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Sickle bar mower refurbish

13440 Views 83 Replies 17 Participants Last post by  CHEVY&SEARS
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So I got these 2 mowers a few weeks ago, my ad on Craigslist really payed off. I got the 2 mowers, The Custom, the ST12, a buncha mule drives and random Sears parts and 3 3 point hitches for $400.

Model # 842.260020
Serial # 86260 and 97522

Neither of them are in working order but both are complete. As you can see in the first 2 pictures, one of them is severely twisted and broken but it's actually in better shape as far as rust goes. So all it's good parts will be switched to the other one.







The shaft and mounting assembly is much better on the twisted one, so it will be switched along with the rest of the pulleys.





Everything is coming apart surprisingly easy. This pulley came off with minimal effort with a pulley puller.



Took the arm off that makes the knives go back and forth off to make sure its crankshaft isn't frozen. It's not.







I assumed the mule drive gearbox's would have oil in them since they have a drain plug, but they don't. The grease? is hardened into a brick. Are they suppose to have gear oil in them?
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Well, I restored my 18/6 all the way down to rebuilding the transmission without the manual. But I did look for what's suppose to be in the gearbox in the manual and could not find it.
Huh, I didn't see that. That just doesn't seem right. Once the gears eat up the grease in the gears nothing will push more into them. Seems like oil would be better...

I can get you a picture today. It shouldn't be hard to recreate.
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That could be true which might explain why the grease in both boxes looks like it melted into a block. There is a gasket between the 2 halves but I don't know if the bearings are sealed. If they are i'm doing gear oil.

I hope these pictures help. If you need anymore let me know.








Hard to tell but the arm is 5".

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Don't worry about hijacking it! This is great info and it saves me from asking you so many questions. Thanks a lot.

I like the idea of the semi fluid but would really like to use a gear oil. The gears don't look brass but that doesn't mean they aren't. Does the 75w90 have hypoids?

The gearbox in the first picture definitely had mixed grease. Different colors and was hard. The second was still soft, uniform color. Maybe over time with heat and gravity it formed that brick shape.
Thanks for those photos! That is exactly what I am looking for! If I do have any questions, I'll know who to go to for answers!

I'm going to model this up so that I know that it works. I'm due to get my last belt in by the end of this week. I still havn't gotten the cutting bar to rotate back into cutting position, but I have a solotion for that....:14_6_5:
No problem! If you don't mind, could you post the number for all 3 belts on here?

I don't think that's a good solution!
I have decided to just put grease in it. If that's what the manual calls for and it's still working (and the gear teeth look great) after 30 something years it should be fine now.

Any grease suggestions cgilje?
Thank you very much.
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I got one of the mule drive assemblies back together. I'm amazed by the weight of this thing. I'm going to weight each major piece to find the total weight. The mule drive alone weighs 40 pounds!

Anyway, I packed the gearbox with the grease below. I had a whole tub in the grease locker. It's EP Lithium #2.





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Got a new pulley put on and the tensioner assembly back together.



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Where'd you get the belts from? I found all of them at belts4less.com. The total before shipping and tax is $24. Much cheaper than TSC..
Belts are on the way. $35.93. Between the 2 mowers I probably have all 3 belts but they're in bad shape. I figured i'd replace them now so i'm not dissapointed when they break.
That's for sure. Changing it on the tractor sucks.
I ordered belts mid day yesterday and they came today! The total was only $35 and the belts are the same as the TSC blue belts with a different name. I highly recommend vbelts4less.com.

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Went to put the belts on earlier and they're all to short.......... Apparently on the website, when it says 5/8" x 25", 25" is the outside measurement. It's actually 22 on the inside. :banghead3
Yep. I hope they'll let me exchange them..
I'm sure you guys are thrilled that i'm the guinea pig! :sidelaugh

You got it el simonito, the part number is the actual length. But on the website, the belts are listed by their length. So I ordered a 25" 50" and 59" belts. But that's actually the outside length. The part number is the inside length.

WHY would they even mention the outside length? Outside length does not matter!! :banghead3:banghead3

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Gave them a call, explained what happened. They said they'd send out the corrected order today and I can send the other belts back anytime and they'll credit me for them. I have to eat the shipping, but it still comes out cheaper than any other option.

So if you order from them, go by the part # length, not the listed length!
I hate it too! You are correct el simonito. Today I ordered B25K, B50K, and B59K. That better be right.

sploke, the spacing is too wide but it does say 5/8". the 5 and / right after PIX is part of 5/8".
The correct belts came today. Finally I can begin reassembly!
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