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OLIVER Sickle Mower Rides Again!

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Paul R.

09-26-2002 03:21:52




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Got the last few problems ironed out on my Oliver 355 mower restoration. Spent all summer on this beast, replaced bearings, repaired pulleys, installed new stone guards and knife...don't ask how many hours I spent, wife's mad already.

The knife was binding when lowered, finally got the stone guards hammered into the right position and I could spin it by hand easily. Hooked 'er up, slapped on the drive shaft, started the tractor, and let the clutch out easy. Dang! It's working!! Watched it run for a few minutes, oiled up the knife, then drove out back and went to work. She cuts great! Very little vibration, no clattering, just a nice sewing-machine sound, and the grass goes down!

This unit was laying in a swamp for 20+ years until I hauled it out last spring. Now it's been de-rusted, primed and painted Oliver green, with white stone guards. Looks nice! Oliver sure built 'em good!

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Geoffrey

09-26-2002 19:38:59




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 Re: OLIVER Sickle Mower Rides Again! in reply to Paul R., 09-26-2002 03:21:52  
You don't know where I can find parts for the Oliver sickle mowers do you? I have a 22-A that needs about 15 new guards, a pto shaft, knife wear plates, clips, etc. I want the original Oliver parts. You can see my mower at the link below.
Geoffrey



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Paul R.

09-27-2002 03:30:56




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 Re: Re: OLIVER Sickle Mower Rides Again! in reply to Geoffrey, 09-26-2002 19:38:59  
Not much luck on original parts. I've looked at several swap meets, but had no luck.

I took the old parts into the local Tractor Supply store, and I found a darn close match for the knife. Same size, shape, ball on the end. Same for the stone guards, though I had to adapt some to fit exactly. My mower had several replacement guards on it already from years past, and this seems to be pretty common. After nearly 50 years, most of the surviving implements have had replacement parts installed.

The wear plates and hold-down clips are also "universal" replacements from the tractor store, but they work great. Painted Oliver green, they look good and got the old beast back into operation.

I picked up copies of the manuals from the Floyd County museum, and the optional stone guards listed in the parts book look exactly like the replacement ones I bought. The original hold-down clips were cast metal, and they just didn't last. The new ones are stamped steel, and far more durable. Since I needed to use this mower, I had to compromise when it came to originality vs. function.

The PTO shaft is still giving me problems. The rear half was still attached to the mower, but the front was long gone. I've adapted the front end from my Woods RM59 finish mower, but it's not a great fit. This winter, I'll work up a better replacement in the machine shop. Again, the currently available replacement parts look and function just like the original PTO shafts. I'd almost rather have a new PTO shaft running behind me anyway, rather that constantly worrying about an original one flying apart suddenly.

I wish you luck finding original parts. If I were to find some, I'll buy them, but I'm happy it's running again for now.

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Kevin

09-26-2002 17:16:57




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 Re: OLIVER Sickle Mower Rides Again! in reply to Paul R., 09-26-2002 03:21:52  
Great to hear about the old being brought back to life and working better than the new garbage out there!



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