# New Holland 469 Sickle Bushing question



## Orchard6 (Apr 30, 2014)

I've got a well worn 469 haybine that seems to be eating sickle bushings. I'm only getting about 30 acres to a bushing. It doesn't seem to matter if it's a new bar with new knives or an old one with dull knives. It cuts fine and doesn't plug or anything, just wondered if there was some adjustments or other parts that maybe causing them to go out so soon. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.


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## Green Fields (Jul 25, 2014)

Haven't used my 469 in a couple years but I had that problem and if I remember correctly I think it was due to too much play, needed a new bushing in the yoke. part number 127637

http://partstore.agriculture.newholland.com/us/parts-search.html#epc::mr60598ar132187bi2468387-8


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## mike10 (May 29, 2011)

Always tighten the knife bolt with the knife in the center of it's stroke. The sections should be between two guards and not over a guard.

With the knife bolt out, grab the arm of the wobble box the bolt goes through and see if it has any play in it. It should not move. Any play will shorten the life of the bushing;

Check the bushing that Green Fields mentioned The bushing is in the arm and is what the bolt goes through. It should be round and not elongated. Look from the bottom up.

Use the correct Grade 8 bolt and Grade C fine lock nut. Other bolts will not stay in and loosen causing the bushing to fail.

Condition of the knife and guards.

Excess play between the hold down clips and knife and the knife and guards.

When pressing the bushings in the knife head do not press against the center spacer.

Use OEM parts


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## SwingOak (May 19, 2014)

I have a 467 and I'm pretty sure it's the same part, just a longer cutter bar.

I don't use the factory 1/2-20 UNF x 3-1/4" Grade 8 bolt & Nylock nut, I use a 1/2-13 UNC x 3-1/2" Grade 8 bolt and Nylock nut. I can buy 6 of the standard bolts for what one factory non-standard bolt costs and I get them locally and on a Sunday or Monday.

The bolt goes up from the bottom, and the nut on the top. I use a flat washer under the bolt head, but no washer under the nut.

The guy at the NH dealer said to crank it down tight - the rubber in the bushing is what is supposed to flex when the cutter bar goes back & forth. If it was supposed to spin on the bolt it'd have a bearing in there instead of being made of plain steel. Make it tight, and check it often. I learned this the hard way and burned up a bolt and bushing in no time because I didn't have the bolt tight enough.


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## Orchard6 (Apr 30, 2014)

I use factory bushings and bolts since they are cheaper at the dealer than tsc! I run them down tight with an air impact wrench so I don't think the bolt is getting loose. I'll check the end play on the wobble box next time I'm near the machine as well as the steel bushing in the wobble arm. 
If there is some end play in the wobble box is there an adjustment to be made or do I have to replace the bearings?


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## mike10 (May 29, 2011)

One other thing I forgot to mention and one of the most important When you tighten the bolt be sure the knife is in the center of it's stroke. The sections should be centered between two guards, not on top. Impact is bad and so is using non hardened washers. If it works fine, but if you are having problems that is the first place to look. Torque nut to 85 ft/lbs. Back in the early 70's the torque was set at 105, but they were having issues with bolt breakage so they lowered the torque to 85.


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## Orchard6 (Apr 30, 2014)

The bolt will only go in if it's centered. There is a hole in the gaurd that protects the bottom of the wobble box that you have to line the knife head and wobble arm with in order to push the bolt up thru the bottom.

I will try torquing the bolt to 85 ft-lb and see if that helps but I'm not really having problems with the bolt breaking. Usually the rubber tears out of the bushing and the sickle will start knocking. If I keep using it after the knocking starts (like when trying to finish the last pass or two on a feild) it will break the bolt shortly after the knocking starts, which of course I fully expect it to since the sickle head is now banging around on a hardened bolt with no rubber to absorb the shock.


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## mike10 (May 29, 2011)

The problem is probably the wobble drive being loose. The hole is close to center but it is a good idea to look at the sections before tightening. There is enough slop in the hole that the bolt can be tightened but the knife will not be centered in it's stroke. The bearings in the yoke of the wobble drive is where the play is going to be. The two side bearings wear and bottom steady rest bearing will wear on the stub shaft bolted to the bottom of the wobble drive. Usually the rest of the bearings do not get loose, but check that there is no play in them. If you take the side bearing caps off and remove the bearing cups you will probably find they are corrugated. This happens because the bearing does not actually rotate in the bearing cup but instead works back and forth against the bearing cup wearing the cup in the small area it moves in. If you find that is what has happened also replace the bearings. They may look good but I can guarantee you they are also worn in a similar manner, you just can not see it. If you use the old bearings and shim the side caps, the yoke will not pivot freely. It will have tight and loose spots when you pivot the yoke.

The steady rest bearing and support at the bottom of the yoke will also be loose. Remove the three bolts at the bottom and remove the shim. Rotate the bottom plate 180 degrees and see if it will fall out. It should not. Use two the bolts you removed previously and thread them up through the bottom of the bearing support and against the yoke. Continue tightening the bolts and shaft and hopefully the bearing will pull out of the yoke. If the bearing does not come out, remove the cap on top and take a shaft and drive it out of the yoke. Check the bearing support for wear. You should not feel any offsets in the shaft. If you do, the yoke will have play when you back together.


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## Orchard6 (Apr 30, 2014)

Ok, thank you guys so much! I will check out the bearings and bushing and see what's what. I hate tearing into things blindly and not fully understanding what to look for so thanks again.


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## Virginian (Aug 27, 2014)

I might be too late to comment on this one, but there are two things I'll add.

When installing a new knife head bushing, a lot of people think the bushing should be centered in the knife head and tighten the clamp bolt with it in that position, and leave it. The clamp should be loosened to release any up or down pressure at the knife head. Then position the knife head to where the first few knife sections (blades) lightly rest on the bottoms of the slots in the guards. Then tighten the clamp bolt. This might result in the knife head bushing protruding a bit on the top or the bottom of the knife head, but that's normal. If you have been tightening it while centered in the knife head, the sickle bar likely will have a bow in it which will which will cause the rubber in the bushing to compress and fail. It's made for torsion.

All of the knocking that you've had after bushing failures could have caused the steady rest bearing to move out of its seated position. This will cause the wobble assembly to move up and down out of its level plane. There is a separate wobble drive manual that described how to check for this. You might find a PDF copy online. This is one of the primary causes of premature bushing failure as well.

Hope this helps.

John


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## Orchard6 (Apr 30, 2014)

Virginian said:


> I might be too late to comment on this one, but there are two things I'll add.
> 
> When installing a new knife head bushing, a lot of people think the bushing should be centered in the knife head and tighten the clamp bolt with it in that position, and leave it. The clamp should be loosened to release any up or down pressure at the knife head. Then position the knife head to where the first few knife sections (blades) lightly rest on the bottoms of the slots in the guards. Then tighten the clamp bolt. This might result in the knife head bushing protruding a bit on the top or the bottom of the knife head, but that's normal. If you have been tightening it while centered in the knife head, the sickle bar likely will have a bow in it which will which will cause the rubber in the bushing to compress and fail. It's made for torsion.
> 
> ...


Thank you! Any tips are always appreciated. What I've found is that the steady rest bearing does have a small amount of play in it so I intend to change out that bearing this winter. Knock on wood I've only gone thru one bushing this year and have covered close to 50 acres on the one that's in it now. Hopefully I can finish out the year as it is and get it patched up this winter. Thanks again for everyone's help.


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## Virginian (Aug 27, 2014)

Make sure all 3 of the steady rest bolts are present and tight. Since they are underneath the haybine, loose or missing bolts can go unnoticed until the last bolt drops out and major damage occurs. Short bushing life can be an indication of this, and tightening bolts is an easy fix as long as the bearing has not moved out of position. If you find the bolts loose, take the bearing cap off (just 2 bolts) and make sure the bearing is seated in the yoke and the lock collar has not moved up away from the bearing, or completely off and loose under the cap. It's held on with just a single set-screw.

Good Luck!


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## jr in va (Apr 15, 2015)

I had this problem with stub guards I tried once.Went back to standard and stopped it.I think the problem was me never getting the right tension on the hold down clips,though.


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