[AT] Sickle mower ?

[Larry D. Goss]

>  First, do you know where I can find any info 
about setting up and using this mower?  Even some general information
would 
be helpful.  I have not found much in the little searching of the web I
did. 
Have not had time to check at the library.

I have an owner's setup and operation manual for the mid-mount mowers
that I have.  You're welcome to the information, I just don't know how
much carryover there is between the different models.

>That being said, I went to the farm supply store and found that the BU
220 
guards that fit a JD 37 mower will bolt right up and seem to have the 
correct shape.  You are right, the original guards were quite different
than 
any others available.  A couple of the old ones were damaged and a
couple 
looked like someone had tried to sharpen them, so I decided to just
replace 
them all.  

Right, but there is a major difference in total weight.  I found when I
replaced all the guards that my hydraulic system didn't have enough
power to lift the sickle bar anymore.  So I put the originals back.  I
have also run into home-grown sharpening jobs.  They're a pain.
Sometimes you can salvage a mangled guard, but it is much easier to
replace them.

>Same with the sickle sections, which were cheap enough, but I 
could not say the same about the guards.

I regularly replace all knife sections on sickle bar mowers.  I have the
tools (commercial rivet setter) and I can replace all the sections in a
5-foot knife in less then 2 hours.

>This unit had a single guard in the middle, but from what I have been
able 
to find, the single guard usually goes on one end or the other.  I am
having 
trouble getting the double BU220 installed at the head end of the bar.
What 
can you tell me about this, can I move the single guard to the head end
OK?

I can't remember where the single guard is on my bar.  The sickle is
down in the barn and there are no lights down there.  I'll have to check
during daylight.  Those double guards at the farm supply store are for
cutting a specialty crop.  In the deep recesses of my memory, I think I
remember them being called legume guards -- used for cutting soy beans,
peas, etc.

>I thought my mower bar was bent, but when I loosened the guard bolts,
it 
straightened out.  A closer look proved that the bar is two pieces of
flat 
iron laminated together with the bolts and a third flat iron on the top.
I 
think this top piece is called a ledger plate?  It has slots in it that 
allow it to be moved fore and aft.  I am sure with the proper blocking
and 
tightening of the guard bolts I can get the mower bar to be straight
when it 
is on the ground.  Is it supposed to be straight or should it have some
arch 
to it one way or the other?

LOL!  BTDT!  Cursed myself about my stupidity for a week.  The bar is
laminated from two full length pieces of steel plus the wear plates and
guards.  Haban used no ledger plates.  The generic guards or John Deere
items you found have the ledger plates integral with each one.  The
slotted plates are wear plates that adjust the forward/back position of
the knife relative to the guards.  The bar should be perfectly straight
when it is assembled.  Good luck on getting it back to that condition.
I found that I had to block the whole bar off the floor when I was
installing guards so that I could finally get it close to straight.  If
I had been thinking, I probably should have taken the bar off and turned
it upside down on the floor to work on it.  It would have been lots
simpler.

>The sickle bar itself was quite bent up.  I worked on it some and
improved 
it considerably, but it is not perfect when compared to a straight edge.

How critical is this?

It's only critical if you want the mower to cut for its full length.
:-)  If it is bowed up in the middle, it will skip on both ends.  If
it's down in the middle, it will skip in the middle.  I put mine
together once with an S-curve to it.  You don't want to do that!

>There were two "skids" on the bottom of the bar, one about mid-way and
one 
at the outer end.  They held the guards up off the ground a couple of 
inches.  I have not seen this kind of setup on other mowers, should they
be 
put back on, or can they be left off with the BU220 type guards?

Those are anti-scalping skids, Stuart.  I agree, I've never seen them on
anything except a Haban mower.  They work.  I find them helpful.  But
you're right that they aren't as necessary when you have something
approaching "standard" guards on the bar.

>The bushing in the pitman arm at the crank was all but gone. there was
less 
than a 32nd. of an inch left.  Could not find one on Saturday but found 
something to make one out of.  I still need to do that and I would like
to 
fix the hole in the bracket where the pitman connects to the bar, it is
egg 
shaped.  

Yeah, that's a weak spot in the design.  The bushing is an off-the-shelf
item from a bearing supplier.  You may need to grind off the top of the
old bracket and weld on a new one to solve the egg-shape problem.  Haban
also holds that bracket to the knife with long section bolts.  Those are
available at places like TSC or Rural King.  Don't use regular bolts and
nuts for this job.  They won't last.  Use the #12-24 rib-neck section
bolts with interference nuts.

>I would also like to find two new bearings for the main drive shaft 
as the old ones sat out in the open for some time.  One seems OK but the

other has a "catch" in it when you turn it.  Can you believe there are 3

bearing houses in Bismarck and not a one is open more than 8-5 Mon-Fri.?

Doesn't leave much for the working man or an out of towner.  I am going
to 
search the internet, screw 'em.

Well, my local bearing house keeps VERY nice hours.  They're open 7 to
7, 7 days per week.  That's one of the advantages that comes because I'm
in the middle of a mining area.  Mines don't like down time.  I suspect
that three suppliers are two too many.

Larry


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Larry D. Goss" <rlgoss at evansville.net>
To: "'Antique tractor email discussion group'" 
<at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Saturday, August 12, 2006 12:33 PM
Subject: [atis] ***Possible Spam*** RE: [AT] Sickle mower ?


> You're right, Stuart.  Haban provided a lot of attachments for Lawn
and
> garden types.  I have a couple of Haban mowers and have seen a few
> others at tractor shows and with fellow collectors of Power King
> tractors.  With the exception of a few castings, they used
off-the-shelf
> bearings and seals.  Their guards were a funky design, but they are
the
> same size as the more conventional ones and are interchangeable.
>
> I've been working with one for better than ten years.  What do you
need
> to know?
>
> Larry
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
> [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Stuart
Harner
> Sent: Saturday, August 12, 2006 11:58 AM
> To: atis
> Subject: [AT] Sickle mower ?
>
> Since it has been kind of slow, does anyone have any knowledge about a
> Haban sickle mower?
>
> I picked up a 5 ft. 3pt. mount mower at an auction a while back.  It
is
> a Haban model 440 series C with a S/N 286194.  It had some missing
parts
> and some broken parts but otherwise looks in fair condition.
>
> I don't know much about sickle mowers and have been trying to do some
> research about this unit on the web.  So far I have found out that
Haban
> is out of business and this is kind of an orphan unit.  They
apparently
> were not too big into the 3pt. units, but stuck mostly to garden
tractor
> types.  I think the main difference is the 3pt. mount.
>
> I am headed to town this afternoon to see what I can collect for
parts,
> but would be interested in any information/advice anyone wants to
give.
>
> Required tractor ref.:  I will be mounting this on my AC WD
>
> Thanks,
>
> Stuart
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> Remembering Our Friend Cecil Monson 11-4-2005
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
>
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> Remembering Our Friend Cecil Monson 11-4-2005
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
>
> 


_______________________________________________
AT mailing list
Remembering Our Friend Cecil Monson 11-4-2005
http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at