. Thanks, Jay

[Jay]

I also have removed the seal- easiest to just take the gears out (not the big gear on the axle, just the smaller ones and the clutch). Look at them carefully as you take it apart so you can get all the shims, etc. back together in the right order. It’s then fairly simple to take the shaft out and pull the seal and well worth doing in my experience. Jay

[Jay]

It’s one of the songs on the program this Sat. along with many others. Let’s think about the annual meeting. Jay

[Jay]

I have a set of harness with that type of tug connector. I have used the hooks from tire chains that connect the cross chain to the side chain to replace the hook into the hame and it has worked fine – seems to be shaped exactly the same. I wouldn’t try heavy logging with them but any steady farm work and moderate pulling seems to be fine in my experience. Jay

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