Samurai Saber hydraulically driven sickle bar mower.

I wanted something to hang out over ditch banks so I could keep them looking halfway decent. Mount is adjustable from about 40° below horizontal to vertical for trimming trees along driveway.

Like many things, it isn't quite the miracle the ads claim, but with some adjustments and some practice it works well enough. Main issue is that the mount clamps to the side of the bucket with just two socket head bolts (Allen bolts). Not very solid and exacerbated by the relatively thin side walls on the bucket. Alleviated somewhat by sandwiching extra metal between the mount and the bucket. In fairness, they pointed this out in the instructions.

I also think the hydraulics on my tractor are marginal for running it. Doesn't seem to oscillate as fast as recommended and it doesn't take a lot to stall it.

I trimmed around my place and took it to my daughter's place and trimmed both sides of about a quarter-mile of drive and it worked well enough.

Thinking I might buy a blank quick attach (SSQA) plate for my loader and weld the mount solid to that to stiffen things up some, plus it would make it much easier/quicker to mount/dismount the mower. Not in the budget right now, but perhaps over the Winter.

I've never seen one of those on a bucket.

Can the angle of bar go lower than horizontal?

Like a lot of three point models.

Do you have to drill in too the bucket for mounting?

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
I've never seen one of those on a bucket.

Can the angle of bar go lower than horizontal?

Yes, about 40° below. Nice for hanging down over edge of bank.

Like a lot of three point models.

Do you have to drill in too the bucket for mounting?

No, it just clamps on, which is sub-optimal.

Forgot to mention, I can raise the bucket to full height and mow about 12 feet up. Nice for trimming over top of fences and in vertical mode I can trim up trees that overhang the driveway.

I am not familiar with the make and model of your cutter, however from your description I think you are on the right track with adding a stiffener plate to reinforce the weak side of the bucket.

Have you considered having a metal shop weld a stiffener plate permanently to the bucket? If so, select a plate thickness which is enough to resist the bending forces at the attachment point. This may be thicker than the thickness of the side of the bucket. Having a plate as large as the bucket side will help distribute the torsion forces to the shell of your bucket. Full welds (vs. stitch welds) will help avoid corrosion between the side of bucket and the new plate. Drilled holes at the locations of the socket bolts might help resist slip caused by torsion forces if you find the bolts slipping.

Like anything mechanical, when you reinforce one weakness, look for the next possible weakness to avoid possible more costly damage. For example, does the trimmer have a breakaway feature in case you drive it into an immovable object?

I hope my back porch engineering is not over thinking your problem. But my advice is worth every penny. Good luck!

Nice to hear Paul! I had looked at those but felt my Deere 3520 didn't have enough hydraulic flow to run one but I may study it a little more now. It'd sure be handy along ny dirt road and around the pond!

PHPaul, would you be able to say where you found this, and price? We have been trying to figure out what to use to trim back our overgrown side of the driveway, as that side drops down steeply to the creek that runs through our property. And the side and back of our property too. Would be a lot easier to be able to use the tractor to he,p trim all that back. Getting older means we need to find easier ways to do this. I’ll have to see if I can find one here, since you mentioned the name. Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by m1009:
PHPaul, would you be able to say where you found this, and price? We have been trying to figure out what to use to trim back our overgrown side of the driveway, as that side drops down steeply to the creek that runs through our property. And the side and back of our property too. Would be a lot easier to be able to use the tractor to he,p trim all that back. Getting older means we need to find easier ways to do this. I’ll have to see if I can find one here, since you mentioned the name. Thanks!

Sabre Samurai Mower

DO get the deluxe mount. Well worth the extra $100

@Av8nShooter - I put a piece of 1/4 inch aluminum (all I had laying around) on the inside, cut to fit the contour of the bucket. Helped quite a lot. Before next mowing season, I'll get TWO pieces cut, one inside and one outside. I have the equipment (and most of the skill...) to cut and weld them in place myself.

Still contemplating the idea of a SSQA blank tho. That would fix all the stiffness issues (ahem...) and make mounting/dismounting MUCH easier. With SSQA mounts available right around $200, wouldn't be significantly more expensive.

Thanks, PHPaul! Will look at it.

If you do weld a plate on the bucket, you might want to consider determining where the socket head bolts hit with the mower properly mounted and dimple those spots on the plate so the device doesn't "walk" during lots of use.

quote:

Originally posted by Blackmore:
If you do weld a plate on the bucket, you might want to consider determining where the socket head bolts hit with the mower properly mounted and dimple those spots on the plate so the device doesn't "walk" during lots of use.

Good idea! I did notice I had to snug up the bolts pretty much every time I got off the tractor.

Did you get extra blades?
So you can sharpen the dull one on a rainy day

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bendable,

I think you should go all Tim Allen on it. Get an engine off an old Honda V65 Sabre and use that to power the hydraulic pump. You could then use that cutter to trim a forest of trees. Come on, you know nothing beats More Power ruff ruff ruff.

quote:

Originally posted by Scooter123:
I think you should go all Tim Allen on it. Get an engine off an old Honda V65 Sabre and use that to power the hydraulic pump. You could then use that cutter to trim a forest of trees. Come on, you know nothing beats More Power ruff ruff ruff.

Actually, I gave some thought to mounting a PTO pump (I happen to have a spare...) on the tractor and using that. I'm told it's too much pressure and flow for the motor and will likely trash it or at least blow the seals out of it.

By the time I found/made a tank, bought the hoses and installed a flow control to protect the motor, I'd have $1000 in it. That's a nope...