Sickle mower

Sickle mowers do not work well in damp conditions, such as dew or high-humidity days. Stemmy crops such as alfalfa mow better under these conditions.

Old hay that has grown, fallen over, & regrown all year does not mow at all with a sickle mower. This is just miserable to get through, even with a mower in like new condition. It will take a LOT of cussing if this is the situation you have at this time of year.

On the other hand, young, short, fine-stemmed grass does not cut well either.

In tough conditions like any of the above, what works at 10:00am one day, will not work at 3:30pm the next day, depending on breezes, humidity, etc.

Most of the time I go slower & slower to find a speed that works. Once in a great while going faster actually helps.

But most of all, follow the other advise to get your mower set & aligned properly.

--->Paul

2. It may be worth while to find someone familiar with sickle mowers and have them look at it. I am only three seasons into it myself. An old-timer might see something that isn't obvious. One big thing on mine was the pitman was never the right length. I finally put my engineering backround to work and manually advanced the mower and saw that the sections never ended up in the right spot withing the guards. Also, look at where you can see wear marks on the sections. Ideally it is even and not too worn on the sections by each hold-down. If not, one or two spots could be too loose or too tight.

3. Have all and keep all pto guards in place. I have had two mowers destroyed and put my own self at risk because of missing guards. Grass or even the trip cable for the raise/lower on a geared unit can wind up in the pto shaft in 1/20th of a second. You will not be able to shut down in time to prevent some kind of damage.

4. Remind yourself and other bystanders that the blades and bar are dangerous. Do not put your hands so as they can get caught in the teeth when you raise/lower the bar. My in-laws have an uncle who was injured as a three-year-old by a mower (horse-drawn at that).

Be careful and think about sunny days mowing,
Jim

That will explain things like knife register, bar lead, and the proper height of knives above rock guards.

Good luck. Many of us have trod the path you're starting on. Be careful.