Replaced some SickleBar Guard Teeth

[Gordon Gould]

I use my Sickle Bar as a roadside mower so it has a hard life when the grass is high and I can't see. Once a year, if needed, I take the bar apart and replace any broken knife sections or guard/guide teeth. This year it was only broken teeth from trying to cut a rock. It comes apart easy. The opposed two moving bars slide out of the main bar after they are unbolted from their drive levers. The knife section bar slides out from the tip end and the tooth guard bar slides out the other way from the mower head end.



Each knife section is fastened to it's bar with two flat head rivets and each pair of tooth guides has four rivets. I had a couple broken teeth and needed to replace two pair of tooth guides.



Just drill and punch out the old rivets, Put on the new parts and use a ball peen hammer to clinch up the new rivets. If the heads are to high grind them flush. Here it is all back together. Pretty simple.



gg

 

[Steave]

Thanks for the reminder to get my old sickle mower out and patch a little. I use it for roadside and ditch cutting also and don't worry about sharp blades anymore as long as they're not broke they'll cut. I do have one rock guard broke on the very end but its been that way for a few years. Mine is the horizontal cut only but it works for me. Its and old Ford 501. Tough ole mower and takes me having to use the overhead lift in my shop to mount it but then just soak it in oil and grease and cut away. It's old and slow but beats a weed eater hands down.

One day I'd like to maybe move up to something like you have but the price of it for what I'm using it for doesn't justify it.

 

[Gordon Gould]

One day I'd like to maybe move up to something like you have but the price of it for what I'm using it for doesn't justify it.

I hear you on that. It is unbelievable how expensive they are now. I bought mine in 1999 and since then the price for the same unit has tripled.

gg

 

[vulcancowboy]

That looks like my Sitrex mower. Mine needs some work & new parts, hope to get to it this winter.

 

[ovrszd]

I bought a Ford 515 for $150 and spent another $150 tuning it up. Expect many years of abusive roadbank cutting from it.

 

[vsteel]

I use my Sickle Bar as a roadside mower so it has a hard life when the grass is high and I can't see. Once a year, if needed, I take the bar apart and replace any broken knife sections or guard/guide teeth. This year it was only broken teeth from trying to cut a rock. It comes apart easy. The opposed two moving bars slide out of the main bar after they are unbolted from their drive levers. The knife section bar slides out from the tip end and the tooth guard bar slides out the other way from the mower head end.

Each knife section is fastened to it's bar with two flat head rivets and each pair of tooth guides has four rivets. I had a couple broken teeth and needed to replace two pair of tooth guides.

Just drill and punch out the old rivets, Put on the new parts and use a ball peen hammer to clinch up the new rivets. If the heads are to high grind them flush. Here it is all back together. Pretty simple.

gg

Once at the start of the year we would take a grinder and touch up the side of the guards to make sure they were nice and sharp. After a few times we would then replace the guards but we could get several years out of a set of guards.

We never drilled out the rivets, just took a large shoe grinder and zipped off the heads, then we were able to punch them out. As a kid that was my job to pound out the rivets and replace all of the sections and beat in the new rivets. We had a few sickle bars and would make up 3 or 4 at the start of haying season. 14 feet at a time.

 

[ovrszd]

I'll try to describe this so it's understandable.

Fastest way to remove sections. Bench vise. Open the jaws just wide enough for the section to slip thru, point down. Not so wide that the sickle bar will also slip thru. Position the bad section, tip down in the loose vice with the section bar resting on one vise jaw. Smack the top end of the section you want removed with a shop hammer. This action will shear both rivets. Depending on accuracy and personal strength this will be accomplished with 2 or 3 strikes of the hammer. Job done.

 

[countrybumpkin]

I'll try to describe this so it's understandable. Fastest way to remove sections. Bench vise. Open the jaws just wide enough for the section to slip thru, point down. Not so wide that the sickle bar will also slip thru. Position the bad section, tip down in the loose vice with the section bar resting on one vise jaw. Smack the top end of the section you want removed with a shop hammer. This action will shear both rivets. Depending on accuracy and personal strength this will be accomplished with 2 or 3 strikes of the hammer. Job done.

Yep this works great, we did this for years on our combine headers. Made short work of 20 - 30 foot bars

 

[Gordon Gould]

I'll try to describe this so it's understandable.

Fastest way to remove sections. Bench vise. Open the jaws just wide enough for the section to slip thru, point down. Not so wide that the sickle bar will also slip thru. Position the bad section, tip down in the loose vice with the section bar resting on one vise jaw. Smack the top end of the section you want removed with a shop hammer. This action will shear both rivets. Depending on accuracy and personal strength this will be accomplished with 2 or 3 strikes of the hammer. Job done.

Sounds like a good, simple, and quick method. Thanks for the tip. I would have never thought of that myself I don't think.

gg

 

[ovrszd]

Yeah it's so ridiculously simple that it's not thought of
Rivets are soft by nature and easily sheared.

Being from the "Show-Me" state of Missouri, Bumpkin and I paid attention.

 

[pmsmechanic]

We used to just take the guard off and chisel the top of the rivet off and replace the knife section without even taking the knife out of the swather. You just needed something to set the rivet onto so that you could pien the head to hold the knife section on. Usually just a piece of bar was enough to hit against.

Then somebody invented bolts to hold the knife sections on. That makes the job even easier. Yes the bolt sticks out more on top than a rivet but you just replace your hold downs with ones that have more clearance.

 

[Steave]

I bought a Ford 515 for $150 and spent another $150 tuning it up. Expect many years of abusive roadbank cutting from it.

The ford 515 is what I was looking for when I found the 501. None to be found around here. Every once in a while I'll see others but most are beyond repair. The one I found for $200 was actually worth restoring to new for someone that does that sort of stuff but I got it to use and it brings back fond memories of the old farm.

All that has drastically changed but I have a lot of the old small farm equipment I use.

I've got an old sickle vise I call it. Actually it's just a post vise but I remember the one set up outside the old farm shop was used mostly for sickle repair so it was called the sickle vise. About the only time I seen somebody using it was for driving out rivets like you mentioned. I've only seen it done but I'll try it if I ever replace any sections on my blade.

 

[countrybumpkin]

Then somebody invented bolts to hold the knife sections on. That makes the job even easier. Yes the bolt sticks out more on top than a rivet but you just replace your hold downs with ones that have more clearance.

My case IH 1300 I use around my ponds and roads is originally a riveted sections, but as I replace them I've been switching over to the bolts.

 

[vsteel]

I'll try to describe this so it's understandable.

Fastest way to remove sections. Bench vise. Open the jaws just wide enough for the section to slip thru, point down. Not so wide that the sickle bar will also slip thru. Position the bad section, tip down in the loose vice with the section bar resting on one vise jaw. Smack the top end of the section you want removed with a shop hammer. This action will shear both rivets. Depending on accuracy and personal strength this will be accomplished with 2 or 3 strikes of the hammer. Job done.

I have done that method as well. I find it works best if you smack one side of the section and then the other so you shear the rivets off one at a time. If you can't swing the hammer hard enough or have other issues the grinder method will take care of you.

 

[jimmysisson]

Not sure the 501 will run off-angle as it uses a pitman rod. Off-topic I realize. But not useful at some pond banks.
Jim

 

[Steave]

Not sure the 501 will run off-angle as it uses a pitman rod. Off-topic I realize. But not useful at some pond banks.
Jim

You're right it won't. I think about 20* up and 15* down if you just have to but it's made to cut horizonal. We have one that will cut vertical and it's a mid mount made for an old 8N. It was used by the county for roadside cutting long years ago. I'm missing the belt attachment that fits on the pto and routes the belt up to the mid mount mower. It's all manual and I've never used it. It looks like it would take much of a man to run that thing. Oh I'm still much of a man but the much is in the wrong place and the good is gone.

 

[ovrszd]

When I started looking for a sickle mower I would only look at belt drive. Didn't want anything to do with pitman drive cause I planned to cut odd angles.

Just fell into the Ford 515 deal. Worked out well since I run it on the Ford 3910. Color match....

There two different frame configurations on the 515. Sorry, can't remember the numerical details. One is for narrow tractors such as the older 600s, 800s, etc. The other is for wider tractors such as my 3910.

My mower is for the narrower tractors. To make it work I have to pin my 3pt arms to the right as far as possible. No driveline issues. Just looks a bit weird when viewed from the rear.