Lawn rescue service :)

[dentwizz]

This year's service of demand seems to be sickle mower-on-lawn. So far this month I am up to my 3rd customer in the 3/4 acre and above category with grass above the hood of the 210. The 64 LL was doing the job quite nicely for the last year or so but with the frequency of demand, the B210 variable is the current dedicated sickle unit. Variable is pretty nice for it. Question is, how many of us have used the sickle for lawn grass instead of the average field weeds? It is certainly a different beast to cut. It seems as if it is dulling a little bit now(about 20 hrs since I aquired it) with no major issues and almost no chips, but I did debur the edges a little with a hand file recently. The cutting serrations were a little rolled from occasional sticks. How expensive is an average sharpening if it is doable on the serrated edge and where are cutter bars/teeth available from?

[Talntedmrgreen]

I can't imagine gettin a nice enough cut to make it worthwhile where I'm at. I suppose if things got terribly out of hand it would be neat to try, but then, my Weedcutter would probably be on deck first ^

[TommyK]

I imagine a SimpleCity or AC/Massey Ferguson dealer should have the sickle sections. The MF dealer is more likely to have them in stock. Back on the farm, on a full sized sickle bar, we didn't sharpen, we just replaced the triangular shaped 'teeth' (sickle sections). They are riveted to the reciprocating bar. Grind or chisel off the head of the rivets, drive the de-headed rivets out with a drift, then replace the sections with new rivets. You can either peen over the rivets with a hammer or you can purchase a 'C' clamp like tool made for the purpose. The tool does a neater, more secure job than I ever could with a ball-peen hammer. You could dress up each individual section too. You have to weigh the time and effort of sharpening the existing sections with that of the cost of new sections, rivets and a rivet tool. If you opt for replacement, take an old section and the rivet you drove out with you for sizing purposes. They are somewhat standard, but there are a hand full of different varieties. They are commonly used on combine grain tables, and soy bean heads. (possibly a salvage yard item). There is a possibility that given the comparatively diminutive size of the garden tractor sickle mower, it may be a smaller, less common size. Good hunting!

[427435]

Any Farm and Fleet kind of store would have the sickle sections. My dad had a special grinding wheel for sharpening the mower and swarther sickle blades. It was wide enough to go from one sickle point to the next and "V" shaped (larger center diameter than the edges). It was mounted on an old arbor powered by an electric motor and would sharpen the "V" that 2 sickle blades would make. A short google didn't turn up any available to day. I'll have to see if it's still on the workbench at home.

[ReedS]

Last I knew the sickle blade sections for the Simplcity/ A/C were rather hard to find. I have not used mine for straight grass cutting though I nearly had the opportunity to do so this past weekend and would have if I had had the correct belt!

[dentwizz]

The hardest part of "lawn" sickling is the laydown. THe only way I can get around that is to drive the tractor in the uncut area, reaching outward to the edge of the zone. Next pass, turn around and cut it from the outside combing it backward while driving on the previously cut area. I've been debating making a deflector/tobogan nose to go from the sickle hitch out the nose to help the buildup issue, but haven't gotten there yet. It does a pretty effective job at lawn grade cutting when its about a foot or two, albeit a little taller than the deck would.