Brooks...I investigated Rowse rakes. What a wonderful American success story...and a fine product. Its very heartwarming to see even the great grandchildren are involved in the company.
Michael Cook They are still a good company, but can definitely tell they've changed towards mass production. Still I'd prefer their products over many other brands.
you are doing my dream 65 yrs ago. I started out with a 7ft foot lift on the bar from tractor with a john deere g hand clutch no power steering. we only had land that was to rocky to farm for hay ground so it was a lesson in learning to run the foot lift from tractor seat and hand clutch and miss the badger holes with the narrow front end, yes I tore off twice,from front going in hole and snapping off the front and missing them rocks catching the sickle bar.
cant understand why7 people want to change your operation, it is very obvious that you guys do a great job farming. i could understand your resoning the first time you showed your mower. sorry if i sound like a little harsh. but people listen. great video jealous of your operation except your winters.
Howard Younger I keep getting recurring questions and such, or others that may have missed previous shots... so now all I have to do is respond with this video. It's alright though, I like getting the comments... makes me think about why I do certain things. Maybe I should get a demo some year...
I have to agree with you that a sickle bar mower or good to have four areas where a disc mower or a mower conditioner may have trouble with. For a suggestion for you on your sections is, I like to use the serrated edged grass sections on my sickle mowers. They look like two small sections made it into one bigger section like you use which is double the cutting services when you're mowing any type of grass or Alfalfa Clover etc for hay. For me they work much better. Now don't get me wrong I like my disc mowers but if you have Terraces or ditches I found out that the sickle mowers works much better.
I like that mower, I used to have a haybine when it was new it came with standard long guards it would stop up a lot then I put stub guards on it would cut anything without problems even wet clover.
I just recently bought a Ford 501 7' sickle mower and it worked great on the 20 acres of hay I farm! But I really like this double mower! Some of my neighbors rely on others to cut and bale their fields for them and their fields are double or triple the size of my field. This double sickle mower would work great for mowing all those fields. Where can I find a good used one. And what do I look for when I buy one? We also have rough fields here too! Especially gophers and prairie dogs! The 501 sickle mower I bought works really well when going over some of these mounds if dirt
Try tractorhouse, or look up Steffes Online auctions... to find one might have to look around the upper midwest states is where they are the most popular (north and south dakota, montana, wyoming, nebraska, etc). Rowse is out of Burwell, Nebraska. Also look up Kosch, they have a double sickle as well... I'd stay away from older models since they had issues early on with them but I think the later ones I've heard have been decent. Unless you can find yourself a decent small haybine too, might be more readily available wherever you're located.
Another nice thing about a sickle bar mower is they don't draw a lot of horsepower. We used to have an old 12 foot bar that we ran behind the Super H for many years. We always ran a soft shear bolt to save parts instead of relying on the belt to slip.
Thanks for the vid I couldn't cut hay with out my discbine because of the mole hills and I cut at 5mph I wish someone sold those bar mowers here I'd like to buy a used one to try cutting green feed or some dryland hay with it. Like I said before Dad hasn't used a bar mower since the 60's but I'd like to try it out.
AndersonCattleCo. I guess if dealers can't sell em they won't order them... might have to look far away for one, but if the discbine is working good stick with it.
I could see using one in some light thin blade grass but I don't see how you do it after using a disc mower I can run so much easier and faster and I would bet the day you try one you will agree as well but on the other side of all that I cut hay in tn your in North Dakota so I may be wrong
michael nicholson maybe eventually will have a disc/conditioner if I want to do more hay selling or more pure alfalfa fields. But has been working good for a long time.
I am curious what you thought was better about the older NH heads. These should definitely be stronger that the older ones because Rowse has beefed up several parts of the head and changed how others are welded.
That's what someone at rowse told me last year... Said a few changes were coming to the new NH heads... Specifically when it came to the welds and how some things are put together. Have had issues with both my mower last year and dad's (and the previous mower) had issues with bolts breaking or plates cracking. Dad used to never had to hardly replace anything on those NH heads on the older mowers years ago.
Farming 4G I have seen several issues that I think have made the NH heads *seem* weaker. The first is that people are pulling these mowers faster and with bigger tractors. These bigger tractors will push the power through these mowers without slowing down for tough areas. The second thing is that these HD sickles are much heavier and stronger and the bolts add additional weight. That creates more weight to stop and accelerate the other direction. It also transfers stresses from obstacles to the head much more effectively. The third is that Rowse has their own belts which are a much better belt than the stock belts . These new belts can transfer power a lot better without spinning out. The fourth is that we use a sealed pulley on the underside of the belt where the flat dowel used to rub against the belt. That increase the surface contact area of the belt and pulley as the belt wears which allows more power to be transferred to the head. The fifth is the use of self sharpening top serrated sections. Rowse recommends the use of the under serrated sections. They claim the reason they do this is that people don't know how to judge when a top serrated section is worn. I agree with them after having looked at many types of equipment with top serrated sections. We use the top serrated sections too, but keep the adjustable hold downs adjusted to .010" with a feeler gauge so they self sharpen and do put excess stress on the heads and round out the guards. We also have learned to judge when the sections are worn excessively as the serrations start to extend across the section and the section will thin out and allow the sides of the section to bow up (hard to spot unless you know what to look for). Generally when you start to plug up on tough conditions and tightened the holddowns doesn't fix it, it is time for new sections or a new sickle (and new guards at some point). Finally, my husband will only use the old NH wear plates. He feels the thicker universal wear plates hold the sickle at an excessively aggressive angle and this stresses the heads more and wears things out prematurely. I think that all these factors add up to create the illusion that the heads are not as strong. Our experience is that the heads are subject to much higher stresses than on previous mowers with New Holland heads and this is why Rowse has had to beef them up.
Farming 4G I am curious what you thought was better about the older NH heads. These should definitely be stronger that the older ones because Rowse has beefed up several parts of the head and changed how others are welded.
Brooks dad and papaw always use a bar mower for the teeth or knifes hit something they break the teeth and nor the hay bine for all one has to do is change that broke tooth or knife and keep going and it lays it to the ground and take rain well and just rake and bale.
Question, I understand you not having a disc mower but how about a pull type swater, it works the same as the sickle mower doesnt it? Its just much longer.
A swather would work, depending on the type of forage being cut. Problem is the windrow can get big and might have trouble curing, would need to have conditioning rolls or a tedder to spread it out. Plus some of the swathers, those knives can be quite long and might end up breaking or slugging easier depending on the crop. Some grasses here, like tough junegrass, can easily slug up knives and guards. I'm planning on getting a haybine head at some point for an H8040 machine that bought last year for swathing grain.
There's a variety of sections, ranging from serrated to smooth. We usually use B+ sections on the mower, and C+ or C sections on the combine and swather.
Nope, $9 for a box of sections (10 sections in each box)... came to around 90 cents per section. Haven't checked lately, but they are more expensive now than they were at the recording of this video.
Brooks...I investigated Rowse rakes. What a wonderful American success story...and a fine product. Its very heartwarming to see even the great grandchildren are involved in the company.
Michael Cook They are still a good company, but can definitely tell they've changed towards mass production. Still I'd prefer their products over many other brands.
you are doing my dream 65 yrs ago. I started out with a 7ft foot lift on the bar from tractor with a john deere g hand clutch no power steering. we only had land that was to rocky to farm for hay ground so it was a lesson in learning to run the foot lift from tractor seat and hand clutch and miss the badger holes with the narrow front end, yes I tore off twice,from front going in hole and snapping off the front and missing them rocks catching the sickle bar.
Well thought out reasons...I would concur with you....Use what works best for you.......
cant understand why7 people want to change your operation, it is very obvious that you guys do a great job farming. i could understand your resoning the first time you showed your mower. sorry if i sound like a little harsh. but people listen. great video jealous of your operation except your winters.
Howard Younger I keep getting recurring questions and such, or others that may have missed previous shots... so now all I have to do is respond with this video.
It's alright though, I like getting the comments... makes me think about why I do certain things. Maybe I should get a demo some year...
you rake it any way dont know why you would change. looks like the best way for you operation
I have to agree with you that a sickle bar mower or good to have four areas where a disc mower or a mower conditioner may have trouble with. For a suggestion for you on your sections is, I like to use the serrated edged grass sections on my sickle mowers. They look like two small sections made it into one bigger section like you use which is double the cutting services when you're mowing any type of grass or Alfalfa Clover etc for hay. For me they work much better. Now don't get me wrong I like my disc mowers but if you have Terraces or ditches I found out that the sickle mowers works much better.
I like that mower, I used to have a haybine when it was new it came with standard long guards it would stop up a lot then I put stub guards on it would cut anything without problems even wet clover.
I just recently bought a Ford 501 7' sickle mower and it worked great on the 20 acres of hay I farm!
But I really like this double mower! Some of my neighbors rely on others to cut and bale their fields for them and their fields are double or triple the size of my field. This double sickle mower would work great for mowing all those fields. Where can I find a good used one. And what do I look for when I buy one?
We also have rough fields here too! Especially gophers and prairie dogs! The 501 sickle mower I bought works really well when going over some of these mounds if dirt
Try tractorhouse, or look up Steffes Online auctions... to find one might have to look around the upper midwest states is where they are the most popular (north and south dakota, montana, wyoming, nebraska, etc). Rowse is out of Burwell, Nebraska. Also look up Kosch, they have a double sickle as well... I'd stay away from older models since they had issues early on with them but I think the later ones I've heard have been decent.
Unless you can find yourself a decent small haybine too, might be more readily available wherever you're located.
@@farming4g
Good advice, thanks 👍
@@farming4g
So what's the time frame of older verses new ones do I look for?
Are hydraulic driven better or worse than pto driven?
Another nice thing about a sickle bar mower is they don't draw a lot of horsepower. We used to have an old 12 foot bar that we ran behind the Super H for many years. We always ran a soft shear bolt to save parts instead of relying on the belt to slip.
That's the thing they don't need much HP
Nice video! Keep it up!
Thanks for the vid I couldn't cut hay with out my discbine because of the mole hills and I cut at 5mph I wish someone sold those bar mowers here I'd like to buy a used one to try cutting green feed or some dryland hay with it. Like I said before Dad hasn't used a bar mower since the 60's but I'd like to try it out.
AndersonCattleCo. I guess if dealers can't sell em they won't order them... might have to look far away for one, but if the discbine is working good stick with it.
I could see using one in some light thin blade grass but I don't see how you do it after using a disc mower I can run so much easier and faster and I would bet the day you try one you will agree as well but on the other side of all that I cut hay in tn your in North Dakota so I may be wrong
Stay with you got been mowing this way forever hay drys better less money over all
michael nicholson maybe eventually will have a disc/conditioner if I want to do more hay selling or more pure alfalfa fields. But has been working good for a long time.
looks like a nice mower. heck of a lot easier to change a sickle section without stabbing yourself in the head on a reel!
I am curious what you thought was better about the older NH heads. These should definitely be stronger that the older ones because Rowse has beefed up several parts of the head and changed how others are welded.
That's what someone at rowse told me last year... Said a few changes were coming to the new NH heads... Specifically when it came to the welds and how some things are put together. Have had issues with both my mower last year and dad's (and the previous mower) had issues with bolts breaking or plates cracking. Dad used to never had to hardly replace anything on those NH heads on the older mowers years ago.
Farming 4G I have seen several issues that I think have made the NH heads *seem* weaker. The first is that people are pulling these mowers faster and with bigger tractors. These bigger tractors will push the power through these mowers without slowing down for tough areas. The second thing is that these HD sickles are much heavier and stronger and the bolts add additional weight. That creates more weight to stop and accelerate the other direction. It also transfers stresses from obstacles to the head much more effectively. The third is that Rowse has their own belts which are a much better belt than the stock belts . These new belts can transfer power a lot better without spinning out. The fourth is that we use a sealed pulley on the underside of the belt where the flat dowel used to rub against the belt. That increase the surface contact area of the belt and pulley as the belt wears which allows more power to be transferred to the head. The fifth is the use of self sharpening top serrated sections. Rowse recommends the use of the under serrated sections. They claim the reason they do this is that people don't know how to judge when a top serrated section is worn. I agree with them after having looked at many types of equipment with top serrated sections. We use the top serrated sections too, but keep the adjustable hold downs adjusted to .010" with a feeler gauge so they self sharpen and do put excess stress on the heads and round out the guards. We also have learned to judge when the sections are worn excessively as the serrations start to extend across the section and the section will thin out and allow the sides of the section to bow up (hard to spot unless you know what to look for). Generally when you start to plug up on tough conditions and tightened the holddowns doesn't fix it, it is time for new sections or a new sickle (and new guards at some point). Finally, my husband will only use the old NH wear plates. He feels the thicker universal wear plates hold the sickle at an excessively aggressive angle and this stresses the heads more and wears things out prematurely.
I think that all these factors add up to create the illusion that the heads are not as strong. Our experience is that the heads are subject to much higher stresses than on previous mowers with New Holland heads and this is why Rowse has had to beef them up.
What is the width of cut for that mower. It looks well made yet simple to work on.
18 feet total. It's pretty straight forward, but can be a little pain when having to disassemble the heads, parts are kinda heavy and very GREASY!
Farming 4G I am curious what you thought was better about the older NH heads. These should definitely be stronger that the older ones because Rowse has beefed up several parts of the head and changed how others are welded.
Brooks dad and papaw always use a bar mower for the teeth or knifes hit something they break the teeth and nor the hay bine for all one has to do is change that broke tooth or knife and keep going and it lays it to the ground and take rain well and just rake and bale.
Question, I understand you not having a disc mower but how about a pull type swater, it works the same as the sickle mower doesnt it? Its just much longer.
A swather would work, depending on the type of forage being cut. Problem is the windrow can get big and might have trouble curing, would need to have conditioning rolls or a tedder to spread it out. Plus some of the swathers, those knives can be quite long and might end up breaking or slugging easier depending on the crop. Some grasses here, like tough junegrass, can easily slug up knives and guards.
I'm planning on getting a haybine head at some point for an H8040 machine that bought last year for swathing grain.
Nice mower ,was just wondering are those combine knife sections ,i remember them being smooth edged for grass .
There's a variety of sections, ranging from serrated to smooth. We usually use B+ sections on the mower, and C+ or C sections on the combine and swather.
Do they make those for disk mowers?
Make what for disc mowers? The serrated knives?
No, The whole double bar machine. That would be great.
where in nd are ya?
As I'm petty sure you meant...
($9.00 X 32 = $288.00)
Nope, $9 for a box of sections (10 sections in each box)... came to around 90 cents per section.
Haven't checked lately, but they are more expensive now than they were at the recording of this video.
@@farming4g Ohhhh. 👍
Must not have many mosquitoes
buffranchAB Havent been bad this year with the dry weather...
Can these mowers be purchased new. The head looks much the same as a new Holland and they were a dirty heap of shit