Speediet, in your second picture there's a spring to the right of the front tire. What is it for? Can you get a picture of it?
Sickle bar mower refurbish
9
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.
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The shaft and mounting assembly is much better on the twisted one, so it will be switched along with the rest of the pulleys.
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Everything is coming apart surprisingly easy. This pulley came off with minimal effort with a pulley puller.
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Took the arm off that makes the knives go back and forth off to make sure its crankshaft isn't frozen. It's not.
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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?
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?
61 - 80 of 84 Posts
ok, so that spring attaches to the frame of the mower, and keeps tension on the lifting apparatus.
However, I find my pedal hits my front wheel when the mower is in the upright position. so I have a bungee cord holding it back.
However, I find my pedal hits my front wheel when the mower is in the upright position. so I have a bungee cord holding it back.
Attachments
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Thanks. That explains why my lift pedal slaps the fender when I let it down.
I sharpened the knives and was able to really test it out. Works good with sharp knives! I'm not gonna use it anymore til it's on the SS18 though. The 16/6 is BLOWING smoke now. You can see the haze in the last picture.
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I sharpened the knives and was able to really test it out. Works good with sharp knives! I'm not gonna use it anymore til it's on the SS18 though. The 16/6 is BLOWING smoke now. You can see the haze in the last picture.
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I used the sickle mower for the first good time today on the SS18! Unfortunately, i'm not too impressed. Maybe i'm asking it to cut thicker/taller grass and weeds than it was designed for but the grass that it seems to be able to handle well could be cut with a rotary mower deck...
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I use mine fairly often,, I found that you need a little speed to keep the tall grass falling over kinda like a tree falling down, Too slow and mine clogged up just like you have shown. I cut mostly tall weeds and "field grass" tall wheat like stuff. I love mine though.
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It looks like your knives are still dull, and that you have quite the gap between the knives and the shear fingers. It's my understanding that the sickle bar acts like 25 scissors, so the knives need to be close to the shear fingers to work properly. These are just my thoughts.I sharpened the knives...
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also did you lube it really good? they have to be oiled just about everytime you use them but if its too much of a problem i'll come down and pick that and the 18 up and get rid of your headache 
10
To be honest I judged the sickle mower before I had enough seat time to really get to know it. I completely take back what I said about it yesterday, it's awesome!! It would be a smoother operation with AGs and wheel weights but it's doing really well as is.
Speed definitely helps to keep it from bunching up. I also found that it works better to work from right to left and run over uncut grass than left to right and run over clumps off cut grass. The largest think I cut down today was a 1.5" diameter oak tree. With proper belt tension, it's unstoppable!
I did not mention the adjustments I made to the knives yesterday so here's that. When I had the mower on the 16/6 to test it out (before the SS18 was running) it bunched up grass between the knives and jammed up. I took the "hold down clips" off and bent them on the vice. This completely fixed the jamming problem.
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Crappy picture, but basically the clips weren't anywhere near the knives and now they are.
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Cutting the sides of trails.
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Of course, since the mower worked great, something else has to break, right? The dash is crumbling even more and the clutch spring broke.
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Speed definitely helps to keep it from bunching up. I also found that it works better to work from right to left and run over uncut grass than left to right and run over clumps off cut grass. The largest think I cut down today was a 1.5" diameter oak tree. With proper belt tension, it's unstoppable!
I did not mention the adjustments I made to the knives yesterday so here's that. When I had the mower on the 16/6 to test it out (before the SS18 was running) it bunched up grass between the knives and jammed up. I took the "hold down clips" off and bent them on the vice. This completely fixed the jamming problem.
Crappy picture, but basically the clips weren't anywhere near the knives and now they are.
Cutting the sides of trails.
Of course, since the mower worked great, something else has to break, right? The dash is crumbling even more and the clutch spring broke.
61 - 80 of 84 Posts
