NI Sickle jamming

It was working great at first - running low range, 3rd gear at around 1600 rpm on my MF35 without any jams or skips in mixed grass hay around 18-24" tall. Then it started to jam. It would choke and just stop cutting and I'd have clear the bar before going ahead. Got worse until I broke a pitman. While I was down replacing that, I readjusted the shims for knife-ledger clearance. No improvement - still jammed. Finished up running low range, 1st gear...real slow! Fortunately I only have a few acres, so was tolerable for the little I had left to do at that speed.

I have a nasty feeling that I may need to overhaul the whole bar, but that would probably convince me to replace it due to cost.

Can anybody give me a sort of check list to go through to try to solve the problem?

Thanks!
Chuck, WA

Thanks. Will check the alignment. The reason that no down pressure is a problem is that the mower is badly unbalanced to the bar side. The 3-pt mount can't be offset enough to get it balanced, so it tips badly to the bar side. Even the tilt adjustment of the lift (MF 35) can't compensate enough. This isn't a problem in mowing, but when I lift with the tractor lift (remember, mower lift isn't functional), at full lift, the bar droops badly. It get's the end off the ground, but not by a lot. The reason this is important for me - now don't laugh! - is that I only have a few acres, and it has underground sprinklers, and I have to mow around risers, so I have to lift at each riser.

Yes, indeed, it is a pain, and you probably wonder why I bother. I enjoy raising hay, and don't need to make a living at it, so going to all this trouble for just a few acres (embarassed to tell you, only 3+ acres) is not at all cost effective or efficient. Nevertheless, I have a waiting line to buy my hay if my first customer doesn't want it (she'll take all I can give her), so I don't have to look for a market. Of course, this also means that it's tough to put much into equipment. That's why I struggle along with what I have and have to balance repair costs against replacement, just like real farmers. However, there comes a point when it is no longer fun, and repair costs too much to justify. Maybe it's time to bite the bullet and replace with soemthing better.

Thanks again...Chuck

I hadn't seen any kind of cable arrangement like that. I do have a chain and also a nylon strap (temporary till I have time to replace with cables) running from the top of the 3-pt frame to a couple of points on the mower to try to help support, but that doesn't take care of the problem - no place to connect to give the right angle. So, if you know of any pictures on the web, please send me the link so I can take a look.

In any case, I suppose I'll be looking for a replacement, but may be slow in coming. May have to make do for another cutting.

By the way, hay got a little rain yesterday. Not too much, but enough to justify turning it last night. Was pretty nearly dry, so will take the afternoon off work and bale today. Dicey this time of year having to get it done between irrigation cycles, possible rain, and throw in normal work days and other unavoidable stuff. No wonder it's therapeutic when it all works. :)

I'm in southeast Washington, a few miles east of the TriCities (closest to Richland).

Thanks!
Chuck, WA

Thanks! I expect replacement is good advice. I understand that everything is replacable, but if I have to replace much, I might be better off replacing the whole mower. I am not attached to it for any reason, so function is the only concern. I suspect that it might be hard to find parts. I doubt New Idea is still in business, and if not, could be parts are hard to come by or not cost effective.

As for sharpening, the original knives were bottom serrated, and I did sharpen those. However, on various advice, I replaced with top serrated - in fact top serrated that have a much coarser serration than the originals. I'm not quite sure how to sharpen those. Same is true for ledger plates - I suspect the bottom knives are not sharp, but don't know how to sharpen - if they can be sharpened - and wholesale replacement at $7-10 each would probably be more expensive than I can justify, knowing that it still not might not solve the problem.

Taken all together, looks like I need to look for a replacement mower. There may be lots in Nebraska, but out here in Washington, I sure haven't seen many that wouldn't just be trading junk for junk, but I'm looking.

Thanks again! Chuck