Sickle Mower Again

Danny Prosser · Apr 29, 2019

Thanks for all of the replies and help with the other question I had about how to sharpen one. Yesterday I was back out at my property and was using it some and noticed it kept getting clogged up so I decided to just quit and look everything over good. Well what I found was grass is getting between the sickle and the bottom guard section. So I cleaned it out and found that there is space between them and if I press the sickle down they go together. So I'm thinking that the part of the hold down clamp that rides on the bar has worn allowing them to separate. I read one of the answers on my other question said to put a block of wood under the hold down part and hit the rounded up part with a hammer to make it hold down more. Is that what I need to do? Thanks for all of your help this is the first one I've ever had or operated.

Brian G. NY · Apr 29, 2019

That's exactly how its done.
Once in a while a guard will get bent down from hitting a rock as well but that's pretty rare.
There was a lot of good info in those other posts....you would be wise to look your whole mower over real good to be sure all the points mentioned are covered.

Leroy · Apr 29, 2019

Correct was for pressed steel hold downs but not for a forged or cast hold down like most on knife head are. Those are not bendable. But before you try that take the hold down off and clean things very good and check for shims under the bacl side of the hold down. The back side of the hold down is also supposed to hold back side of knife down and only way to adjust that is with the shims. You need to make sure that is correct before you start trying to bend the front part. The front part will wear a lot faster than the back part. Now there were a few that did not have the back part to hold the back side of the knife so if you would have that then just leave out the adjusting that part first.

Bruce from Can. · Apr 29, 2019

I remember my dad?s old IH mower guards having replaceable ledger plates. You could knock the rivet out through the back of the guard and the ledger plate would fall off . New guards don?t have replacement ledgers, and once wore down, you have to change the guards. So just to explain further, the ledger plate is the part of the guard that the section cuts against. A sickle bar mower works like a pair of scissors, and both the section and the ledger must touch, just like the two blades on the scissors to work perfectly.

PJH · Apr 29, 2019

It's not unusual to bend a sickle section downward. That will cause a few neighboring sections to ride high and cause the gaps like you're seeing. So - if you pull the knife out of the unit, you should be able to eyeball longways down the tips of the sections and see nearly perfect alignment. If any are not aligned, they will cause their neighbors to cut poorly.

Also - you can sharpen the sides of the guards that do not have replaceable ledger plates. There should be a nice crisp corner with a little relief on the guard edges. If the cutting edges of the guards are rounded, they need either sharpened or replaced. Eventually you'll sharpen them down to where they will need replaced.

jeffcat · Apr 29, 2019

You are asking a whole lot of questions. Here is a video to show you sharpening but you need to go on Utube and look around at other videos. Some of them are pretty good but you will need to watch and get comfortable with what you are jumping into. When a mower is set up correctly it is almost magical how nicely they work. I actually built my own knife. Bought the strap steel piece and then took the old one and used it as a template for drilling the holes. Hours of work so be patient. To know your clips are adjusted correctly, if you lift up and down when 5he blade is within the guard, the knife should touch the guard plate on a knife section it should just barely wiggle up and down. Watch this video and then watch about a dozen more. With this video he is riviting from the top down. I did mine bottom up. He also needs a BIGGER hammer. You should be able to crown a rivet in five or six hits. Don't get frustrated because you will not believe how nicely the mower will work when done. Best thing of all is if you can find an old owners manual. They usually are very thorough on how to do it.
Sharpen

redforlife · Apr 29, 2019

There needs to be a tiny bit of clearance between sections and gaurds, otherwise it will run hot (big no no), and if things are to tight, your belt or pitman stick won't move the sickle. I am guessing you need new hold downs and wear plates under back side of sickle.

Just another point of advice, if your mower has been sitting outside and the sickle and bar got all rusty, it will usually not mow real good and clog up on the bar untill things get shined up. This is a problem that don't last real long if that's the reason. It only takes about an hour or less of mowing to get the rust knocked off. I am guessing you have hold down and plate problems though.

Also, no matter how good you got things, you can't mow when it's wet or even dewy. Or in the evening or at night when things are tuff. You probly already know this.

I usually use top serated sections. In my opinion, if the seration starts pulling things through the gaurd, it's pulling things through on top helping out your hold down, and not pulling things through underneath working against the cutting edge of the gaurd.

Traditional Farmer · Apr 29, 2019

I cut all my hay with a sickle bar mower and can say that its good to have good guards,everything adjusted up right,etc.But nothing will improve its performance more than a new sickle
assembly and no matter what you do it'll never cut like it should without new sections.Sharpening is at best a half azzed way to go.I have bought a lot of sickle bar mowers in my life of various brands and models and have NEVER bought one yet with a sickle assembly I would try to go cut hay with.

Brian G. NY · Apr 29, 2019

(quoted from post at 14:13:03 04/29/19) Correct was for pressed steel hold downs but not for a forged or cast hold down like most on knife head are. Those are not bendable.

Actually, most of those hold downs that "look" like cast iron are actually malleable and are meant to be adjusted by hammering just like the steel ones.

Brian G. NY · Apr 29, 2019

Actually, most new guards do have ledger plates, at least the ones I've seen..

Brian G. NY · Apr 29, 2019

And......one more thing that should be done when setting up a sickle bar mower.

The cut bar should have about 2" of "lead".....in other words, the outer end of the cut bar should run ahead of the inner end rather than run perfectly perpendicular to the mower frame and tractor.
The mower will cut much better when it is set up with some "lead".

Bob · Apr 29, 2019

(quoted from post at 22:56:18 04/29/19) And......one more thing that should be done when setting up a sickle bar mower.

The cut bar should have about 2" of "lead".....in other words, the outer end of the cut bar should run ahead of the inner end rather than run perfectly perpendicular to the mower frame and tractor.
The mower will cut much better when it is set up with some "lead".

In reality, the "lead" is set with the mower parked/stationary, so that when the cutterbar is "loaded" backwards while in use it is perpendicular to the direction of forward movement. NO need for it to "lead" under loaded working conditions.

Under working conditions, 2" of cutterbar lead would be as detrimental to easy mowing function as the cutterbar trailing backwards by 2".

GordoSD · Apr 30, 2019

You can buy or make a "guard bender". a three foot piece of well pipe
e and a loop welded onto the end. You can bend the guards up or down about .075 inches to get the space you need. I set my mower up with a FEELER GAUGE. RUle of thumb is smooth section for serrated guard, serrated section for smooth guards. Buy a whole new bar assembly from your local farm store.

Brian G. NY · Apr 30, 2019

In reality, the "lead" is set with the mower parked/stationary, so that when the cutterbar is "loaded" backwards while in use it is perpendicular to the direction of forward movement. NO need for it to "lead" under loaded working conditions.

Under working conditions, 2" of cutterbar lead would be as detrimental to easy mowing function as the cutterbar trailing

You are absolutely correct.....it is like putting the "bow" in your 2 X 10 floor joist up.....it will tend straighten "under its working load".

Leroy · Apr 30, 2019

In my 75 years never found a guard you could bend like that. Andfor years everything came with both serated ledger plates and sections. Never used anything else. Smooth are for lawn quality grass. And his mower he would have to buy parts to fit a different make as none were bade for that mower in the past 50 years. He would only be able to get parts with the try and match method.

stonerock · May 1, 2019

run new guards and sections never sharpen them waste of time

Leroy · May 2, 2019

I don't think there is any new guards made that will fit his mower, may be wrong on that. Would like to actually see where thy are avaible and price. Remembering my mower of his make (David Bradley) I think they were so different nothing else will fit. Can some one come up with a parts list for him? David Bradley pull type PTO powered mower sold by Sears 1956 and earlier and no parts for machinery sold by sears at least as early as the mid 70's. I would also like to see a copy of that parts list. Or an operators manual. Finding parts for that is not like finding for a John Deere or IHC.

Sickle Mower Again

Danny Prosser

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Brian G. NY

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Leroy

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Bruce from Can.

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PJH

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jeffcat

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redforlife

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Traditional Farmer

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Brian G. NY

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Brian G. NY

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Brian G. NY

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Bob

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stonerock

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