Sections wont line up with guards

[Paul3139]

I disassembled the knife on a John Deere 350 sickle mower to replace the sections. When I started reassembling it, the new sections are either rubbing the guards or have a 3/16 " gap. Any suggestions? I've never messed with a sickle mower and I'm a bit lost. Any suggestions?

 

[Farmerford]

Paul:

If the knife back is straight in both planes, so that the sections are parallel to the cutter bar, then the guards must be out of line. You should be able to see that the guards are out of line when you sight down the points.John Deere guards are forged steel, so they are not harmed by a healthy blow from a heavy hammer to drive the guard up or down as required.

But I am a little confused; it seems the old sections did not have the clearance problems that the new ones have. That suggests that perhaps the guards are not out of line and that there is another problem.

 

[rockinmywaypa]

One of life big frustrations is trying to keep guards straight. One thing I noticed on my mo-co is that the guards wore away an area underneath the bar that allowed the guards to tip up. A day working upside down under the thing with a welder and grinder straightened it out pretty well and got the tips pointing where they were supposed to be. Then the sections had already slightly bent and had to be hammered back into shape. None of this should be done the day you want to be cutting.

 

[Paul3139]

The hammering and some new hold downs that work with the bolts and some shims under them did the trick. Its not perfect but it's doing the job. I'll tell you this though, working on unfamiliar equipment without a manual sucks. Thanks guys