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Sharpening a sickle mower?

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DANDY

12-13-2000 17:22:30




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Any ideas how, what tools, where, how hard?




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Paul (WI)

12-14-2000 18:49:16




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 Re: Sharpening a sickle mower? in reply to DANDY, 12-13-2000 17:22:30  
Back in the 60's I worked in an orchard and for sharpening sickles we had a v shaped stone that chucked in a 1/2" electric drill. There was a knob with a bearing on the outside end so that you could hold the drill with one hand and help support the other end with the knob. It worked quite well until one day when the stone caught my loose shirt and wound my arms up in my shirt and finally stalled the drill. I escaped with a small grind mark on my chest.

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JoeK

12-14-2000 15:50:51




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 Re: Sharpening a sickle mower? in reply to DANDY, 12-13-2000 17:22:30  
We had a V-belt drive arbor(small) mounted on a 2x6 nailed on top of a sawhorse and driven by a 1/4 hp electric motor to sharpen all ours with for many years.Used the "double cone" stone mentioned here.Due to length and awkwardness of the sickle its very difficult to use the common direct drive bench grinder unless all the guards and "other" stone are removed and the motor housing is small.



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TJ

12-14-2000 09:47:56




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 Re: Sharpening a sickle mower? in reply to DANDY, 12-13-2000 17:22:30  

I dont know where you live but in Minnesota the state and county dont use sickle mowers any more So at there surplus sales thy have been selling there old sharpners thy look like a radial arm saw with a V shaped stone thy worked great and the were selling cheap under $30.00 watch for a auction maybe you get lucky



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Wayne Foemmel

12-13-2000 22:03:06




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 Re: Sharpening a sickle mower? in reply to DANDY, 12-13-2000 17:22:30  
Grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin in 50's and 60's. My dad used to mow hay with a Farmall H and after every 8 acres the sickle needed sharpening. We would take the sicle out of the mover and he used a v shaped stone grinder. I use to hold one end to steady if for him. Sparks would fly like crazy. The sickle was moved up and down the stone 4 of 5 times for each v in the sickle. Usually we would have one or two blades to replace that was worn beyond sharpening. It would take us 20 to 30 minutes to do the job.

We mowed about 100 acres every year.

Asked an old farmer. He can do it blinded folded.

Wayne

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Scott(Ks.)

12-13-2000 21:17:51




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 Re: Sharpening a sickle mower? in reply to DANDY, 12-13-2000 17:22:30  
I suggest you buy yourself a couple of extra sickles, smooth for grass hay and serrated for stemmy hay such as clover or alfalfa. Lyle is right on what he says on the pitman register, it must center on the ledger on each stroke. Zane is right about the grinder. Sickle mowers can be sharpened sucessfully. I have heard that swathers are a different story. Back when I was doing hay I had an old neighbor that sharpened sickles for part time money. I would take them to him and he had a setup that would clamp them in a special vise so the right angle could be maintained. I also have some spring loaded holddown clips that replace the plain metal ones that come on the mower. They work really well in keeping the sickle down on the ledger plates. I think I got them at T.S.C. years ago. Find an old farmer that still cuts a little hay with a sickle mower in your area, He'll know someone that still sharpens sickles. I would use a newly sharpened sickle for each long day. Approximately 20-25 acres. It worked well for me.

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Lyle

12-13-2000 20:29:58




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 Re: Sharpening a sickle mower? in reply to DANDY, 12-13-2000 17:22:30  
Do yourself a favor and when you need to replace any of the knives on the cutter bar, replace them with the serrated edges. These knives aren't supposed to need sharpening ever. If your ledger plates are worn bad enough to need replacing, your are better off buying the whole guard.You can get them from Farm & Country pretty reasonable. One of the most common reasons that I have found with sickle bar mowers is that someone has replaced the wooden pitman arm and didn't get it measured or drilled just right.The knife must end up with the point of the knife directly in the middle of a guard when at the end of it's stroke.Good Luck

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ZANE

12-13-2000 18:16:05




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 Re: Sharpening a sickle mower? in reply to DANDY, 12-13-2000 17:22:30  
Their used to be a pretty common grinding stone that was shaped with a "V" to fit in between two sections of the blade from the cutter bar.

The blade can also be sharpened with a side grinder after the cutter blade has been removed from the cutter bar

At one time the blades of the rock guards could be replaced but it really was not too practicle because most of the time the blind rivet would not come out of the old rock guard and so you couldn't replace the cutting edge of the rock guard. Usually if the sections are sharp the mower will cut even if the rock guards are a little rough.

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Brad

12-13-2000 22:03:44




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 Re: Re: Sharpening a sickle mower? in reply to ZANE, 12-13-2000 18:16:05  
I worked at a Repair/Blacksmith shop when I was a kid. We had a fixture someone had built that used those stones. The thing was long enough to bolt the whole sickle bar down on it and it had the stone mounted on a motor bolted to a cantilevered arraingment that ran on slides that ran the length of the bed. You'd start at one end and swing the motor and stone to sharpen the cutters, slide over and do it again. When the hay cuttings rolled around I'd have ten or twelve a day to sharpen. I'd always have three or four cutters to change out, you hoped they weren't on the drive end where the bar looped over and doubled up. Those rivets took a fair amount of cussin' to move. Sure did hate messin' with those things!

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