Did the old steel pitman have a bend in it? Seems to me NI had a steel pitman on their mowers, I just can't remember which ones. Pine isn't a good substitute, as you found out. Use the oak ones. I thought my Uncle, a retired NI dealer, had said the wood pitmans were made of ash. Someone here should know. All of those mounting holes need to be in exact measurement to the original or there will be endless problems.
Another problem might be with the guards. The guards look like the non-malleable type. If so, they should have shims under the cutterbar by the bolt holes. If there are no shims, you may need to add a few to bring the front of the guard up so the the knife is a HAIR above the ledger plate (use a .013" feeler gague to check gap). That should improve your cut & reduce any binding under the knife.
You should also make sure your hold-down clips are holding the knife down. Not so tight as to bind the knife & firm enough to hold the knife close to the plate. Those clips also push the knife foreward to the front of the notch in the guard. They might also be too tight & binding or not pushing the knives all the way & plugging in front of the knife in the guard.
I learned the basics of operating a 30A behind a Farmall H as a kid & I agree that it was quite easy. What I didn't see was Grandpa, behind the scenes, cleaning, sharpening, adjusting & fine tuning. When I bought my first mower & had to do all of that fine tuning myself, I wished I was the kid on the tractor seat. I do keep up with the fine tuning, though, as I really hate to stop, unplug the mower, repeat.
P.S. If the book gives specs & clearences about the cutterbar & its associated parts, take the info with a grain of salt. Decades of use are murder on the tolerances & nothing will be exactly by the book i.e. the afforementioned clearence of .013" between the knife & ledger plate in some spots will be closer to .030".
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