Moving a Sickle Mower

[Dennis]

NEVER try to move a sickle mower by grabbing hold of the cutter end and dragging it. A surefire way to lose a finger, when the belt pulley turns as it is dragged and the cutter blade goes into motion -- even a glove won't stop a cutter blade. I almost did this with my first sickle mower several years ago

Get assistance and the proper equipment to move them.

Dennis,
Safety First

[john2189]

I ussually use the hook on a wrecking bar to drag the mower around.

John

[Jim Roy]

Great tip. I can see how one would have a tendency just to grab the bar and Zip there might go a finger or two.
Jim

[Dennis]

Great tip. I can see how one would have a tendency just to grab the bar and Zip there might go a finger or two.
Jim

Yep Jim, it was one of those times where the better half says "Can you move that thing out of the way a little bit more?" So being a manly man, I grabbed hold of the nearest part (the blade end) and started to drag -- and in the back of my mind I'm remembering my grandfather telling me, "these are dangerous!" When I saw the blade start to move (luckily I knew better than to grab the blade area) I stopped and dropped it immediately and rethought my approach to moving it.

I'm sure there are other safety issues, such as mounting a sickle mower safely that others can give some tips on.

Dennis

[jostev]

another thought, when your puttin the bar up, also don't put your fingers inbetween the knives/guards... and if it's bound up on something, do NOT use your hands to get it unclogged, i generally use a piece of grade stake/branch to get it unstuck, sometimes it has a tendency to still have tension on it when it's jammed...

just a few more

Johnny

[DaveR]

As a dumb kid (now I am a dumb old man) I was playing on a horsedrawn sickle bar mower left parked in the barn lot. I left the bar down just barely above the ground. Along came a cow that knew nothing about the dangers of mowers and walked through the sickle bar. Of course she caught her hoof in the guards and kept pulling until she got loose. We had to have a vet immediately, or she would have bled to death, he put staples in it and got the blood loss stopped As I remember that old cow had a gauze tied around it until it wore off.
Needless to say I was scared of a sickle bar mower after that. They are like a loaded gun with a hair trigger.

[RedBess]

I don't have a hook to move the sickle bar around, but as a guy living on the coast where commercial fishing happens I always have rope. On my concrete floored barn it is simple to loop (that is Bend to you nautical types) around anywhere on the mower without bending over to do it and tow it or spin it in position. Now if it is on grass I am no better at it than the rest of you.