He Replace Bushing On New Holland Haybine

He Replace Bushing On New Holland Haybine HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Mowers (38) 21-6-31 Marvin Heins, Houston, Ohio: "After years of constantly replacing worn-out rubber bushings on my New Holland Haybine's sickle head, I solved the problem by replacing the bushing with a ball bearing. "It's a simple solution but it solved the problem. The New Holland Haybine is a good machine overall but it has a troublesome sickle drive system. Our machine is 12 years old, but newer models have the same problem. We were never able to cut more than 100 acres before the bushing wore out and we had to replace it. Once we were able to cut only 5 acres before the bushing wore out. "The bushing mounts inside a steel ring welded to one end of the sickle. The sickle drive arm uses a bolt to drive the bushing. The problem is that the arm has too much movement which causes the bushing to wear out prematurely. "I replaced the bushing with a 1/2-in. dia. bore bearing equipped with an extended inner race on both ends. I cut off the ring where it joins the back of the sickle and welded on a new ring, using the ring's original insert that goes into the flange head assembly but discarding the locking collar. After the weld had cooled I pressed the bushing out, then drilled three holes in the ring to match those in the bearing flange. I inserted three 5/16-in. dia. cap screws through the holes, put the washers on, and applied Lock Tite thread locking compound to secure the bearing. I then bolted the ring to the arm. "I used a regreasable bearing because I happened to have it on hand. However, I see no reason why a conventional sealed bearing wouldn't work. We replaced the bushing three years ago and have cut more than 600 acres since then without an ounce of trouble."

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