Skid Steer Fitted With Sickle Mower
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Ron Schneider needed a mower, but he didn’t have a tractor. Instead, he adapted an old sickle mower to use on his skid steer. A neighbor found the New Idea mower on a scrap heap. With the help of an orbital motor and a bit of fabrication, Schneider now has a mower he says works great.
“A local farmer who used to harvest hay from my 8 1/2-acre field stopped cutting it,” recalls Schneider. “I decided I might as well do it myself.”
Schneider stripped the wheels, hitch and pto drive off the old pull-type mower. Without the wheels, he needed to build a frame to get out in front of the mower. He started with a quick-tach plate for the skid steer loader arms. He welded a second (30-in. long by 16-in. high) steel plate at a right angle to the quick-tach plate and opposite the end where the sicklebar was to go. A third 16 by 16-in. steel plate was then welded at a right angle to the second to form a 3-sided box.
Schneider reinforced the first two plates with an angle iron cross brace, top corner to top corner. The third and shorter plate formed a forward mount for the mower. It was reinforced with a cross brace at its top and at its bottom by a piece of flat steel welded to both plates. A pipe was pinned to its outside upper corner and to the old mower frame by the pitman.
The corner plate reinforces the corner, but also serves as a base for mounting the orbital motor with two step down gears for the pitman arm drive. Schneider built a steel cage out of angle iron and flat steel to protect the motor and drive.
“My neighbor Bill, calibrated the motor and the two gears to produce the 540 rpm’s needed to drive the pitman arm,” says Schneider.
The frame allows the sicklebar to float. When not mowing, Schneider lifts the sicklebar up and locks it in place the old fashioned way – by hand.
While Schneider’s sickle mower works fine for most of his needs, he recently bought a used 3-pt. hitch, rotary mower as a back up. Rigging it up for the skid steer was much easier. He mounted an orbital motor on the back edge of the mower to drive the pto shaft.
The lower lift arms attach to a quick-tach plate on the skid steer. A chain between the top link connector on the mower and the quick-tach plate serves as a top link arm. He also mounted two caster wheels on the rear of the mower with the tail wheel out in front.
“The rear wheels keep the mower from scalping the ground,” says Schneider. “With the loader arms in float mode, I just push the mower around.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ron Schneider, Hubertus, Wis. 53033 (ph 414 791-3356).
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Skid Steer Fitted With Sickle Mower HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Mowers 38 Ron Schneider needed a mower but he didn’t have a tractor Instead he adapted an old sickle mower to use on his skid steer A neighbor found the New Idea mower on a scrap heap With the help of an orbital motor and a bit of fabrication Schneider now has a mower he says works great “A local farmer who used to harvest hay from my 8 1/2-acre field stopped cutting it ” recalls Schneider “I decided I might as well do it myself ” Schneider stripped the wheels hitch and pto drive off the old pull-type mower Without the wheels he needed to build a frame to get out in front of the mower He started with a quick-tach plate for the skid steer loader arms He welded a second 30-in long by 16-in high steel plate at a right angle to the quick-tach plate and opposite the end where the sicklebar was to go A third 16 by 16-in steel plate was then welded at a right angle to the second to form a 3-sided box Schneider reinforced the first two plates with an angle iron cross brace top corner to top corner The third and shorter plate formed a forward mount for the mower It was reinforced with a cross brace at its top and at its bottom by a piece of flat steel welded to both plates A pipe was pinned to its outside upper corner and to the old mower frame by the pitman The corner plate reinforces the corner but also serves as a base for mounting the orbital motor with two step down gears for the pitman arm drive Schneider built a steel cage out of angle iron and flat steel to protect the motor and drive “My neighbor Bill calibrated the motor and the two gears to produce the 540 rpm’s needed to drive the pitman arm ” says Schneider The frame allows the sicklebar to float When not mowing Schneider lifts the sicklebar up and locks it in place the old fashioned way – by hand While Schneider’s sickle mower works fine for most of his needs he recently bought a used 3-pt hitch rotary mower as a back up Rigging it up for the skid steer was much easier He mounted an orbital motor on the back edge of the mower to drive the pto shaft The lower lift arms attach to a quick-tach plate on the skid steer A chain between the top link connector on the mower and the quick-tach plate serves as a top link arm He also mounted two caster wheels on the rear of the mower with the tail wheel out in front “The rear wheels keep the mower from scalping the ground ” says Schneider “With the loader arms in float mode I just push the mower around ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Ron Schneider Hubertus Wis 53033 ph 414 791-3356
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