How to adjust, tune, sharpen or repair a sickle ba

I can't get sickle mower advice from a dealer..the old timers are retired and the new guys are all disc mower addicts.

What I am looking for is real down to earth, practical advice from guys, like GeorgeKY, on how to keep my MF 41 mower cutting well. It has the 8 ft bar with double rock guards at $30 each..does not have replaceable ledger plates. What type sections would you recommend for grass hay?. How often should I buy a whole new cutter bar? How do you sharpen sections in the machine? Will new sections cut well on old worn guards/ledgers? Any way to sharpen ledger plates? What does plugging of grass between the tip of the section and the front of the guard mean? How do I adjust the hold down clips on the blade? Is that important?

I read your messages that say that a well adjusted sickle mower has a certain sound...what is it.. and how do i get there?

Thanks for all the practical advice. Its is almost hay time and my mower needs a good tune-up.

Several more questions. Is it easier to replace several sections if the entire blade is out of the bar. How? Put in a vise, grind off the heads of the rivets and replace?

When you advise to adjust the hold down clips with a hammer...can you really hit them hard enough to bend them without damaging the bar?

These expensive double guards seem to fit only this MF41 mower and no other universally available guard fits. to change 20 guards at $30 each is more expensive than the value of the mower.The ledgers can not be replaced, and seem to be rounded so I'm not sure how to tackle that situation.

Last question, I have another Massey M41 mower and I need to change the plastic bushings that carry the gear box. Any advice on how to get the pully off the crankshaft without ruining something?

Again, thnks for the help. It is a lot easier to fix something when I understand what I am trying to accomplish.

I find its easier to use the cutoff wheel in the die grinder to cut of the rivet flush with the section then use a 5/32" punch to push the rivet out.

When you have several sections to replace and the bar out, you can rest the bar on the vise with the section clamped loosely in the vise jaws and a couple whacks with a 2 or 3 pound hammer will quickly shear the rivets. You want to hit the back of the section. So I've been told.

It won't ever cut good with rounded ledger corners on the guards. Are you sure you can't replace all the guards with universal guards?

Look at Shoup (www.shoup.com) and other farm stores for guards to fit. Maybe Sloan Express (www.sloanex.com).

Then you may need to find out who made the mower for MF and will then find the parts more reasonably. That $30 sounds like mark up on retail, maybe twice.

Gerald J.

this old girl cuts like she's has PMS. An old timer showed me the secrets of ADJ and Dont think they are any different on yours..

Gerald J.

Link

The sickle mower cuts with a scissors action, so when the guards/ledger plates wear rounded it doesn't cut well.

Its often easier to buy a whole sickle bar than to replace sections when they are worn. Sickle sections that are plain without serrations can be sharpened but the equipment is rare these days. I know Randall Machine and Welding still has a sickle grinder but I don't know if its been used in 25 years. You take the sickle bar out for sharpening, its usually not difficult, you disconnect the drive mechanism and slide it out. Sickle grinders have a double coned grinding wheel, you've probably seen them and didn't recognize them.

Its vital for the sickle sections to ride solidly on the bottom of the slot in the guards. Sometimes you have to shim individual guards to achieve that and you have to be sure the hold downs aren't too worn. Grass collecting in the guards hints that grass isn't always being cut. Hold downs do wear and replacement is often all that will correct for that wear, though some stamped versions might bend when hit with a large enough hammer while supported on a sturdy anvil, but they might also shatter.

Often there are universal guards that will fit bought from the local farm store to save on the Agco cost these days. But you may have to pick carefully, when one local farm store had their going out of business half price sale they relabeled all the guards with the same catalog number (and at twice the presale price).

Then there's screws vs rivets. Screws are really liked on the large combine grain table, so far I'm still using rivets but I can see how changing sections with screws would be a lot simpler.

Gerald J.