Sickle Bar MF sickle mower woes...

[dixiedrifter]

I'm in the process of trying to get an old MF 41 Dyna Balance Mower up and running again.

I have just about come to the conclusion that these things are pieces of junk.

Common problems:

Broken balancer arm (part that fits under the lift arm of the tractor)

Warped frame (thats whats the matter with mine)

Broken blade driver (where the cutterbar attaches to the gearbox)

No shims between final drive pulley sheaves (gotta rev the crap out of your tractor to get the thing running at the right RPM)

Rock guards and blade not fitting flush (another problem with mine and others I have seen)

Anyways, I am building a new frame out of some common sized steel so that problem should be taken care of this week.

My only other "problem" is on the cutterbar. It seems the rock guards do not fit very well. It almost seems that the guards are a bit bent to varying degrees. The knife blades just do not want to fit flush against the ledger plates (which are nearly brand new). Bending the retaining clips down against the knives helps a bit, but tends to want to bind the blade up too much. I've found that a shim made out an aluminum can top placed under the back of the rock guard where it bolts on seems to get the guard closer to where its supposed to be but its not exact.

Would it be safe to heat up the middle of the guards with a torch and encourage them with a hand sledge to move closer to the blade? Sure would be cheaper than trying to buy new guards at $7 a pop.

Also, one of my blades is worn quite a bit and I would like to just go ahead and replace all the blade sections. Could I use bolts instead of rivets? That would save me a lot of time.

 

[RonR]

I'm not familiar with this brand of mower, but here's some common things I used to know about sickles and maintenance of them.

When the guards seemed loose, we used to adjust them with a few hammer blows. We never heated them as I guessed they were heat treated and that might weaken them.

As for replacing individual sickles, you can buy a tool that punch out the rivets (have to remove the guard over that sickle). One end of the tool uses a screw down punch to remove the rivets and the other end uses a screw down punch to reset the new rivets.

If you are replacing all the sickles, it is much easier to remove the sickle from the mower. Find or build a heavy anvil with a straight edge that you can place the backing bar flush with. Then with a big hammer, strike the rear of the individual sickle. This will shear the rivets and you can easily punch out the remainder from the backing bar.

Of course, you need to keep the backing bar flush to the anvil, in order not to bend it.

Replacing the rivets would be faster and better than bolts--not sure bolts would clear and I don't think you'd ever keep them tight. You can buy a sickle punch that helps form the rivet head for installation.

As for your slippage, if this is an old unit, is the belt stretched? Is there any way to tighten it?

I hope this info helps. Best wishes,
Ron

 

[HayDR]

Look at the drum mowers.
-No more sickle sections to have to change.
-No more guards to replace
-No more clogs of hay
-No more waiting for the grass to dry
-No more wasted days mowing all day for a few acres of hay

 

[dixiedrifter]

Those drum mowers are a little on the small side for my tractor. So's a sickle, but hey if it works...

The way I figure it, if I can dump $300 into rebuilding the mower I got, then I can keep the 2 grand for something else, such as a new baler.

Right now, my hay operation is just too small to justify going to a disc mower (20 acres).

Its true sickle mowers are slower and prone to plugging, but if kept properly adjusted, and run at the correct speed, they can lay down quite a bit of hay in a days time.

And, when they do break, they are generally a whole lot cheaper to fix.

 

[armyret]

If you have the manual for the mower, read it ,for it provides a lot of problem areas that are addressed. I have the same mower and it is a good one. Perhaps yours was abused.
They do require maintance. Good Luck

 

[dixiedrifter]

The mower used to belong to my grandfather (RIP), and I can still remember going out and helping him hook it onto the old AC D14. That old mower has seen a lot of acres and many thousands of square bales have been cut with it. I remember as a runt I used to help him hook onto it, and I was there when he slung a bearing in the gearbox. So it does have some special meaning to me.

I used to have the manual somewhere, but things got shuffled around by my grandmother over the years and no tellings where its at now.

I'm going to the massey dealer later today. Hopefully the one I ordered will be there.

 

[slowrev]

Yeah, but drum mowers are not all +'s. They are noisy, throw things, cost more, and more to repair. All of the differences are not +'s. With all that said I would still have one if not for the cost, they are fast !

 

[Egon]

For that mower; just keep on working on it. It will soon be back to what you remember.

Egon /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[nomad]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Yeah, but drum mowers are noisy, throw things, cost more, and more to repair. )</font>

Agree. But the cost? I can buy one new 5.5' drum mower here for $1000. Is this expensive? It must be very expensive there?

 

[JRobyn]

I bought some nifty adjustable hold-downs from Mid-Continent Mfg that solved some of the knife-ledger gap and adjustment problems. I also replaced all of my guards since they were bent in various ways like yours. Mid-C had single guards for a little over $4ea. Most guards are SUPPOSED to be malleable cast iron so they can be "adjusted" a bit with the sledge!