[AT] Sickle mower ?

[Stuart Harner]

Larry,

Thanks for all the input (you other guys too).  I am beginning to get an 
idea of what to do.  I found a supplier for the bearings and the one bushing 
I needed and they are on the way.

Larry, if you could somehow get me a copy of what ever documentation you 
have, I would greatly appreciate it and of course pay you for your time and 
costs.  Let me know off list and we can work out the details. 
sharner at starband.net

I think the basic mower bar and head assy. were fairly universal on the 
Haban's, all they changed from model to model was the mounting structure. 
Actually, there are two model numbers on mine, 440 on the mounting frame and 
22-010 on the head assy.

I noticed the difference in weight for the guards, but I don't think that 
will be a problem for my WD to pick up the bar.  That leads me to another 
question, the hyd. cyl. uses a chain down to the bar that just rides over 
the top of the shield for the head.  It is wearing a hole in the shield.  I 
was thinking of replacing it with a cable and some kind of a roller or 
guide.  My problem is with the plumbing on the WD, in order to lift the bar, 
the 3 pt. has to come up all the way before the pressure builds enough to 
run the aux. port.  Oh well, that is another story.

This mower had already been converted to the bolts to hold the sickle 
sections on with.  I managed to only break one while replacing the sections. 
Of course this was only because I bought a box of 50, just in case.  :)  I 
got the bottom serrated sections, they seemed to look like they would work 
the best.

Up here the general description of the double cast iron guards is "rock 
guards"  There are regular ones "BU" and hardened ones "HH".  I went for the 
regular ones, saved $2 each, especially since I was not sure it would all 
work.  Will have to do something about that awful green color they came in. 
Fortunately there is still some Allis orange in the shop.  Should be easier 
to see in the grass that way... :)

I am not too worried about getting the mower bar straight, some blocking and 
a straight edge as I tighten with a little trial and error should fix that. 
I will try to put the anti-scalp plates back on if I can figure out a way to 
do it.  The guard bolts are of a different design so I may have to get 
creative.  I also want to mount some kind of handle on the end near the 
grass board so you have a place to grab and lift other than the bar.  I am 
gun shy about sharp things and fingers after a too close of encounter with a 
chipper/shredder a few years back.

The big challenge I think is going to be the bar that the sections mount 
too.  From what I gather, getting this thing straight up and down from end 
to end and straight front to back from end to end is going to be important. 
I think the hold down clips (4 of the original 6 were broke, probably from 
the bar being bent) should help some with the up and down straight.  The new 
clips are a "universal" design and look to be a lot better than the 
originals.  What about putting on a few more hold down clips, or will that 
cause excessive friction problems?

Interesting about the short pitman causing a vertical movement that 
contributes to breaking the hold downs.  The bracket could easily be moved 
toward the middle of the cutter bar and welding a piece of steel into the 
middle of the pitman to lengthen it would be easy enough. That would add 
weight to the oscillating motion though, and may cause unforeseen problems. 
Maybe best to get the rest working first....

Thanks for the info everyone, I will keep you posted as to my progress when 
I get the rest of the parts.

Stuart


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Larry D. Goss" <rlgoss at evansville.net>
To: "'Antique tractor email discussion group'" 
<at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Sunday, August 13, 2006 10:21 PM
Subject: [atis] RE: [AT] Sickle mower ?


>>  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
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>
>
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