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Sickle bar mower clogging

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JHunt

06-12-2002 00:21:06




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Gettin' to be that time again and am getting a sinking feeling remembering last year. Bought a 7' Massey Ferguson, Model 31, Dyna-balance mower off a guy that dabbles in farm equipment last spring. He made this mower from two bad ones. One had bad "crankshaft" and one had a bent frame. The sickle was actually in good condition but rusty so I went all out since I figure on using it a long time. Bought a whole new bar with the sections. Replaced about 1/3 of the worst guards with new ones and put new ledger plates on the rest. Sighting along the ledger plates it is arrow-straight after a few hours of tweaking. Have all new hold-downs and have them adjusted so that they just barely rub the sections. Now for the problem. I cannot cut hardly anything with it. It clogs up almost instantly, especially on the ends. I have been told it may be "out of time" but watching the blades as I turn it over by hand it seems like it should cut. Only other possible problem is that the new hold-downs are stamped steel instead of cast and do stick up a little farther that the old cast ones. I doubt this is the problem though, since you have to have the high ones where the root of the sickle is. Any help would be REALLY apreciated by me. My "old" Massey pitman mower would cut circles around this thing and it was worn to death. Thanks.

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Joe in MO

06-12-2002 07:23:18




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 Re: Sickle bar mower clogging in reply to JHunt, 06-12-2002 00:21:06  
I have a MF 31 as well, you must make sure the timing is set right as mentioned before, you also need to set it up like the manual mentions, where the 3 point is up a certain amount of inches,, (sorry dont have my book with me) dont bring it down all the way, the bar also MUST lead forward a bit and make sure your angle the bar is set up, you may even have it tilt up a hair, if it is tilted down, it will clog, it took a long time to finally figure mine out, and it works pretty well, I went to a haybine as I can cut faster with this and increases drying time, my sickle now is on standby if I break that.. if you dont have a manual, let me know and I can get a copy.. there are a lot of adjustments on this machine you can tweak, but it does cut very well, but will clog during at the end if you go over already cut hay as well as gopher holes...

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Murray Dunn

06-12-2002 07:05:20




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 Re: Sickle bar mower clogging in reply to JHunt, 06-12-2002 00:21:06  
I think others have covered everything which could be wrong. I can ASSURE you that the Dyna Balance mower is ABSOLUTELY the best cutter of all. I had a model 25 or 35 and later had a IHC and now have a New Holland. Massey would cut in 4th with a Ford 850 through heavy hay. Only problem was hard to mount.



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jal-SD

06-12-2002 06:46:53




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 Re: Sickle bar mower clogging in reply to JHunt, 06-12-2002 00:21:06  
I've cut lots of hay w/sickle mowers. Its important that hold down clips keep the sickle down into the ledger plates. They should rub slightly on the ledger plates. Timing is also VERY important. The sickle MUST change direction with the nose (pointed part) of the section EXACTLY under the guard, in both directions. Timing on our old M-H mower was accomplished by adjusting the bar forward or backward. You might have to do some grinding to make enough room for this to happen if the mower you have is made out of two. I think bars & frames may have been "factory fit" for timing & you may have to re-create a "factory fit" if you have a different frame & bar combination. BTW, We used to carry a 4lb hammer to adjust the clips as they wore. Amazing what a tap or two will do on the clips to hold the sicklw down. Also, if you are cutting what we called "prairie hay" (i.e.-native grass) in SD, you have to do it when there is absolutely no moisture (dew) on the grass, or you'll always have problems w/plugging. Let us know how your solution to the problem progresses. (My $0.02 worth. jal-SD)

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old fashioned farmer

06-12-2002 05:17:56




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 Re: Sickle bar mower clogging in reply to JHunt, 06-12-2002 00:21:06  
One other thing you might check is your clamps on the bar. Make sure they're down far enough that they don't allow your blade to come up enough to let grass clog under it.



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Chris

06-12-2002 04:59:47




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 Re: Sickle bar mower clogging in reply to JHunt, 06-12-2002 00:21:06  
My experience with sickle mowers (and thats not much) Has proved to me that usually when they will not cut anything and choking on the end. The bar is usually not straight out from the tractor. The end is hanging back just a little. It should be moved to where the swathboard is just a little ahead of the heel.



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Chris

06-12-2002 04:54:45




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 Re: Sickle bar mower clogging in reply to JHunt, 06-12-2002 00:21:06  
My experience with sickle mowers (and thats not much) Has proved to me that usually when they will not cut anything and choking on the end. The bar is usually not straight out from the tractor. The end is hanging back just a little. It should be moved to where the swathboard is just a little ahead of the heel.



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F14

06-12-2002 03:53:38




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 Re: Sickle bar mower clogging in reply to JHunt, 06-12-2002 00:21:06  
Well, I'm a complete nub when it comes to sicklebars, I've operated one for a total of about an hour in my life.

On my AC #3, knife timing is critical. Rotate the crank slowly and watch the knives. They should travel pretty much EXACTLY the same distance on either side of the guard. If they travel further from the guard on the outstroke than on the instroke (or vice-versa), it's out of time. On my AC, even a LITTLE difference in stroke makes a BIG difference in cutting quality.

Thick, heavy, wet grass will clog no matter what, but I expect you know that.

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JHunt

06-12-2002 22:55:09




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 Re: Re: Sickle bar mower clogging in reply to F14, 06-12-2002 03:53:38  
Thanks alot for all the responses. I did forget to mention that last summer I did play around with the lead of the bar and it didn't seem to help much. It was back some and I pushed it ahead so that the swathboard is an inch or better in front of the hinge of the bar. It is hard to get a precise figure the way I have my wheels adjusted on the tractor(850 Ford). If I remember correctly, the sections stop and reverse at least fairly closely centered over the guards, but I was looking for it to be off quite a bit and not a small amount as mentioned. I was thinking that to be out of time it would have to have a spline turned or something and didn't know there was any fine adjustment on it. The manual would really be a big help and I have been looking on ebay for one but haven't seen one for a Model 31 yet. I do have everything nice and snug on the bar as I learned all that with the old pitman mower. Most of what I'm cutting is fairly thin stuff. My biggest problem is variations between thick and thin that always gave me problems with the pitman mower getting it to lay good and wanting to fall foward at the transitions. At one point, it had about 3/16" gap between the sections and ledger plates and still cut better than this thing does although it did clog easy in that condition, also. I will have to give the timing a closer look and maybe try some different settings on the three point. I know it has the capability of cutting good, especially with all the parts in tip top shape. I wanted to sell my old mower this spring but I am afraid to until I get this thing straightened out. Thanks again.

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JOE in MO

06-13-2002 07:48:50




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 Re: Re: Re: Sickle bar mower clogging in reply to JHunt, 06-12-2002 22:55:09  
The Manual for the 31 is identical to the 41, the big difference is that the had is one piece cast on the 31 and welded steel on the 41.



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JOE in MO

06-13-2002 07:43:47




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 Re: Re: Re: Sickle bar mower clogging in reply to JHunt, 06-12-2002 22:55:09  
The Manual for the 31 is identical to the 41, the big difference is that the had is one piece cast on the 31 and welded steel on the 41.



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