I have an opportunity to buy an old JD #5 sickle bar mower with a hydraulic cyclinder for raising/lowering. I believe it has a rubber tire and am told it works good and was used all last summer. I can see it this weekend when I drive to KY to pick up a JD B. What are these mowers selling for now? Is there a range I should expect? The owner has not mentioned a sales price yet. Thanks, Jim

it all depends what condition they're in. i have seen them go for as little as $50 (junk) to $400. some areas they are plentyful and some areas not. i just paid $300 for one a couple months ago, in working condition with a new tire and pittman rod, but i did have to add a few parts , i am satisfied. i think the going rate is about $150 -$250. you will have to take a look at it, some parts are still available from deere,and many parts available thru the net. find out what the man wants for it and take it from there and make sure the mounting brackets come with it.

Thanks for the reply. The price was $200 and it is complete, including the mounting brackets. So, apparently I paid about the right amount. He mentioned that the blades need to be sharpened and it came with the original operators manual.

I also bought one last year for 250.00 - complete with cylinder, tire and 4 old sickles. Works pretty good too. As far as repair goes the sickle stuff can be found at any Tractor Supply, the tire is an odd size you'll have to find a real tire shop for those. The only issue I've found so far is finding a new pittman arm, tractor supply carries the arms but they never have the exact one. Of course a pittman arm isn't rocket science - so you can always modify one to work.