Sickle Bar Mower for an F-40

Any suggestions on a good sickle bar mower for my standard F-40?  June 7, 2016.

Unless you are committed to having a Ferguson mower from the same era as the F-40, I would recommend the later Massey Ferguson 31 or 41 Dyna-balance mowers, or the 32 or 42 pitman mowers. These are all easier to attach than the earlier Ferguson mowers, and have adjustable frames, allowing the mowers to work with whatever wheel settings are on the tractor. This is not a big issue if the wheels are set at the standard 52″ rear wheel setting, but if you have your wheels set wider for cultivating row crops you are limited to certain models of the earlier Ferguson mowers.

New Holland also made a very nice pitman less mower as did John Deere. All of the above mowers I am recommending are three point hitch rear mounted mowers. There are some very nice side mounted mowers, Ferguson and Massey Ferguson, but a side mounted mower is more difficult to put on and take off. If you have a standard clearance tractor, Ford also made a very nice pitman mower, model 501 if I recall correctly.

The earlier Ferguson Dyna-balance mowers, the FEO series, were made specifically in models for standard or wide wheel settings. The earlier Ferguson AEO series or Massey Harris or Massey Ferguson 60 pitman mowers are ok but are intended for use with the rear wheels in the 52″ setting. These pitman style mowers tend to vibrate more than the later 32 or 42 pitman mowers or the later Ford pitman mower.