Jump to content

Unofficial Home of Old Simplicity & Allis-Chalmers Garden Tractors

Gauging Interest. Update


rokon2813

Recommended Posts

I am in the process of getting a few parts made for the sickle bars. Wondering if I should make a bunch, or just a few. I'm sure prices will be a factor, and I don't have them yet. I have some original parts at a shop for them to figure out if they can do them economically.

1; knife bar, the bar that the knives are riveted to

2; sickle head, part bolted to the knife bar that drives it

3; clevis assembly, drive part off the crank

4; pivot end rod, also called the dog bone

5; pulley mount bracket

6; divider rod assembly

Any interest in these or anything else ???

I am not "taking orders" just trying to decide if there is enough demand.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

quote:Originally posted by hurleyii

I have a couple broken fingers needing replacment


id="quote">
id="quote">As far as I know, fingers (rock guards) and knives are still available here...http://www.sickleservice.com/
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Some more info.I found pulleys to go with the brackets, they are ordered, in transit.These brackets are functional but not perfect.The slotted holes need to be cleaned up, and the space for the pulley is a little wider than I would like.So nothing available yet, but getting closer.

new parts 004.jpg

The knife bars and sickle heads, I am not at all happy with quality or material, so these will need to be redone (No time frame).Both of these parts break, and they used lighter steel, so in my opinion they are no good, or only good for a "show only" unit. I do have one guy who is going to try them on a show unit and see how it works. Again, the quality needed was not there.

new parts 003.jpg

new parts 008.jpg

Divider board (swathboard) brackets and divider rods may be available soon.

new parts 006.jpg

new parts 007.jpg

My thought on the swath board itself is, those can probably be made yourselves at home with nothing more than a circular saw or table saw, and shipping would be prohibitive on a board, so I will probably only make the ones needed for my bars.I do have a drawing if someone needs it.Clevis assemblies are still "in process".I have had a couple requests for knives and fingers. Both are available from sickle service. I can order and stock some, but can't see customers paying a marked up price. (I would have to cover my costs of shipping to me), when you could order them yourselves straight from them.I will probably let the shop have one more attempt at getting everything right, but have not talked to them yet.Also, at this point quantities are limited, I only had 4 of each made for testing.

57e062239c4f4_newparts004.jpg.c0980dd2ff1113c857b586b0f9ca257c.jpg

57e06223a8ec5_newparts003.jpg.cfdfbbd25c438caad39612934ec1c736.jpg

57e06223b9c2d_newparts008.jpg.c480a0a551599b6fadfcf62f2014358b.jpg

57e06223cbe4b_newparts006.jpg.ab63b7fa8f364fe5b47175b698b68d37.jpg

57e06223d7a76_newparts007.jpg.173fe96df14403dd406ec9cf3e16f021.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also, as an aside. If you think your outside end rock guard (finger) is broken, it may not be. That one is a different part number and should look "broken".As far as I can tell, you can take a standard one and cut the top off.I did not see "ends" available from sickle service, nor the 3 knives with the 3rd hole that go under the sickle head.

end rock guard.jpg

57e06223ebd49_endrockguard.jpg.7e0b6e317fb3c4cc213d743aa93950b9.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It could just be the picture but it doesn't look like they even managed to drill the holes in a straight lineC I could use a couple of divider rods depending on price. My mowers still had the swath board brackets so I don't need them. I also need a pulley bracket but I need the one for an RBT and its different. I don't have one to measure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have posted a couple of these items in the NLA reproduction parts topic in commonly asked questions.

http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=144007

I have 1 sicklebar with not enough parts to complete it, and had enough requests that I will be posting a few used blades and used fingers (rock guards) and other parts, in the classifieds too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Someone mentioned to me that the knife bars were case hardened? First I've heard it and last time I bought one from someone who made one it was not mentioned.

Does anyone know for sure??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't know about these small Habans, but the larger farm mowers used tempered steel - not the cheaper cold rolled steel.

We would often heat the bar in the forge, hammer the rivets tight, and quench the whole bar in a water trough. Then tap the knives again to make sure all were tight.

We didn't have a water wheel for sharpening knives, but we did have beveled stones on our electric grindstone, and were careful not to overheat the knives during sharpening to prevent them losing their temper.

Hope this helps...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Kent.

I will have to do some more investigating.

Last one I bought was from Harold Tews, don't know if he tempered them or not, and that bar is long gone so no idea how it held up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Question; does anyone have an original broken knife bar or original broken sickle head they would send me ??

To get these parts right, the heat treater would like to do some testing, and to do his tests, he needs to "destroy" the part.

I would rather not destroy a good serviceable OEM part for testing.

We are trying to figure out what exact steel and what hardness the factory used.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I might have mine with knives on it still. I lucked into a complete with knives bar on E-bay years ago.

I'll check when I get home tonight and PM you.

Greg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

If you can, rod ends with grease fittings are so much better in the field. I have been running mine a lot this month for a 10 acre field rescue on a hill and anything wit a grease fitting is a score.

Also, this year I updated the driven swingarm clevis bearing with a ball cartridge set instead of the factory needle bearing. The factory one was consistently getting overheated and binding at about 2 hrs run time in spite of maintenance, like I would have to splash water on it to cool it before regreasing. The new setup is a pair of ball cartridges (1614-zz) and they are going on 15 hrs run time with no issues whatsoever. In fact a couple days ago the bolt that went through fatigued off(original) but no damage to the bearings. New grade 8 bolt and back in business. If the new cutter bars are in my price range I will need one by the end of the season.

On the cutter bar and teeth topic, has anyone used bolts or high strength locking pop-rivets successfully? It's not that I am unfamiliar with setting rivets(used to do aircraft) but I can see a pop rivet being a bit more convenient. The ones listed on mcmastercarr are rated at 600 lbs shear so I would think that would work but hoped someone might have tried.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had an OEM knife section analyzed by a metallurgist and the material is SAE 1065 carbon steel, heat treated at 1475-1550°F, oil quenched and tempered at about 400­°F.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Has any one mounted a cable lift/planetary style sickle bar on a newer Sovereign? I have a sickle bar but have never mounted it on my 2000 Sovereign. I would like to know what belt is used and see a picture of the cable lift pulley bracket.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a planetary sickle on a 71xx. Takes a 73" belt and an attachment point for the support chain. Used a piece of angle bolted to the running boards for the support chain.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...