Sickle Bar Sickle mower bar question

[mikeydchicago34]

I recently acquired a ford sickle cutter and have completely refurbished and repaired all the parts. When putting the sickle bar back into the mower it binds up at the end on the ledger plates. I dont remember if i was able to move the sickle with my hands in and out before i took it apart. Should i be able to move the sickle bar manually with ease back and forth or should it have some stick in it to keep the contact. Thanks for all the help!

 

[JDeerekid]

You should be able to move it by hand.

 

[flusher]

I recently acquired a ford sickle cutter and have completely refurbished and repaired all the parts. When putting the sickle bar back into the mower it binds up at the end on the ledger plates. I dont remember if i was able to move the sickle with my hands in and out before i took it apart. Should i be able to move the sickle bar manually with ease back and forth or should it have some stick in it to keep the contact. Thanks for all the help!

You need to be able to move the sicklebar with you hands. If you can't, it's either jammed at one of the guards or not properly adjusted. The gap between the sickle sections and the ledger plates should be as small as possible without causing the bar to jam. You can use a section of pipe as a lever to bend the malleable iron guards up or down to set that gap. I use that method on my MF-41 sicklebar and it works fine.