We have a 479 New Holland haybine. Dad usually cuts hay we rake and bale together. Well today while I was at work dad was going to knock down 10-15 acres. Didnt happen. Haybine wouldnt cut well and plugged up. At 80 years old, and his limited physical ability he wasnt able to get it going again. I understand that. Brother in law to be came over and got it unplugged. I guess dad had an issue 2 days ago with it not cutting well. He had my brother come over and try to sharpen the knives in place with a 4 inch grinder. Apparently that didnt work. I have not been there. Work starts at 6 am and not getting home till 7 or 8 and its well over an hour away before anyone says I should have taken care of it. So question do you guys sharpen your knives, buy a complete bar with knives, or just replace the knives? Im guessing just replace the knives. Last time when dad was more agile he replaced the entire bar which had new knives. Like I said dad was always in charge of cutting and I raked and baled. I should know this after making hay for 30 years, but that was his thing and I never questioned what he did. Sorry so long.
- Thread starter 300jk
- Start date
I don't usually sharpen sections anymore. I replace worn sections while on the swather by removing a guard or two. I pulled the sickle from my 1209 JD last year and put on a bunch of new sections. I use the more aggressive sections and no clog guards with the JD adjustable tops
Fritz Maurer
Well-known Member
If the guards are blunt it will not cut wiry grass. New knife or not. The register needs to be correct. The finer the crop the more critical this becomes. The tip of the knife section should be tilted down to just touch the cutting surface of the guard, with no more than .010 inch clearance near the knife backbone. This cannot be accomplished if the wear plates are worn out, you cannot simply apply down pressure with the knife clips; they will actually overheat and burn the paint off, to say nothing of overloading the bushing at the wobble drive. If you want to try to put an edge on the guards rather than buying new ones, they must be HOLLOW GROUND, like a screwdriver. Get in there with a 4 inch grinder (or take them off) and hold the wheel center slightly lower than the cutting edge of the ledger plate area. If there are a lot of acres on these guards, the top cutting surface will be rounded, and there is nothing you can economically do for it. They must be replaced.
Bruce from Can.
Well-known Member
- Location
- Woodville, Ontario, Canada
I have never seen a NH haybine that didnt have serrated sections, and serrated sections are self sharpening. Unless your sections are plain wore out, here are two things you can look for. First are the hold downs holding the knife down tightly to the guards? And second, are the tops of the guards bent away too high from the knife sections? As others have already said, maybe time to just go buy another complete knife assembly. I used to buy a new knife every 2-3 years. If your knife isnt cutting well, or is hard to push in and pull back, then you could have guards that are bent up or down, making the knife run hard. This puts a pile of stress on the wobble box as well as the rubber bushing in the end of the knife. Do you have a guard bender tool ?
Traditional Farmer
Well-known Member
- Location
- Virginia
You can adjust until the cows come home but nothing is going to make a dull section cut.
Traditional Farmer
Well-known Member
- Location
- Virginia
BTW I've owned quite a few sickle bar cutters over the years and have never bought one with a sickle assembly in it that was sharp enough for me to use to cut hay.For some reason it seems people hate to replace a dull sickle assembly.
GermantownGreen
Well-known Member
- Location
- Montrose MO
We use those agresssive sections too. Father in law couldn't believe how better they were. Bolt on sections and away you go.
2-479, 2-488, and a 7320 discbine machine here.
GG
2-479, 2-488, and a 7320 discbine machine here.
GG
Bruce summed it up well. I would figure on pulling out the cutter bar and checking the knives/sections. You may need to replace some or all. I have the serrated knives in my NH 489 haybine and have never tried to sharpen them, just replace as needed. Back in the day with smooth knives in sickle bar mowers it was common to sharpen the smooth knives with a special stone on a bench grinder. You may have to replace some guards too. If the guards are bent you can straighten them, if broken or badly worn replace them. Remember the guards have a lot to do with cutting performance. Turn the haybine by hand on the reel, make sure it turns free and check the timing of the knives. Also make sure all your hold-downs are adjusted properly .
Northvale PA
Member
3 things when I used a 469: I sharpened the sections with a file, never a grinder. Slightly slower but keeps the serrations from getting ground away quickly. Replace any damaged or worn sections with new. And most importantly dig any debris out under the knife bar in the channel the bar rides in the rock guards. Even a little bit will create a gap which loses the shearing action.
Bruce from Can.
Well-known Member
- Location
- Woodville, Ontario, Canada
The bushing in the head of the knife , which the bolt goes through and fastens the knife to the wobble arm is surrounded with rubber. It is as I recall basically a three piece unit. A outer steel shell, then a rubber to absorb shock, and then the actual bushing that the drive bolt goes through. It is a one piece assembly when you buy a new one.
Forget sharpening the knives. New knives on the old bar or replace the entire assembly. With sickle type machines being old technology new knife bars can be had reasonable at auctions. The thing to do which was done around here back in the day was to pull the knife bar at the end of the season and go through it during the winter months. Something to do and if you have a poor stretch you can put the project to the side for a little bit until you cool off. Doing a knife bar while stewing over being out of the field is no place anybody wants to be. Best to get up to speed with dad on his other responsibilities before memory issues prevent it. Might save some money versus leaving things to chance.
Bill in Colo
Member
- Location
- Rio Blanco County, Co
Before disk cutters we started to use over serrated chrome sections (dont sharpen these).
replace them all. Also make sure the guards have a square edge, use a grinder to shape them up. check all the hold downs. You should be able to cut 4-500 acres of tuff hay with no problems. I quit sharpening sickles 40 years ago.
replace them all. Also make sure the guards have a square edge, use a grinder to shape them up. check all the hold downs. You should be able to cut 4-500 acres of tuff hay with no problems. I quit sharpening sickles 40 years ago.
Similar threads
We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.
Copyright © 1997-2024 Yesterday's Tractor Co.
All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.
Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters
Website Accessibility Policy