Should have paid more attention, Cub-22 Mower ???

[Steve in Mo]

So I took my cutter bar apart to put new blades and guards on. Did not pay close attention to the Wearing plate. It shows the wear on one side but seems to fit much better with the other side up. So the question is, does the small flange go up or down?? I almost think it was on upside down when I purchased it. Just want to be sure I get it right while it is all apart.
As always THANKS for the help.

[Bus Driver]

I will not have a chance to look until tomorrow. Is this MC 468 (#22) (page 70) in the parts catalog? Doesn't the sickle bar rub against, and is supported by, that short flange?

[Steve in Mo]

Thanks for the reply!! I do not have the parts book just the owners manual. On page 20 it is item 13 called the wearing plate under knife.

[Bus Driver]

http://www.cleancomputes.com/Cub/Cub%20 ... Mowers.htm

The page and illustration number is at the site linked above. This site is accessible by Internet Explorer, but not by Mozilla Firefox.

[Bus Driver]

Again assuming that the part in question is MC 468 which fits under M 2 708, et al,(70) (22), Knife Clip (74) (23) , the flange is up. That is the short answer.
Now for my ramblings. That flange provides a bearing surface for the back of the sickle knives. Basically, the parts of the mower that wear in use are replaceable. While in use, the sickle knives are being thrust rearward, in the opposite direction to the travel of the tractor. Wear is between the back of the knives and the wear plate flange. On the partial junk mower I bought, that wear plate was removed completely. Don't do that! But in guessing what the person might have been thinking, removing the plate lets the Knife Clip sit lower, thus compensating for some wear on the Knife Clip. These Knife clips were worn "slap out". The guards (70) (29) were hardly worn but badly rusted. So my guess is that new guards were installed and nothing else was replaced/repaired. The wear plate MA/MB 1 263 (70) (18) was worn enough to come loose from two of the rivets, thin as paper. That part is probably often overlooked, but it serves as the ledger plate for the sickle knife at that end of the mower. It is precision surface ground and not low priced. Replacement takes some time and work. But it is essential for proper mower operation.

[Bus Driver]

With red-faced embarrassment, I now suspect that I was absolutely wrong in my answer above. I looked at 4 different Cub-22 mowers. 3 of them had the flange turned up, 1 had no wear plates at all. I found some old, badly worn, wear plates in the junk pile. They had been removed and replaced from a mower 30 or more years ago. The rust pattern on them clearly showed that the flange was down. The arched knife clip rust pattern on the wear plate was unmistakable. And it seems very likely that those wear plates were the originals on the mower, much more likely than any we would see on a mower today.
So I went to one of the largest farmers in this area. Has two BIG combines, etc. He says that the flange goes down, that he has never seen it any other way. Pulled one of the plates from his parts bin and it is exactly like the ones on the Cub mower!
I am seeking confirmation from another source. Hopefully next week, I can actually test it on my mower.
Needed a few more parts for the mower today and went to the implement dealer. Many parts for sickle mowers have more than doubled in price since last year. For hobbyists, that is one thing. For farmers, it is another thing entirely. Food prices will continue to rise.

[Bus Driver]

http://www.sickleservice.com/partsDetai ... egory_id=8

Picture of the wear plate at the link above. It may be necessary to scroll down to see it.

[beaconlight]

Bus Driver I can get into the Clean computes ok with Mozilla.

[Bus Driver]

Now I have tried the mower with the wear plates both ways. The sickle runs much easier turning the pulley by hand with the wear plate flange down. I now have my mower with the flange down.
Some of the secondary links within the Cub manual site still will not open with Mozilla Firefox on my computer. But it does now seem more accessible than the previous time I tried. I also have Internet Explorer which does work with the manual server.