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hueyjazz
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2016 11:54am - Edited by: hueyjazz
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So last weekend the cabin north of mine had a guy come out to cut the side of the right of way road that leads to our cabins. He brought with him a 50 year old sickle bar mower. this thing worked great. I got him to mow an area around one of my ponds. Fantastic
I says to my wife, we got to get one of these. So I search Craiglist. I find a ad that over a month old so I call. He has it in an old warehouse he owns. I got out to look at it and it seems all there but it has old gas in it and won't start but it has compression and it an old Briggs motor. I certain I can make something work.
I bring it to my camp, purge the gas tank, change the oil and spray the carb. Bloody thing starts on the first pull and eats brush like a billy goat. Bigger surprise I find is the company is still in business making the exact same mower form the 70 year old design. All parts are available. I paid $160 but a new one cost about $3000.
Meet the Jari Monarch
I find it takes belts 54", 34" and 30 1/2". How do you translate those to a V belt code?
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Steve_S
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2016 12:01pm
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Nice to see at least ONE Company that does not fix what isn't broken in the first place. We had something similar on our farm when I was a wee lad in the hay fields, we (my dad anyways) learned an important lesson about the machine, it can take the legs of critters in a second and never let it catch loose wire from a fence.... That educated me very early on about "Drunken Sailor Talk in MANY Languages" (my dad spoke 6).
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sparky30_06
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2016 12:30pm
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when your finished mowing coat the knifes and bar with used motor oil, paint brush and coffee can works good. this will keep rust from dulling the knife edge and they will stay sharper longer.
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RichInTheUSA
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2016 01:10pm - Edited by: RichInTheUSA
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Very cool... I've been looking for one too. Great find.
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Mountain Madness
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2016 05:04pm - Edited by: Mountain Madness
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The belt codes you are stating are industrial fractional horsepower belts. Any farm or auto parts store should be able to get you replacements.
I am not sure you want to use an automotive style V belt cogged or not. Cool mower, especially for a $160.00
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2016 06:01pm
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The 1950 Farmall Super A I recently bought came with a sickle mower, which I don't need cause there are no weeds in yellow pine forest. It's for sale, but the mounts are designed to fit only a Farmall A or Super A.
You can still buy the sharpening tools they made for these units on craigslist and elsewhere.
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 22 Jul 2016 12:32am - Edited by: KinAlberta
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We have a Jari just like the one pictured above. Amazing little tool. Bought a ours new in the 1970s but had to replace the engine in the 1990s (bit of welding required). In cutting trails we carried oil with us to keep the blades oiled and working smoothly. Currently it won't start so I have to look at it. Should have used a Honda engine when we upgraded it.
Note: there should be a little rod sticking out of the tube at the front centre above the blade. Divider rod?
https://www.jarimowers.com/manuals/monarch-manual-2015/
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hueyjazz
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# Posted: 8 Sep 2016 01:24pm
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KinAlberta
I actually email the company to find out what that little divider rod is for since it seems it built to break often. They told me it to keep the debris from building up around the eccentric wheel that does the back and forth motion. Makes sense. Bought a length of rod and made up half a dozen.
Can you tell me the belt you use for the drive sheaves? I bought a 5L340 and a 4L300 as that's what came off it but now I don't seem to be able to adjust it without the blades coming on when I engage the main drive.
I'm replacing the old Briggs with a Chinese Honda clone from Harbor Freight. From what I read on the go-kart forums these get pretty good reviews. Wouldn't be surprised if Honda had a Chinese facility that's now sticking it to them. The Honda is what they now sell them with.
I did buy a new knife bar although it did a fairly decent job with the old bar even with half the teeth broken or missing. I cut a few trail through the woods. I even had a deer watch me while I did it. To find out now the deer use these trails so I conveniently routed one past my tree stand.
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 10 Sep 2016 02:54pm - Edited by: KinAlberta
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Sorry, I can't tell you what belts to use. Getting another set is on my agenda because a neighbour that solved the starting problem (sticking choke cable accessible via inside the air filter) noted that the old belts cracking. So THANK YOU for the heads up.
One other thing with ours. The handle where it joins the frame ended up being welded to prevent it from twisting due to worn ?serrations?
The neighbour that took it and got it running tried it out and absolutely loved it.
Id say that that's a pretty amazing testimonial for a 3-4 decade old product!!!
BTW, my 25 yr old Honda mower still runs despite my very abusive use of it over the years. Repeated hits to surface roots, landscaping rocks, deep engine stalling grass and the thing never stops.
PS - keep the dogs and kids locked up when you use this. I can imagine a scenario of a dog catching up to you and stepping right in the path of the cutters.
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 10 Sep 2016 03:26pm
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Hilarious. They are using a 1978 video to sell the things! Now that's pride in your product if not fanatical cost control at its best. 
So there's basically, zero PR/marketing dollars built into their pricing. Nice!
https://www.jarimowers.com/jari-retro-demo/
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