Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1906-08-04
A Mower in Operation.

TO prepare for the work | first ill an
oil can with good castor oil and another
with Kerosene and place them in the
holders provided previously: then supply
the toolboX with necessary tools, such
as alligator wrenches. file, cold chisel,
punch, stone slip, pnchers, bolts nuts of
various sizes. etc Now | am ready for
the work, with the bright cutter bar
proceed to cut thread around, leaving
three widths of the machine outside,
after making first round | cut in the OPP
posite direction, and so on until all the
outside is cut. In this manner | can
trace the first cut from the standing
grass on the left, and am enabled to cut
closer the ditch corners.
| use the oil cans frequently; raising
the bar to Il vertical position and pour
ing the kerosene to the upper end of the
knife will keep it bright and free from
gum. and it will operate easier and last
longer. Should the bar pass through
the mole hills | use the stone slip often.
and if the bar happens to strike against
a stone | take the file and smooth down
the point of the guard, not too sharp.
In finishing the piece it often gets in
wedge shape, which is very troublesome
to many. In this case, when the bar
comes in contact with loose grass | take
hold of the fitting lever and give rock
ing motion to the cutter bar, keeping
the points against the ground, and have
no trouble with clogging the knife. Soon
after using | remove the knife. then
wipe the bar well with Il cloth saturated
with oil. BY following the above meth
cd, operating the mower is pleasure.
During the past two years J have eX-
amned number of mowers and found
but very small per cent. of those which
had been used one season or more that
were in good running order. This is the
most neglected machine on the farm
Now is a good time to overhaul mower.
examine every part carefully and see
what repairing it needs to renew it. |
have an old mower on which | have
paid FIVE dollars for repairs and have
used four years. The same is equipped
with two cutter-barS, one with smooth
guard plates. and the other with rough
or serrated plates. 1t is a serious mis-
take by the manufacturers to place the
latter ON the hay mowers, as they cut
the rough edge on the knife sections
causing the heavy cut. Each bar has
two knives, one knife is renewed each
season by replacing the old sections with
new ones. The other three | grind on Il
stone grinder with treadle, which does
the work very fast. Another mistake is
to use the emery grinder alone, which
never makes Il keen edge, besides wears
the knife more than the work. With
four sharp knives | can do much work
with little grinding during haying. | re-
move the guards with smooth plates ev-
cry season and grind the edges and after
they are worn too narrow | replace with
new ones, and after replacing the guards
| use a hammer to obtain the perfect
alignment. and see that the knife has
perfect shear cut by adjusting the shaw
ing plates, leaving just enough play to
operate freely The wear on the knife
guide above the inside shoe should be
taken up every season, or poor cutting
qualities is the result. Then with the
aid of Il carpenters square l find out
whether the cutter-bar is in perfect
and if not / will have it mended. Poor
alignment, which is found in almost ev-
cry old machine, increases the dral t
many fold. After having frightened the
boxes and bolts and if needed given a
coat, of paint to the wooden parts, the
machine is ready for use.-I. \. Barberg
of Cokato, Mimi, in New York Agri-
culturist