Lane Ranger 10,947 #1 Posted May 30, 2021 Well I am done with the rust removing, priming and painting for this old 42 Wheel Horse Sickle Bar Mower. Now time to reassemble ! The knife bar with new blades and rivets was finished a couple weeks ago. Also a new oil seal was installed in the wobble box behind the drive pulley. This wobble box is the best I have ever seen on a Wheel Horse sickle but the rest of the sickle was a real rust bucket. All new hardware going on this redo. Most of it stainless steel. Here are some pics of the parts ready for reassembly. I can not believe how many parts are actually in these sickle mowers. It is going to be slow going but some progress today. You have to refer to the manual drawing for almost every bolt on the guard assembly . I will post more photos as I progress on this project. This is fourth one of these I have done but maybe the last. 5 4 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daron1965 644 #2 Posted May 30, 2021 Looks great. Can they be operated at angles? Or only when laying flat? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lane Ranger 10,947 #3 Posted May 30, 2021 Only flat. The Haban sickle 414 model for Wheel Horse can operate on angles! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peter lena 8,587 #4 Posted May 30, 2021 @Lane Ranger walmart , lucas extra heavy duty grease , polyurea rated for angular gear units , no wash out , or failure , pete 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
c-series don 8,670 #5 Posted May 30, 2021 Looks great Lane, when restoring something I always refer to this as the fun part. I like the way you laid everything out before assembly. Please keep the pictures coming!! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Racinbob 11,045 #6 Posted May 30, 2021 11 hours ago, Daron1965 said: Looks great. Can they be operated at angles? Or only when laying flat? 11 hours ago, Lane Ranger said: Only flat. The Haban sickle 414 model for Wheel Horse can operate on angles! I have to differ with you Lane. I operated my Wheel Horse sickle at an angle for many years. I had an eyebolt on the side of the hood tower and another one about in the middle of the bar. I would set it at about a 45° angle and use it to trim the briars back along the paths. I'm in a constant search mode for another one. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lane Ranger 10,947 #7 Posted May 30, 2021 (edited) Yes you can angle it with a chain or similar setup and it will still cut racinbob! I over stated it. As anyone who has operated one of these knows when you are driving a tractor, running a sickle, and looking for trouble every foot of movement it’s a lot of excitement! Edited May 30, 2021 by Lane Ranger 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Racinbob 11,045 #8 Posted May 30, 2021 It sure can be Lane. When the briars are out of control trying to keep them from making you feel like you're wrestling a couple dozen angry cats can be a trip. I always had a long sledge hammer handle with the head broke off in my right hand to fend them off and help keep my hand away from the cutters. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lane Ranger 10,947 #9 Posted June 1, 2021 Put the 42 inch sickle mower lift bar and wobble box back together. Next big project is the center frame plate and drive pulley. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lane Ranger 10,947 #10 Posted June 1, 2021 One of the interesting and unusual aspected of the Wheel Horse sickle bar mower is that one of the four clip plates on the sickle is turned around. Item #81 in drawing . The plate closest to the wobble box is reversed to allow the edge to align the knife bar in the guards. The weight of the 42 inch knife section and cutter bar with guards weighs a lot. I think the edge on the plate assists in keeping the knife blade section ‘true’ in the cutter bar guards. Due to rust dirt and debris from years on the sickle mower I also had to clean the inside ends of each guard tooth to make sure the individual blades would clear on the cutter bar. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 48,799 #11 Posted June 1, 2021 Following with interest here Lane as I have a 7-1311 to finish one of these days. What lube did you end up with in the wobble box? I was considering corn head grease? My IPL also shows those plates flipped I'll have to double check mine to see if I assembled it that way. Thanks for the tip. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lane Ranger 10,947 #12 Posted June 2, 2021 30 Weight oil Jim in wobble box. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Tuul Crib 7,336 #13 Posted June 2, 2021 Nice work lane !! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lane Ranger 10,947 #14 Posted June 2, 2021 19 hours ago, WHX24 said: Following with interest here Lane as I have a 7-1311 to finish one of these days. What lube did you end up with in the wobble box? I was considering corn head grease? My IPL also shows those plates flipped I'll have to double check mine to see if I assembled it that way. Thanks for the tip. Jim: We had this same problem on the first 50 inch sickle bar mower we rebuilt. The yoke assembly was broken. The same piece was broken just about the same way in our wobble box. We did not have a new piece machined but we had it rewelded. It has held up but really not used heavily. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 48,799 #15 Posted June 2, 2021 I was going to have a new one made but Shynon had one laying around that saved me alot of work. Wobble box is now together with all new bearings. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
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