Sickle Bar Install

[Sonny Crawford]

Hi folks.
This is my first time installing my sickle bar mower on my cub. It's all quite a smooth install but for a few glitches . The pulley on the PTO lines up about one inch back from where it should be. There is no clear adjustment to bring the drive bar pulley back so that the two pulleys are in line and the belt is not off set.
The PTO pulley is installed correctly with the cotter pin in place. Excellent tutorials helped me get the rest pretty much in order.

Any ideas? I'm in a bind because my fields are overdue for cutting.

I'm overjoyed to join this Cub club. I've been a bit panicky because of rain keeping me from getting my fields cut. I've been brush hogging until this year but I'm determined to sickle bar cut from now on for all the right reasons.

Thanks for being there!
Sonny Crawford
413-625-9923
sonnytree@gmail.com

[Dale Finch]

Hopefully someone who uses the sickle mower regularly will come along with good info, but it is my understanding that to adjust the rearward position of the drive pulley, there are washers you can put in front of the pulley to position it further back.

Maybe on page 14, paragraph 2?

http://farmallcub.com/rudi_cub/www.cleancomputes.com/Cub/Cub%20Implement%20Manuals/International%2022,%20Cub-22,%20and%20L-22%20Mowers/Page%2014.jpg

[tst]

post pictures so maybe we can see the problem

[tmays]

post pictures so maybe we can see the problem

Agreed.
They should line up. Are the correct washers installed on the driveshaft? Lot of moving parts so pretty much guesswork without pics. Do you have the correct pto pulley? Loboy pulley on regular cub would cause misalignment if I remember correctly

[Glen]

Hi,
The washers are at the ends of the long shaft, some should be behind the rear pulley, and some should be at the front, behind the weight.
They control the end play of the shaft.
Check the end play of the shaft, it should have as little end play as possible, and the shaft turn freely.
Hold the rear lower pulley and move it forward and back.

There should be space between the rear lower pulley, and the guard around the pulley. On my Cub 22 Mower, it is about 5/8".
There should be a space between the heavier part of the front weight and the mower bracket, just behind the weight. It is 5/8" also, on my mower.
Turn the shaft so the heavier part of the weight is up, that is where I measured.

If you have the right PTO pulley, it sounds like someone might have bent the mower mounting, backing into something.
It might be bent at the front, I saw one that was bent in the past.

Below are pics from TM Tractor.
The 1st pic shows the front mounting, it should be mostly straight up and down along the rear edge.
You should use the IH tapered head bolts to hold the mower on the Cub, if the hole or holes in the bracket have tapers.
TM Tractor at the bottom of the page has the bolts. The mowers vibrate during use, and the tapered head bolts help hold the brackets in place.
Check the bolts during use, and keep them tight.

The 2nd pic shows the PTO pulley. The belt groove goes to the rear.
The larger hole in the pulley is for a 3/8" bolt, lockwasher and nut. Be sure to tighten the bolt, the pulley should be tight on the PTO shaft. It can wear the splines during use if the pulley isn't tight on the PTO shaft.

[radioguy41]

Perhaps this illustration will help to understand the pulley (#7) orientation.

Click on image for a larger view.

[Larry in WNY]

If the square support is not in the left side bolster slot it may throw the pulley alignment off. It's the 3rd photo.

Larry

[halftonstude]

The third photo shows the location of the drag bar support. that merely adjusts the lead angle of the cutter bar - how far forward the outer end of the cutter is ahead of being perpendicular to the tractor. The second photo shows another issue in that the belt adjuster is not secured to the rear bracket. THere shouldn't be a gap that carriage bolt needs to be tight. At one point my rear bracket was bent to more than a 90 degree angle - which moved the lower pulley back about 1/4" so the belt wasn't aligned. 1" is an awful lot to be out of alignment. When I get back to the barn i'll take a closer look and a couple photos. I keep the drive shaft mounted on my cub and just remove the cutter when i'm raking or pulling wagons. We mow 150 acres twice; I too restored my cutter to be able to use it, and it works great!

[halftonstude]

I took some photos of mine,it appears the rear bracket here is not correct? Mine has two holes for mounting and matches the image in the parts manual for the C-22 mower. But the rear bracket doesn't hold the shaft or tube for placement in line, it's just support and belt tightening. the connection up front provides all the alginment.

I'm going to go with the front mounting bracket not looking like it is straight up and down. The image makes it look like the lower pulley would be too far back, which i think matches your description... is it vertically straight and not bent rearwards?
c

[NJ Farmer]

Larry in NY you have one hell of an oil leak or is that just corrosion prevention…..you might need a gasket or seal…or both!

NJ Farmer

[Clemsonfor]

Some of us with original ones have oil leaks and such.