The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

I'm doing progress on the restauration of my mower

































Almost there
Whats left:
Need to make a new wooden rod
Fitting 2 V-belts
Painting a few parts I've forgotten in the process :s

Nice Job. Those mid mount mowers were common over here on the smaller Gasoline/ Petrol Ford tractors. 9N/2N/8N /NAA and some of the number series in the 1950's. The Apple orchard farmers like them for mowing under the fruit trees better then the rear mount type that was more commonly seen for mowing hay and was faster to install and remove. Most of the ones I've seen were mounted and left on the designated mowing tractor. Ford sold them under the Dearborn name. Dandy Dave!

You've been working in the late houres.
Looks great.

henk wrote:You've been working in the late houres.
Looks great.

Yeah, but it's getting dark soon.
I did put the belts on today and tried it out.
It's pitty I needed to remove the liftarms also so the belt could pass My dream was to make a combination with an Vicon acrobat rake. Maybe this is possible on a dexta.




video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlj7gUtvc50

Nice job, don't think I've come across one over here Mathias, what was typically used for the wooden con rod ? Ash or is there a better continental timber ??

The Busatis was a good quality German made mid mounted mower in the 1950's, they were imported into the UK by Watveare Overseas Ltd.. If you want to see one in action look on volume 3 "Power for Farming and Industry" of the Ford and Fordson DVD series - there is a clip entitled "Economic Milk Production" that shows the Northumberland farms of Edward Moffitt and son John Moffitt ( "Hunday" and "Peepy" herds of pedigree British Friesian cattle), and a Fordson Major diesel is at work with a Busatis mid mounted mower. Apart from becoming an internationally renowned cattle breeder, John Moffitt was later to become known for his "Hunday" collection of Ferguson tractors and implements, but at the time this film was made in 1955/56 the farm appeared to be running all Fordson Major Diesels.

I have Bamford C1A mid mounted mowers on my Power Major and NP Super Major, both fitted from new. They have steel connecting rods, but in the 1950's we had a Ferguson fitted with a Featherstone mid mounted mower and I am fairly sure the connecting rod on that was Ash timber. My father used to cut new rods from time to time on the Bamford circular saw from a block of seasoned Ash.

Yes Ash would be the preferred UK wood Shepp, as it has been used for centuries for load carrying jobs needing a degree of flexibility including shafts for hhorse drawn equipment, wheel felloes, stays for church bells, axe, pitchfork and other tool handles, in the US they had Hickory available and used in preference in areas where it grew, I was wondering what (if anything) might have been used in Europe as an alternative especially since our Ash is about to go the same way as Elm did

Unfortunately I don't have any of the F&F Videos - praps its about time to start dropping hints for Xmas...............

Very nice to see this re-built mower.

Now I want to see it cutting!

Being from the north of England, we still called the con-rod a pitman. I still do as well, being 'frozen in time" here in the western Canada.
I make pitmans of ash or hickory here. (Have a 1909 New Ideal Giant sickle mower, originally horse-drawn and converted to tractor pull.)

Cheers and thanks again.


Richard.

Hi Richard

Very interesting regarding the "pitman" !

Featherstone described the whole assembly as the "pitman" with the various parts "pitman bearing", "pitman shaft" etc. etc.


Bamford described the shaft and the flywheel connecting bearing as the "connecting rod" and "connecting rod bearing", only the coupling onto the knife was described as the "pitman coupling".

Perhaps a detachable flexible coupling is what a "pitman" is ??!

Do you have a swath board planned? I find it pretty handy with the mower for my Farmall Cub.

Interesting 'pitman' survived into the tractorimplement literature era Richard & Shepp, I guess there must be an equivalent on reapers & binders which would have started out when it was perhaps used more frequently.

I know its use well for steam tackle - also across the pond where the stern wheeled paddle boats used the same term for the timbers connecting big & little ends, and they were massive !

Never really thought where it derived but it must have been the early mine pumping engines. You had more of them 'up North' than we had 'out East'' so may have lasted in the dialect longer.

Having used both Ash & Hickory for axe & sledge hammer handles I reckon Ash is easier on the hands but Hickory doesn't worm or rot as badly - you pays yer money............

It has just come back to me that I first encountered pitman in the handbook for my mothers ancient Singer sewing machine, linking treadle and crankpin on the flywheel.

I did make a new pitman and used the mower on the field. I try to put the vid on YouTube

Vid: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=muYxqnF6c64

The grass isnt moving great, but i guess that is a commpn problem with these mowers

Sickle mowers work best in really tall, stalky grass, Otherwise it tends to sit on the mower like in your video.

Other thoughts might be to try a faster ground speed, and check your sickle sections to make sure they are both sharp and laying flat against the ledger plates. On our mowers we find dull or bent sections are usually the culprit behind poor cutting.

It probably wouldn't hurt to look over the ledger plates on the guards as well. Those tend to get overlooked in maintenance and they might be plain worn out.

Great restoration and fitting of the mower. No experience of tractor mowers so finding this thread most interesting and informative.
From a layman's point of view, I can see how taller, haymaking grass would flow better over the cutter bar.
Tractor being put to good use!
Best, Adrian.

Nice to see it working Mathias.

Bit faster ground speed may help clearing as already mentioned.
Also when the guards get polished up it'll clear better.
That grass being short isn't helping either.
If in longer stuff, a parting bar on a swath board will help as well.

Congrats on a nice job done!!

RE the "Pitman";
I recall in school or day release in the early 70's we had to name all the bits of a mower, and in our area "pitman' was still the right name for the wooden bit.
I should see what they called it in my 1920's MCormick -Deering binder book..

looks like it as good as i my rear mounted swedish arkiv slätterbalk (sickle mower)
fine restoration, great to see it in action

Nice!

You are right there Pat Long time no see, how are you & granny getting along ?

Hi Rick, and the rest of the group as well!

Granny and I are doing fine, as normal its been a busy summer and we are trying to get a few more things finished up before the snow flies. all the kids and grand kids are doing well, willow is in 3rd grade, James started in 1st, and the daughter Em is a Senior this year.
We haven't got any work done on the Majors in the last year but we did show some of the girls at the Symco Threshare as usual. I have the 54, and the 54 not for export somewhere between a good start and half done painting, hopefully this winter I can get those two done!

Pat