# 477 Haybine knife/guard adjustment



## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

I just picked up a 477 Haybine the other day in really great shape, paint is pretty good, rollers look PERFECT, the guy had just finished his first cutting with it. Looking at the knife alignment within the guards, I can't see how this thing was even cutting. There wasn't a manual for it but I downloaded a manual for a 479 and figured they'd be pretty close. The knives probably all need replaced anyways, but they are not resting on the cutter guard ledger. Specs state no more than 0.020" between bottom of knife and top of ledger but there's all kinds of space. Only a few of the knives are actually touching the guard as they should.

This seems pretty critical in order to cut right.

How can I adjust the knives or guards so they are all set up properly?

I read I can adjust the knife head bolt a little lower in the bushing to lower the knives. The manual also says to deliver a hard blow to the guard to adjust them but it does nothing when I smack on them.

Any tips would be appreciated.


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

First thing I would do is pull the knife section and lay a flat bar across the guard ledger surface to see if they are level between each other. If they are - then I think it's a matter of adjusting the hold downs. That might require a hammer too or shims if they are to tight.

The guards are supposed to be malleable, however, some of the off brand knock-off's don't appear to be so and bending them with a BFH is difficult.

Find machine you've got. Especially good the rollers are in great shape.

Good luck,

Bill


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## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

These looks to be the original guards to the machine...most of the paint is gone though I can still see specs of yellow paint...whereas the aftermarket guards are red.


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## mike10 (May 29, 2011)

Forget about bending the guards with a hammer, they are not malleable like the old mowing machines. You can make a tool that hooks over the guard to align the guards with the knife. This does not bend the guard but it bends the guard mounting surface which is ok. Another way to get the guards up is to cut a small shim to slip under the rear of the guard and up against the bolt. When you tighten the bolt the guard will pivot on the shim and raise in front.


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## mike10 (May 29, 2011)

I am attaching a pdf of my guard alignment tools. The top tool in each picture is for stub guards and the bottom tool in each picture is standard guards. The shaft is 1 1/4" shaft about 48" long. The plate on the ends of the shafts hooks behind the nut attaching the guards. The tool for the standard gurads has a loop to hook over the front of the guard. The stub guard tool has a notch ground into the heavy plate to fit the profile of the stub guard.

When bending the guards up the knife sections need to be between the guards and not directly over the guard.

As you can see the tools have been well used but not so much the last ten years. The haybine just can not cut the hay in this area any more. At one time it seemed like all I did all summer was recondition cutter bars.


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## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

Thanks Mike. Did that alignment tool work pretty well for you? I can sight down the guards and see they're all misaligned (some are up, some are down) without even having to remove the blade.

Will the mower still cut if there is appreciable space between the knife and the guard, or will the grass just get plugged in there much like when a scissor doesn't cut something and it just goes between the blades? I ask because I'd like to mow 11 acres on Friday. It's grass that had already been initially grazed down by cattle earlier this spring, so is really more like a second cutting. The guy I bought this from had just mowed his first cutting with it, and then promptly sold it. Now I'm wondering if he sold it because he really didn't want to do hay anymore or if he didn't like the way it cut. He had just bought it not too long ago.

If it will still cut, though it won't be the prettiest, I'll leave it and repair afterwards. Maybe just replace the knife bar.

Also, if you don't use that adjustment tool anymore, I'd buy it from you. I'd use it a lot. I'm just in SW MI so shipping probably wouldn't be too much, though I'm sure it's pretty heavy.


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## mike10 (May 29, 2011)

The tool works very well. You want the clearence as close as possible but not binding the knife. It will probably cut all right this time but it is harder on the drive system when the cut is not clean.


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## Wethay (Jul 17, 2015)

Might be worth making sure the guards are tight and don't have a bunch of rust or debris under them.


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## kentuckyguy (Apr 13, 2015)

I used shims on the back side of the guards on my Hesston. I had just bought the machine and didn't wanna sink a lot of cash into it until I found out if it was going to hold together.
So far it's worked great.

I found bending my stub guards with a hammer was impossible. And the holdowns wouldn't take all the gap out.


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## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

Are you just putting the shims between the guard and the mounting surface? I tried it with some body shims tonight but then the blade wasn't sitting evenly with the guard. (Touching at the front tip of the blade but not at the back).


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## kentuckyguy (Apr 13, 2015)

I put then on the very back of the guard just up to the outside of the bolts. I would use just enough shims to get it touching on the end. I would still have a small gap towards the back side of the sickle section.
I use over serrated sections and the light contact would wear in and sharpen the sections. Mine cuts great now.


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

Hayjosh said:


> These looks to be the original guards to the machine...most of the paint is gone though I can still see specs of yellow paint...whereas the aftermarket guards are red.


If they are original guards, you might want to replace them, if they are worn badly. Take a new guard and compare to one on the machine. Look sideways where the bar itself runs (the part that all the sections are bolted / riveted to), if that backside is worn on an angle or is it still straight up and down (it is about 1/8 wide and maybe 3/16 high on new guards). If worn on a angle, it allows the knife to ride up on the backside (and backwards) on guards. If you just replace one guard (that broke as an example), it takes all the pressure from the other worn guards and it seems guards break quickly. You don't want to know how long it too some dummy to figure that out, on his machine. He had guards so worn that there was barely any angle left..

Larry


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## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

r82230 said:


> If they are original guards, you might want to replace them, if they are worn badly. Take a new guard and compare to one on the machine. Look sideways where the bar itself runs (the part that all the sections are bolted / riveted to), if that backside is worn on an angle or is it still straight up and down (it is about 1/8 wide and maybe 3/16 high on new guards). If worn on a angle, it allows the knife to ride up on the backside (and backwards) on guards. If you just replace one guard (that broke as an example), it takes all the pressure from the other worn guards and it seems guards break quickly. You don't want to know how long it too some dummy to figure that out, on his machine. He had guards so worn that there was barely any angle left..
> 
> Larry


If I'm understanding you correctly, you're referring to this? The bar on this particular one is pretty worn and angled.


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## kentuckyguy (Apr 13, 2015)

Here's a link to a post I made about my sickle guards. There are several pics showing how bad it was when I started.

http://www.haytalk.com/forums/topic/42546-need-help-with-moco-sickle/


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

Hayjosh said:


> If I'm understanding you correctly, you're referring to this? The bar on this particular one is pretty worn and angled.


I put an arrow to the new guard's area I was mentioning, that gave me problems. Where the new one is almost square and 90 degrees, mine were at 45 degrees or gone.

Oops, forgot the picture.





  








post 36593 0 80167300 1466043436 edit




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r82230


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Jun 16, 2016


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## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

r82230 said:


> I put an arrow to the new guard's area I was mentioning, that gave me problems. Where the new one is almost square and 90 degrees, mine were at 45 degrees or gone.
> 
> Oops, forgot the picture.


Great, thanks for the clarification, that's what I thought you were talking about. You can see how on my guard that same bar is almost at a 45 degree angle too.

Last night I ended up ordering all new guards, clips, and a new sickle bar and I'm just going to rebuild the sickle. It was a little pricey but I hope it is worth it. I like to do things right, and when I might only have a 4 or 5 hour window to get something cut, I can't afford to stop because I don't have a perfectly functioning sickle.


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