Combine, Mower Sickle Bar Comes In Sections

Combine, mower sickle bar comes in sections COMBINES Headers 11-4-15 "Typically, a sickle bar wears out near the section head and you have to replace the entire bar. But with our new æSplit Sickle Bar' you can replace only the worn portion and leave the rest of the bar intact to save on replacement costs," says Joe Crary, vice president of Crary Mfg., Fargo, N.D., manufacturer of the new style bar for combines and hay mowers. Sickle bars are built by piecing together combinations of 1¢, 2¢, 3¢, 5¢, 7 and 7¢-ft. individual lengths. The varying length pieces interlock and bolt together to form the desired sickle bar size. For example, a 30-ft. bar would be built with one 1¢-ft. piece, three 7-ft. pieces and one 7¢-ft. piece at the "head" end. Crary notes that most sickle bars wear out near the head. Now when that happens you simply buy a new 7¢-ft. section and the rest of the 30-ft. sickle bar is "good as new". Installation involves putting a sickle section with four holes over the four corresponding holes where the split bar lengths overlap and bolting the assembly together. You can simply drill holes into existing sickle sections to create the four hole "connectors". Crary says the Split Sickle Bar has the same overall strength as a conventional one-piece bar. An added benefit to interlocking sickle bar pieces is that they cost less to ship, Crary points out. For example, he says a one-piece 30 ft. bar costs about $80 to ship, but the same bar in pieces costs about $10 to ship. Split Sickle Bars are available for most combines and mowers. A 24-ft. sickle bar with Superior sickle sections sells for $230.15. A bar for a 12-ft. Hesston, with sections, sells for $114.67. Bars come without knife heads. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Crary Co., Box 1779, Fargo, N.D. 58107 (ph 800 247-7335; in Canada 800 231-1211, ext. 151).

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