angle of cub-22 sickle mower adjustment

[tmays]

Yes, change back to other hole in gag lever. Yes on changing blades. Should be sharp enough that you don’t want to run your finger along the edge of it, for want of a better description. Lol
On changing the blades, I lay the bar on the edge of flat surface of vise with point of blade hanging off the edge and give the back of the blade a good smack with a hammer. Pops right off and sometimes rest of rivet will pop out, others I punch out

[Jim Becker]

This is subject to change from seeing in person or a picture from another angle, but I think I'd leave the gag link where you have it now. It looks like the lift pulls both ends of the cutter bar off the ground at about the same time. The angle between the cutter bar and pitman that you see when raised is about the same as the angle when it is operating. The mower should be able to cut downslope, as in cutting into a graded ditch with the tractor level. If in that situation the outer shoe doesn't run on the ground, move the gag link back to the other hole.

You have the clamp for an outer grass rod. All you need is the rod itself. The main help from the outer grass board/rod is to keep the inner end of the cutter bar from plugging (during the next pass).

Your knife sections don't look that badly worn, but at least need sharpening. The little "teeth" you see on them are the ends of under serrations. As you sharpen the sections from the top, the teeth regrow. There are special shaped grinding stones that sharpen one side of 2 sections at once. On mine, I found the sections already ground to not match the profile of the stone I have. So I free-hand sharpened them with a die grinder and the side of a cut-off wheel. It worked pretty well and didn't take long. If they won't sharpen up without taking a lot of material off, replace them. You need to make sure the hold-down clips hold the knife close to the ledger plates. They should be close but not so tight as to cause binding.

Go to the PDF manuals and in Service Manuals/Blue Ribbon Service Manuals is GSS-1053 on cutter bars. It has good explanations of everything about maintaining cutter bars. There is also an exploded view with all the parts labeled. The exploded view has your style outer grass rod.

[marshall]

The main help from the outer grass board/rod is to keep the inner end of the cutter bar from plugging (during the next pass).

Not sure I understand how the grass board/rod would affect the inside of the next pass but I'm guessing it has to do with guiding the grass inwards so that its not lying in the area where the sickle goes on the next pass.

Minor point:

Is the assumption that we mow sections of field in rectangles such that I travel around the perimeter clockwise making 90 degree turns at each corner of the rectangle. This method keeps the sickle bar in "virgin territory" of uncut grass that hasn't been driven through and packed down by tires.

That's the way I mow; i.e. not in stripes with 180 turns at each end... Maybe some people mow that way but I never have. Just wondering if the design of the bar is actually assuming one style over another (since I've always felt my style superior ever since I discovered it when I was probably 10 straining to push a 3 hp mower around the yard in high grass trying to avoid constant clogs - but in this situation I go around counter-clockwise so the discharge-spout of the mower is facing outwards to blow the grass into territory that is already cut)

[brewzalot]

Not sure I understand how the grass board/rod would affect the inside of the next pass but I'm guessing it has to do with guiding the grass inwards so that its not lying in the area where the sickle goes on the next pass.

Yes, exactly that- sickle mowers dont do well in already cut grass.

[Glen]

Hi,
Below is a Cub 22 mower owner's manual, it has much info about cutter bar maintenance on pages 9 - 11.
The manual is for 3 different mowers, for 3 different models of IH tractors. The mounting info in the 2nd half of it is marked at the top of the pages which model the page is for.
It shows removing knives the way tmays described above, on page 11.
You don't really need to get the special tools they show, but they are probably easier than hammering.
A hammer and anvil work for riveting.
I guess I posted the manual on page 1 of this post also.

http://farmallcub.com/rudi_cub/www.clea ... index.html

IH had smooth, or serrated knives available for the Cub 22 mower, so it could have either style. The smooth knives have no serrations.
There was also light, or heavy duty knives. Heavy duty knives are thicker than light duty knives. It works better to not mix them on the same knife bar, because of the hold down clips.
Case IH has new knives, guards, and other parts for the mower.

TM Tractor has new knives. It doesn't say which duty they are, you could ask if you want to buy any.

http://www.tmtractor.com/new/sm/491fp.htm

The grass board for the outer end of the mower is not really needed unless you are cutting high grass, it does about nothing in short grass, or weeds. I leave the board off for short grass, it can get caught on things backing up, and get bent.
It is necessary in high grass, to keep the inner end from getting plugged with grass that you cut on the pass before. The board moves the high grass as it's cut, to make a bare width on the ground, 1 foot wide, or so. The inner skid runs in the bare place on the next pass.

Below is a pic of a new outer skid, they are longer than yours, yours is broken off, it looks like in the pic. If you want the skid lowered down lots in the slot, to raise the bar from the ground, you have to use the bolt in the upper hole in the skid bracket, like yours has it in the pic.
The bolt looks like it is about up all the way in the slot, in your pic. Lowering it down some will hold the outer end up more from the ground.
I don't know where the inner skid is set, the inner and outer skids should be set to equal heights.
I think that is not a Case IH part number on the skid below.

[radioguy41]

Yep, as I pointed out on page 1, the skid is broken and in addition should be moved down.

[marshall]

I got the knife out of the bar and am preparing to go shopping for the missing and broken stuff on my sickle bar. A few questions about the wear on the knife guards. Check out these shots and notice that only one guard has decent serrations. This guard is an MC 2041. These other guards are MB 2041s but I see the vestiges of serrations right at the base where they come into the bar. All the knives are serrated so I'm wondering: Shouldn't all the ledger plates in those guards be nicely serrated as well so that the knives and plates work together to chew through weeds and grass?

Most of my guards (mostly MBs but 3 MCs) have plates where the serrations are worn away. Thus my quandary. I've read through the blue-ribbon manual on how to service sickle bar. Replacing ledger plates involves some tools I don't have and clearly a lot of time to get ledger plates off and new ones correctly installed ( a nice winter project, maybe, but not right now while weeds and grass are growing).

Questions:

1. Do most people just buy new guards so they can get a new ledger plate rather than go through this ledger plate replacement hassle?
2. Does the appearance of these worn down plates on my MB2041s make you think I should do #1 now or would some new knife blades do the trick and new serrated ledger-plates + guards are less important?

Finally: I'm looking at one knife in particular that has quite a bit of play because of the rivet being loose. Is this OK? I've got a short video that shows the play. For tools all I've got are drills and vice + hammers so the riveting removal/installation operation on my end is primitive at best.
I see quite a few knives with sections of serrations missing. I'm assuming I better put new knives into all these locations.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wcsYpQHfZMiMQz7QPVmbDGKOMWf3Gvre/view?usp=sharing

As always, thanks to all!

[tmays]

If it were mine, I’d replace the ledger plates that need replacing. Yes, the loose blades need fixing. I’d also take a hammer and knock the top of the guards down. Looks like too wide a gap to me. But as Jim posted, not so tight that bar doesn’t slide easily. No binding.
A consideration for all this would be what you’re going to do with the mower. If for real work, then I’d go the whole nine yards and get it done. Otherwise, just whatever you’re comfortable doing

[marshall]

I'd say its for real mowing. I have a field that is about 4 acres with grass, weeds and small saplings and vines that come in around the edges. Its probably 5 hours of mowing and it really beats on the sickle bar and the engine if there's a lot of clogs and strain to get through it. So I'd like to get the sickle cutting as smoothly as possible and would rather spend extra money (i.e. buy new guards+plates) toward this than many hours of time with the wrong tools working with metal that may be pretty stubborn after many years.

[Glen]

Hi,
Don't run the mower with loose knives, they can fall off. Check them all to be sure they are tight.
I don't know if the special IH tools shown in the mower owner's manual are made anymore.

Here is how I tighten a loose knife. It is not hard to do.
The rivets need hammering to tighten them.
Remove the knife bar from the mower. Set the knife bar on an anvil, or solid metal, with the bottom of the rivet you are going to hammer on sitting on the anvil, or solid metal.
Set the end of the bar that is hanging down on the ground, on a large wood block, so the bar is about level. Wear work gloves, and with one hand hold the bar steady. Hammer on the rivet and it will tighten the knife on the bar. Move the bar so the other rivet is sitting on the anvil, and repeat hammering the 2nd rivet. This should tighten the knife.

I think there are places that sell new knife bars for IH mowers, complete with serrated knives, but I think they cost some money nowadays.

The mower will cut better with good leger plates, it looks like some of them in your pic are worn.
You can either replace the leger plates, or buy new guards. The MC 2041 is the heavy duty guard, I believe.
If you put on new MC 2041 guards, the guard at the inner and outer ends of the bar were special for their positions. They had different numbers originally. My mower came with the MC 2041 guards.

You can use MC 2041 guards for the inner and outer ends, but they need modifying. The bottoms of the 2 guards have to be cut on one side, so they fit on the bar. The outer guard needs a curved shape on the outer bottom side.
The inner guard needs the corner cut off on the inner side.
I have found also that the 2 guards where the hold up rod, and the nut go, those bottoms need cutting slightly, so the nut will fit right, as I remember nut hits on the guard bottoms without cutting the corners off the guards.

TM Tractor has new guards you can look at. These look like the guards I buy at Case IH, on the Case IH guards, the leger plate serrations are not as big as the older guards had, like the one in one of your pics above.

http://www.tmtractor.com/new/sm/489fp.htm

[marshall]

Glen: Thanks for the details about the guards and knife riveting. I think I can do the knife replacements on the bar and that's pretty inexpensive since a knife is only $2. I'll have to smash those rivets down harder.

But the knife guard project does seem rather daunting. I've looked pretty closely at the guards and a lot of the MB 2041s are kind of twisted and bent with no serrations left on the plates. I found one guard which looks older than all the rest (it just has IH on it) and its riveted to the bar rather than bolted - maybe this is an original. Getting that one off will be a project. I guess what I'll have to do is take off the inner, outer, and other two guards you mentioned and take them to someone who can cut the new MC 2041s to match the shapes of them so they can install right. This doesn't sound like something I can do with a Sawzall which is the best thing I've got for metal cutting.

To outfit the sickle bar with all new guards and knives will be roughly $200, but if it will cut a lot better and strain the machine less, that's a good investment. Once it works nicely I guess I'll have to avoid going beyond the clean edges of the field and into the area where all the saplings and prickers encroach. I'm sure that's where the knife mangling happens even though it does do a wonderful job of controlling that junk. I should probably have a second bar I use for the 1/2 mile of edge trimming I'd like to be able to do.

Out of curiosity, no one is selling new sickle bars for these things are they?

Thanks again. I'll post an update when I have it rebuilt.

[Don McCombs]

Realistically, I think it may be easier and more economical to find a replacement mower in better condition than to spend the money to completely rebuild that one. If the cutter bar parts are that worn, other parts are likely to be also.

[tmays]

Realistically, I think it may be easier and more economical to find a replacement mower in better condition than to spend the money to completely rebuild that one. If the cutter bar parts are that worn, other parts are likely to be also.

Was thinking the same. But can sometimes be hard to find in good condition. Perhaps an ad in the vine might scare up a good one

Edit: always good idea to be on the lookout for good used parts for these mowers when using one regularly

[Glen]

Hi,
Case IH still made the 2 special end guards a few years ago, they are numbers MC 2042, and MC 2043. They cost $18 - $25 each, I think.
The dealer where I buy things suggested making the 2 end guards from MC 2041 guards.
A hack saw, and a bench grinder will work, if that is what you have.

The base of the outer guard has to be cut, and then ground into a curved shape, like I said above.
The inner guard is less work to make fit, a smaller piece cut off than the outer guard. It might need grinding too, after cutting.
The Cub 22 mowers I have seen had the guards bolted on. The riveted one might not be original, but I don't know for sure.

You should check the wear in the bushings on the long shaft, there is a bushing at each end of the shaft, in the tube. Move the shaft up and down, there should not be any looseness. The bushings for it cost some money nowadays at Case IH. If they are worn, the mower will probably make banging noises when cutting heavy grass.
The shaft end play should be little, as little as possible, but still turn freely. The end play is controlled with washers at both ends of the shaft.

You could check the pitman bearing for wear too.

You might want to look for a better mower, if too many things are wrong with the one you have.
I don't know how hard it is to find one that is good.
Below is a pic of one shaft bushing