CUTTER BAR ADJUSTMENTS
Note: Guards are cast from alloy steel. If they are worked to much, they will harden and cannot be bent. In this case remove the guard from the bar and remove the ledger plate. Heat the guard to a cherry red and cool. This process will anneal the guard enough that it can be bent.
2.Raise the bar to about 45°. Make certain the knife is at the full retracted position of the stroke so the flywheel doesn't suddenly turn and catch your fingers in the knife. A pair of Vise Grip Pliers gripped tightly to the knife on the upper side of the rock guard will allow extra protection against cutter bar from turning. Make certain the Tractor is secured so it cannot be started until you are the one who decides to start it when the job is finished, all tools removed and cleaned up and it is safe to do so. Make certain tractor parking brake is set.
3.Sight down the bar and look for a knife section in close contact with a guard ledger. If the section to the right and left are both 1/8" of the ledger do not bend the two sides up until they contact the knife. This is wrong (see Figure 5), the high guard should be knocked down until all three contact. The higher up a guard gets bent, the more the knife section will tend to contact only the tip (See Figure 5 & 6).
4.Bolt the guards tight and strike them in the thick part, just in front of the ledger plates (see Figure 6). Do not pound down the guard lips as the knife might bind. Retighten the bolts as each guard is aligned. Disregard the position of the guard points. It is the ledger plate which must be kept in line. Blunt points should be filed sharp.
Figure 5
Figure 6
5.Start from the inner shoe, adjust each guard so that the knife section and ledger are parallel and reasonably close to each other. Find the high guard and knock them down. Usually, the only time it is necessary to knock a guard up is when new guards are first installed on the bar.
6.Make certain that the first knife section is contacting the inner shoe ledger plate. If it doesn't contact, check the first or second guard which may be holding the knife up or the inner shoe ledger plate may be worn out.
7.Finally, align the industrial outer shoe in the same way as the guards. (See Figure 5 & 6 and step
1through 6)
Wear Plates::
The wear plates must line up with each other to give the knife back straight bearing along its entire length. Wear plates should project approximately 1/16" in front of the leading edge of the cutterbar after adjustment. Alamo Industrial wear plates are hardened on both edges. After the first edge has worn back, simply turn over the plate to obtain a new wearing surface.
Switch Blade
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