Mowing Tell me about my MF42 sickle bar mower

[SmallAcre]

G'day smallacre another victorian here good to see, I'm in Ararat where abouts are you? Good luck with the parts chase most parts for those old finger mowers are NLA as with the balers unfortunately. My boss was a MF dealer fo rmany years and still has a bit of old stock out the back, you never know your luck let us know what you are chasing.



Jon

Hey Jon, most of my family originates from Ararat! My uncles and most of my cousins still live around there. Dont suppose you know any of the Fenns? I'm actually out the other side of Melbourne, West Gippsland, near Kooweerup.

Yeah I've resigned to the fact I'll probably be fabricating any parts I need to replace but figured I'd give the dealers a try first. The mower parts I need are:

Shoe Assembly - Outer, Part# 669503M91
Stud Position Lock, Part 581377M1

As for the baler its a MF12 and at the moment I need to replace a plunger slide which has worn through, I believe the part is:

Runner, Plunger, Bottom Inner, Part# 153098M2

 

[namyessam]

Have you had any luck locating part for your mower? I was taking a closer look at the parts breakdown on the Agco website and comparing it to your pictures and you may need the clevis that screws to the stud position lock and a bail spring that is noticable in your picture. The clevis part number is 833252m1 and the bail spring is 580490m1. From the looks of the bent stud and the rust, you may need all these parts to make the repair easier. Good Luck.

 

[SmallAcre]

Not yet namyessam, hard to find time to visit a dealer as I'm working 9-5 at the moment. I'm hoping I can use the existing parts of the link I have and just replace the damaged threaded part.

Decided to order a spray gun and give the sheet metal on my tractor a new coat of paint over the next couple of weeks as my next job - the previous owner had sanded the old paint back in anticipation of painting it but never got round to doing it, so need to get it done before the rust sets in on the exposed metal sections.

I also spent a few hours on the weekend trying to remove the plunger from my baler so I can tidy up the plunger slides - hot work in the middle of a field in 37C heat and humidity :fiery:

 

[namyessam]

forgive us fahrenheit people, had to do a conversion to understand. 37c = 98f, wow that is hot. We may not want warm weather that bad even though we are in the heart of winter in the central U.S.

 

[409n]

Hello, just saw this and thought I'd give you some info. The part you show in the circle is indeed the "Gag linkage" The Gag linkage controls the floatation of nthe inner shoe on the sickle bar when the bar is on the ground, in cutting position. Also, it appears that you are missing the outer shoe, that controls the height of the outer end of the bar. The outer shoe can easily be made up out of plate steel. Also, the mower is designed to operate with an operating heightr of 19-21 inches above the ground. This measurement is made from the center of the each lower hitch pin and the ground. hope this helps you.

 

[SmallAcre]

Hello, just saw this and thought I'd give you some info. The part you show in the circle is indeed the "Gag linkage" The Gag linkage controls the floatation of nthe inner shoe on the sickle bar when the bar is on the ground, in cutting position. Also, it appears that you are missing the outer shoe, that controls the height of the outer end of the bar. The outer shoe can easily be made up out of plate steel. Also, the mower is designed to operate with an operating heightr of 19-21 inches above the ground. This measurement is made from the center of the each lower hitch pin and the ground. hope this helps you.

Thanks for the info. Hay cutting season is fast approaching so I am getting back onto this mower. I have all new knife sections ready to go in and am part way through fabricating a new outer shoe. I'm also making new grass/swathe board as the old one was severely rotted. I am hoping it performs ok after the repairs as I've got about 10acres of my own property to cut and bale and possibly 8acres on a neighbours property if all goes well!

 

[SmallAcre]

Hello, just saw this and thought I'd give you some info. The part you show in the circle is indeed the "Gag linkage" The Gag linkage controls the floatation of nthe inner shoe on the sickle bar when the bar is on the ground, in cutting position. Also, it appears that you are missing the outer shoe, that controls the height of the outer end of the bar. The outer shoe can easily be made up out of plate steel. Also, the mower is designed to operate with an operating heightr of 19-21 inches above the ground. This measurement is made from the center of the each lower hitch pin and the ground. hope this helps you.

Thanks for the info. Hay cutting season is fast approaching so I am getting back onto this mower. I have all new knife sections ready to go in and am part way through fabricating a new outer shoe. I'm also making new grass/swathe board as the old one was severely rotted. I am hoping it performs ok after the repairs as I've got about 10acres of my own property to cut and bale and possibly 8acres on a neighbours property if all goes well!

 

[nip]

I picked up some old MF haying gear, and part of it is this MF42 sickle bar mower(or finger mower as they call them down here in Australia).

I cant find much info on this model - I managed to get a manual for an MF32 which is similar but not quite the same. These style of mowers appear to be more popular in the U.S. than down here these days, so am hoping someone can answer a couple of questions for me?

Firstly I need to replace an adjustable link(far right link in the circled section below), which is bent and metal fatigued, but I cant quite work out what the purpose of the mechanism it attaches to is for? Going from my MF32 manual I think its attached to something called a "gag link" assembly? Best guess I can come up with is that it lifts the end of the bar when the 3pt is raised? Is this correct?

View attachment 306562

View attachment 306563

Next, is there a height adjustable shoe missing from this end of the bar? I can see some cutting height adjustment from the inside shoe but cant see any on this end?

View attachment 306564

Have you found any bits for your mower in the way of manuals or spare parts. I'm having the same issues as you. We are at Bega NSW

 

[SmallAcre]

Hi Nip,

I did manage to track down a manual. I ended up fabricating the other parts that I needed, and fitted all new knife sections. I've used it to cut about 10acres of hay so far this season and it has worked reasonably well, but it is a little fussy about the grass it cuts. Anything a little damp, dense or matted and it has a tendency to plug the blade. Unfortunately I live in area where its common to have all the previously mentioned conditions! When the blade plugs it tends to leave behind large clumps of wet grass that will not break up or dry regardless of how much I rake it. A tedder woud probably fix this but I decided to go out and buy an old 4 disc mower instead, so if the new mower provides a better result I will be selling the MF42 on - as much as I hate to see it go.

Send me a pm and I may be able to get a copy of the manual to you if you like.