Sickle Bar sickle mower doesn't cut good

[Mosey]

sickle mower doesn\'t cut good

I recently bought a Ford 515 sickle mower. I gave it a complete lube job and used it for the first time a couple days ago. Everything works good, except it doesn’t cut as well as I had hoped. I’m using it to cut grass that’s about 2’ tall at the edge of a ditch bank and under trees.

After it cuts the grass, the grass just lays on top of the cutter bar. So, I have to back up to get the grass off. I’ve tried angling the bar so the guards point up, but that didn’t help. I took a closer look and some of the grass is getting stuck in the guards in front of the knife sections. It also doesn’t cut real good even if there is no grass laying on it. Most of the knife sections are not down tight against the ledger plates on the guards. Can the guards get bent down? Or, can the knife sections get bent up? Can I bend them back with a hammer or will they break if I pound on them?

The manual suggests using “cut-free guards”, has anyone ever used these? Will it cost a fortune to replace all of the guards and knife sections? Thanks.

 

[Egon]

Re: sickle mower doesn\'t cut good

The memory is faint on the sickle bar mowers but I do know that the bar must be tight on the ledger plates.
Perhaps shims might be used to adjust these. I just can't recall how it was done but think it invoved the entire tooth ?? rather than under the plate ???

 

[Mosey]

Re: sickle mower doesn\'t cut good

I just noticed where I missed something in the manual the first time through. It says to “align the guards by striking the forward end up or down with a hammer”. It also says the knife clips can be adjusted by “striking the forward end of the clip up or down”. So, I guess I’ll get my hammer out and start wacking!

 

[rf33]

Re: sickle mower doesn\'t cut good

Gotta love an implement which describes doing adjustments with a hammer/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Aint farm equipment great.

 

[Ozarker]

Re: sickle mower doesn\'t cut good

First time I ever heard that the correct technical procedure was "get a bigger hammer". I love it.

 

[skipperbrown]

Re: sickle mower doesn\'t cut good

Mosey,

I used to use a sickle mower some 25 yrs ago when I was a kid. I remember it didn't cut very well and complaining to my dad (who used to work for Oliver). He told me the blade wasn't aligned correctly. How so? He loosened the blade at the frame so it would easily pivot towards the bow/stern of the tractor (in boat speak). Next, he had me engage the blade. Chatter, chatter, chatter. He instructed me to come around to the back of the blade and look at the blade in motion. He said look closely at the blade and you can see where it changes direction. He was right. Sorta like a flickering. The motion stopped near the center b/w the guard blades. Next he carefully got on the end of the blade and pivoted it towards the bow (front) of the tractor. The blade change in direction *moved* from the center b/w the guards to the center of the guards. He told me to stop the tractor and he tightened the blade arm and the improvement was dramatic. He explained to me that the guards divide the grass and the blade wacks it down. However, the blade wasn't traveling completely from one guard to the other, rather stopped in the center and some of the grass didn't get cut. Not sure my explanation makes sense, but that may be part of your problem.

Another thing about that mower was if the blade stopped in the fartherest point from the tractor and you raised the blade to transport position (straight up) the blade would fall in a wicked guillotine motion. It would neatly separate a finger from a hand. It was hammered into me to BE CAREFUL when raising the blade. I hated that part of mowing: Raising that heavy blade. Hopefully they are made safer today.

mark

 

[Mosey]

Re: sickle mower doesn\'t cut good

Thanks Mark. I’ll check the travel of the blades. I know what you mean about being careful. We have a Farmall A on the farm where I grew up and it has a sickle mower for it. It’s a pitman arm type, so when the bar is raised and lowered the knives do move with respect to the guards and would cut a finger right off. Fortunately, the Ford 515 I have now is a wobblebox type, so when the bar is raised or lowered the knives don’t move with respect to the guards. I still keep my fingers in a safe place though!

 

[Woody1]

Re: sickle mower doesn\'t cut good

I used to use these to mow hay on the farm when we still had it. Back then, 2k acres was a lot. sickle mowers arent made to mow 2" grass. they are made to mow taller grasses. The stems get harder and dont bunch up in the guards. i think you can do all you want to try and make it better, but let the grass grow taller, get tougher, then try it. Bet you see better results. The "fines" wont be there with taller grass.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: sickle mower doesn\'t cut good

I have seen a neat machine a flail that operated behing the tractor or swings to the outside for ditch bank cutting or cutting under trees, will handle much heavier crops than sickle. Have your dealer call VMC 864 -847-8400

 

[MarkV]

Re: sickle mower doesn\'t cut good

Does VMC have a web site?