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Broke another sickle bar yesterday

O

old

Well-known Member
Location
Camdenton Missouri
But it is one I have welded together a time or to. They keep braking about 4-6 inch from the pitman ball mount and not in the same place as the weld. Still not able to figure out why they keep breaking. One thing I know that is not helping it the ledger plate on the other most guard is missing. It is the big guard that is at the end of the bar that has the swather board on it. So are all those guard the same?? I have one that was on a Ford 515 sickle bar mower that is good so if there the same I'll swap it out and see if that helps. I'm getting good at changing the bars. Did in in less then 10 minutes yesterday and installed the new bar I had just rebuilt that has no welds on it and all new section. Mowed for 1.5 hours yesterday came in to cool off then went back out to mow the rest of the front field and got maybe 2o feet when the bar broke.
 
Sounds as if you are out of wack. The bar is flexing ever so slightly just like if you bend and unbend a coat hanger. Make sure your plates and clips are tight enough so the knife can't move up or down any. When I rebuilt my Gravely bar I had it so tight you couldn't wiggle the knife sections up or down at all. The whole knife itself would move back and forth no problem but I eliminated as much slop and wiggle as bossible. Mowed like a pair of scissors. Yes it does take time but worth the effort. Hope this helps.
 
All outside shoes are the same I think 🤔. Mine I got to where I was just using a double guard on the end with a bracket to hold the swath board to it. A lot lighter and cheaper.
 
How tight is the sickle?? Can you move it fairly easily?
If it's tight, somethings wrong!!!
Hold downs too tight, or sickle gummed up?
We cut some green juicy hay one time. If we kept going it was OK.
But if we stopped for lunch, before we ate, we took a water hose to the sickle
as it was running to wash off the green juice/dirt.
Made all the difference in the world.
 
This last time it did break the inner most hold down and I plan to replace it tomorrow since I am going to town then. I can move the bar by hand by turning the belt pulley so the bar it not to tight.
 
I would not think it was to tight since I can grab the belt pulley and turn it by hand which in turn move the bar. It did break the inner hold down so that may have something to do with it breaking and I plan to buy some new hod downs tomorrow and put them on. I'll be getting the ones with the higher arch since I am using bolts instead of rivets again
 
In addition to what has been said I'll ask about the ledger plates. We were breaking knife bars on the JD 10 many years ago and the JD service manager inquired about the ledger plates. Upon inspection the plates were extensively worn and dad up and changed out the guards that included new ledger plates because he did not want to have the work of changing the ledger plates. Long story made short is the bar ran where it should in terms of clearance and with a definite shear point for the knife to pass no more broken bars.
 
Well I can now say for sure there not all the same. I just tried to put on the Ford outer guard and it will not fit. It where it bolts on is about 1/8-1/4 to narrow but I did find another one that is wider and will put it on
 
A lot of the guards I have on it are not very old and all are nice and smooth. I can pretty much slide the bar in and out by hand when I change one out
 
I broke 2 sickle bars in on day on a 30' bean head. The beans were kinda green and I noticed they were getting stuck in the guards. We replace all the guards that night and never had a problem after that. Can u shim the sections like on a bean head? I have seen the bars run thru the shims and get into metal and cause trouble.
 
Pitmanless use different guards at the knife head, no wear bars, but not your problem.

Must be something causing the knife bar to flex or bend causing it to break. Maybe worn holddown letting knife bar raise from cutting load on the out stroke.
 
2 of the 3 times the inner hold down had broken so that could be at least part of the problem. I'll be getting a few new high arch ones tomorrow and putting them on and maybe one a bit closer to the inner part of the machine
 
I did not 1 new one and it is the one I put on yesterday when this on broke. I paln to make another one after I get some more sections and bolts
 
tough hay pretty well tells the condition of the machine , it needs new parts. if there is no slip clutch or a loose belt to take up the plugging something has to break. once those guards are full of uncleaned grass it cant pull anymore so that's what happens.
 
Its all about proper adjustment and correct movement of the sickle.A bend guard mounting rail will cause binding and jumping up and down of the sickle bar. sharp guards and sickle sections is a must to prevent excessive load on the sickle bar and the drive head.
I have a NH 114 hay bine with double knives, I have used this bine every year since 89 to cut 3-400 acre a year. It still has the 2 original sickle bars including the drive heads and I never had one break yet, So far I have replaced the bushings in the drive heads only once in all those years and new guards and sickle sections a couple times.
 
Yeah, but how are the ledger plates? If like the JD 10 they are serrated to help with cutting tough material. The ledger plate is riveted into the guard.
 
I've been using this one ever since I built my BA and up till this year not have any problem out of it. But this year the hay is thicker then most years and some of it due to being so late in the season dryer so maybe harder to cut. Sections are close to new and are sharp
 
Most of the guards are new or close to being new. Section are good and sharp and some even new. Only place it ever clogs is the outer guard shoe and so far I have tried to other shoes and neither one fit so will try to find a new ledger plate fo it tomorrow
 
My thought exactly. If the Ball and drive plate that move the bar are loose (up and down) the pitman arm will bend the sickle bar and fatigue it in the first foot or so. I wiuld shim or remake the guide where it travels to assure like a .062 clearance for the length of the stroke. It may be necessary to anneal the bars to relieve work hardening. Jim
 
They all appear to be good and smooth and as they should be and as I said many of them are close to being new. Only ledger plate that is bad/missing is the one on the outer shoe and I am going to try to fidn a new ledger plate to rivet on tomorrow
 
Old, as another poster said, check the hold down clamps and the gaps on the guards. Sometimes on worn guards and lots of grass in the bottom of the hay, the knife will pull the fine grass thru the gap in the guard and widen it. Inspect the guards and tap the tops down with a hammer to close the gap. On the older IH mowers all knives and guards were the same but later on in the 1960s IH released a triple knife for the out end and a stubby guard for the outer end that was supposed to prevent plugging and trailing on the swath board. IH also release a rock guard and a heavier serrated knife for farms that had small rocks.
We had a IH C-28 3pt mower for many years and I cut many acres with it. Broke many knives, guards and a few pitman sticks.
 
I've used this A=167 for years now and up till this year not had much problem other then a broken pitman stick a few time but this year the sickle bars have broken 3 time but they also are ones that have been welded back together.
 
If the Ball and drive plate that move the bar are loose (up and down) the pitman arm will bend the sickle bar and fatigue it in the first foot or so. I would shim or remake the guide where the beginning of the bar travels to assure like a .062 clearance for the length of the stroke. It may be necessary to anneal the bars to relieve work hardening. Jim
 
Go ahead and laugh ...........
Take off the outer shoe.
Cobble up something to hold the bar a couple inches off the ground.
Give it a try.
 
You may have too much clearance between the guard and the bottom of the section where it rides on the guard. This is critical. Get your clearance gauge tool and guard bender and try to get just 050 there.
 
I got to thinking about it, and remembered that I had 1 that wouldn?t bolt up. Maybe it was a Ford, but I was thinking it was a Deere
 
Can't believe its been 45 years since I declared that I had sworn my last obscenity at my Massey Ferguson sickle bar mower and bought a used Taarup disc mower. Peace and serenity returned to Poverty Flats.
 
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