Sickle mower pitman arm sockets
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Printed Date: 31 Jan 2026 at 1:11am
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Topic: Sickle mower pitman arm sockets
Posted By: steve(ill)
Subject: Sickle mower pitman arm sockets
Date Posted: 14 May 2025 at 4:48pm
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I have a mower about 75 years old running on a B tractor ( side mower). I have broken the arm on the side of the pitman arm with the ball socket on the end.. Welded back together... today i broke the ball socket itself in half... turned a new cup on the lathe, welded on the original arm and will install tomorrow.... I use this mower HARD to cut road sided, small brush, heavy weeds, etc... Broke a wood pitman arm today also.. I know the forged iron strap / sockets on the side of the pitman arm are old and beat.. Thinking about "rebuild" this winter.. Wonder if anyone has replace the two straps with half ball sockets that pinch onto to sickle bar BALL with bearing / pin / bushing or ??? Seems like the weak point is the ball socket has become elongated and you PINCH the ball with a bolt holding the two halves to the pitman arm.. I picture taking the BALL / plate bolted to the cutter bar and make a new one with two small vertical plates with a 3/4 inch bolt running horizontal between them... then make a new end for the pitman that has a bushing or bearing with the 3/4 inch hole in it, and PIN them together.. Do i really need the BALL for 3 dimensional movement ?? ------------- well i went back and read the book !!!... The cutter BAR and the pitman arm are not EXACTLY in line or parallel to each other.. This is probably the reason for the "BALL" type socket on both ends of the pitman ............ i might try to "BUILD NEW" straps with the SOCKETS that actually fit the ball on the BAR.. next winter.... Still trying to figure out if there is any BETTER way.... my parts are worn out ... good time to UPDATE.
------------- Like them all, but love the "B"s. |
Replies:
Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 14 May 2025 at 5:40pm
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automotive TIE ROD END bolted to a vertical plate on the BAR... and a steel strap welded to each side of the threaded bar and that bolts to the pitman arm ?
------------- Like them all, but love the "B"s. |
Posted By: Kenny L.
Date Posted: 14 May 2025 at 6:27pm
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If you know the parts numbers you need reach out to Mike Z. he may have what you need he has help me out a lot of times. HTH |
Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 14 May 2025 at 6:34pm
???????????? ------------- Like them all, but love the "B"s. |
Posted By: zjack2025
Date Posted: 14 Jan 2026 at 8:29pm
| You already found the key point in the manual: the pitman and cutter bar are never perfectly aligned through the stroke, so the ball sockets are not a design flaw but a necessity to allow angular misalignment in multiple planes, and replacing them with a straight pin—even with a bushing or https://en.tradebearings.com/clist_18.html" rel="nofollow - —would almost certainly bind, crack, or tear something apart under load, so the best “modernized” fix is to rebuild the original forged straps with properly sized new spherical cups or weld in machined half-sockets that fit the ball tightly and use a high-strength clamping bolt, which keeps the needed 3-D articulation while eliminating the slop that’s been beating https://www.tradebearings.com/precision-bearings-catalogue.html" rel="nofollow - |
Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2026 at 1:20pm
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“modernized” fix is to rebuild the original forged straps with properly sized new spherical cups or weld in machined half-sockets that fit the ball tightly and use a high-strength clamping bolt, which keeps the needed 3-D articulation while eliminating the slop that’s been beating https://www.tradebearings.com/precision-bearings-catalogue.html" rel="nofollow - your mower to death. that exactly what i did.. the old FORGED straps were worn oversize on the socket.. I too a 1.5 inch steel bar and turned a 1/2 round cup on the end that would fit the ball.. then i cut that off and welded to a steel strap... finish to size with a hand grinder on both straps... Have used it twice in Nov on ditch banks and it worked out well. ------------- Like them all, but love the "B"s. |
Posted By: PaulB
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2026 at 7:45pm
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NOS or good used parts would be the simplest and lowest cost (no matter what the cost of the parts) When I had my NOS and used parts I had lots of pitman parts. Tom Gagen brought most of my inventory, contact him or try MikeZ or Brenda at SLI. Then everything will just bolt right up, without re-engineering everything involved. ------------- If it was fun to pull in LOW gear, I could have a John Deere. Real pullers don't have speed limits. If you can't make it GO... make it SHINY |
Posted By: OrionRensleigh
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2026 at 7:51am
| Pitman arm sockets usually wear from lack of lubrication or misalignment. I was surprised to see a similar maintenance mindset explained near https://casinosanalyzer.com/free-slots-online/20-Burning-Hot" rel="nofollow - https://casinosanalyzer.com/free-slots-online/20-Burning-Hot once. Replacements are cheap compared to mower downtime. |