New Holland 489

[cumminspuller]

I've got a new Holland 489 haybine I'm going to try and cut sorghum sudan with. The mower has been setting a while. I've poured diesel on the sickle to help break it loose. The drive belt for the sickle gear box is gone so I've ordered one of those. Is there anything besides the obvious stuff I need to look at or watch out for? I've never used a haybine before. Thanks

 

[MJMJ]

Depending on how long it's been sitting, a new bushing for the cutter bar wouldn't be a bad idea. Part number 612407.

 

[Handsome Devil]

(quoted from post at 05:52:26 07/22/20) I've got a new Holland 489 haybine I'm going to try and cut sorghum sudan with. The mower has been setting a while. I've poured diesel on the sickle to help break it loose. The drive belt for the sickle gear box is gone so I've ordered one of those. Is there anything besides the obvious stuff I need to look at or watch out for? I've never used a haybine before. Thanks

I bought a manual so I knew where all the zerk fittings were and greased it up. Also checked the three gear boxes for lube, one needed a drink the other two were up to the bottom check plug. Oil the chain on drive side. Like me without history of the machine you do what you can and cross your fingers.

On mine the "registration" is out of adjustment for the sickle bar that came with it. I am not sure how to adjust it? I am not sure but think that is why mine is not cutting properly. When adjusted correctly it is supposed to be a good machine. It has a number of adjustments which means it could be out of adjustment depending on who worked on it last or what they were cutting? Good luck, John.

 

[Mike Fitz]

Bolt in sections for the sickle are a great up date if it doesn't have them.

 

[4020_guy]

MAKE SURE the small #40 chain that drives the reel from the knife wobble box is new or like new. If it comes off and wraps around that little #40 sprocket....good-bye Haybine. It will snap the end off the wobble box shaft. Good luck......Ron

 

[centash]

Adjust the skid plates under the header lower if you have a stony field. Also, the tension on the header float springs set so you can lift one side up by hand.Keep it greased up and it will give good service.

Ben

 

[cumminspuller]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm going to go over everything and grease and oil things before I start mowing. It already has the bolt in sections so that's a plus. Hopefully the belt comes in today and I can get it on tonight.

 

[miangus]

Times two. I would convert to the latter nylon block chain tightener.

 

[miangus]

You may learn some new words.

 

[Randy-IA]

The register is correct when the knife sections go from center of guard to center of guard. It should be really close to exact. If it's not it's out of adjustment. How to adjust it is something I can't tell you because I've never worked on a New Holland.

Get those (sharp!) knife sections centered and keep them pushed down onto the tops of the cutting surfaces of the guards (the ledger)(not touching but very, very close) and keep everything well lubed and it will work and cut like a warm knife through soft butter.

One more of the many areas that need adjustment...make certain all guard tips are in a flat straight line (pull a carpenters string tight and set to it), and the knife wear plates have the knife pushed as far forwards as possible without any binding.

I spend hours each spring setting all this and it pays off with fewer plugs, faster cutting, and a vocabulary sorely lacking in made up new words. There are a few other things that need to be right and require attention too, but these are likely the most important ones I have found.

A hint- to get the guard tips all on the same line as viewed from the dead end use a long pipe that just fits over the front two inches or so of the guard finger, it needs to be fairly tight and only needs to go on up to the front of ledger surface so as to not bend the top. If you are using the rock guards or the stubby's, I'm not sure they are malleable enough to bend. I've never needed or used either. Otherwise just bend the guard point up or down without bending the top down onto the ledger, you can hammer on them with a 5lb sledge all day and strengthen your hammer arm but you won't accomplish much else. BTDT

All knife sections need to be very close to the ledger (a 1/64" is great, 1/32" is close enough, definitely no more than a 1/16") and all tips need to be in a straight and flat line referenced off the wobble box end, and the knife sections need to be centered in the guards at each end of the stroke. Just because a guard bolts on doesn't mean it's adjusted right.

To get the knife down close, the hold downs need to be bent up or down, and to be honest I've never figured out a great way to do this with the knife in the header. So the not great way I do it is with a big hammer and the sections centered inside the guards. To make them go down, hit the front of the hump, to make them go up, hit the top of the hump. YMMV. Neither way is very effective for me, so if they are really bad I remove them and bend them in a vise. It's time consuming.

Hope this helps some. A sickle cutter is a sickle cutter...they all appear to work pretty much the same way. A knife with sections moves longitudinally to create a scissors action on the forage being cut. Some forages are cut better with smooth edged knives, some with serrated knife edges, some have the serrations against the ledger (like my IH990) and some have them on top. The list of different knife section selections is pretty long. My manual suggests under-serrated heavy knives so that's what I use and they work good. This year I'm cutting mostly grass/clover/weed mix. Horse hay.

 

[cumminspuller]

I was able to get the new belt on last night. I was very pleasantly surprised at how long it took to get the new belt on and the pulley and tensioner bolted back up. Maybe 5 minutes. I was prepared for an hour or so. Greased everything I could find and got everything turning. Only had to add oil to one gear box. Rotated it several times just turning the pto with a pry bar. Didn't get to hook a tractor to it. If all goes well I'll cut Saturday afternoon weather permitting.