Remove and Install Cutterbar Knife

1. CAUTION: Death to you or others can occur from feeder house inadvertently lowering. Completely raise feeder house and verify safety stop is engaged when performing any procedure with header attached to machine.

   Cracking of hydraulic line fittings to lower feeder house results in an immediate dropping of feeder house and header. To prevent injury, raise feeder house completely and lower safety stop (A) onto hydraulic cylinder rod.

   
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   A - Feeder House Safety Stop

   Completely raise feeder house and lower safety stop (A) onto hydraulic cylinder rod.

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2. 
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   Right-Hand Side Shown

   A - Safety Stop

   Raise reel completely and engage safety stops (A) on reel lift cylinders.

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3. Shut OFF engine, set parking brake, and remove key.

4. 
   H97340-UN-09JUL10

   Center Area of Cutterbar Shown

   A - Left-Hand Knife

   B - Knife Center Section

   C - Cap Screws and Nuts

   Disconnect left-hand knife section (A) from center section (B) by removing cap screws and nuts (C).

   IMPORTANT: Avoid damage to hold-downs. If also removing right-hand knife, disconnect center knife section and connecting bar.

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5. CAUTION: To reduce risk of personal injury, always wear gloves when handling knives. Stand to rear of knife when removing or installing.

   NOTE: Cutterbar removal procedure shown for left-hand side. Right-hand side similar.

   
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   Knife Shown Removed for Clarity

   A - Cap Screws

   B - Cutterbar Hold-Downs

   C - Cap Screw

   D - Knife Head Bearing

   Manually rotate knife drive until knife head cap screws (A) are accessible.

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6. Loosen cap screw (C).

7. Remove cap screws (A) to disconnect knife from drive.

8. NOTE: It may be necessary to loosen hold-downs (B) slightly to allow knife to slide freely.

   Pull knife through guards until bearing assembly (D) is separated from knife drive gearbox.

9. Remove cap screw (C).

10. 
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    H92140-UN-09JUN08

    A - Self-Locking Pliers

    B - Bearing Assembly

    C - Spanner Ring

    Using a pair of self-locking pliers (A), apply light pressure to relief area of knife head to expand it.

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11. Remove bearing assembly (B).

12. Remove spanner ring (C).

13. IMPORTANT: Spanner ring maintains a smooth drive operation and proper knife head alignment. Replace spanner ring any time a major component failure has occurred in knife head or knife drive gearbox area.

    Replace spanner ring any time system has been previously operated with improper knife head alignment.

    Install new spanner ring (C) in knife head of newly installed knife.

14. Install bearing assembly (B) in knife head.

15. Remove self-locking pliers (A).

16. 
    H96258-UN-06MAY10

    A - Knife Head Drive Cap Screws

    B - Knife Head Cap Screw

    Install cap screw (B) but do not tighten at this time.

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17. Push knife back into guards until bearing contacts drive. Ensure drive is positioned correctly to accept bearing and lightly tap components together. Tighten cap screws (A) to specification.

    Item	Measurement	Specification
    Knife Head Drive Cap Screws (A)	Torque	130 N·m (96 lb-ft)

    IMPORTANT: Failure to tighten cap screws (A) can result in knife and drive damage.

18. IMPORTANT: Setting of cutterbar head is critical. If cutterbar head is not set correctly, binding and gearbox failure can occur.

    
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    A - Knife Head

    B - Bearing Shield

    C - Gap

    D - Gaps

    E - Knife Back

    Set vertical position and angle of knife head (A) so cutting surface is centered in guard slot and is parallel to bottom of guard slot at (C).

    NOTE: Make sure knife head (A) does not contact bearing shield (B).

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19. Check fore/aft gap distance (D) at both locations between knife back (E) and first guard to ensure a gap exists. If there is no gap, see ALIGN KNIFE HEAD AND KNIFE DRIVE in this section.

20. NOTE: While tightening cap screw to specification use pry bar to avoid twisting of cutterbar head and loss of knife head settings.

    
    H96260-UN-06MAY10

    A - Knife Head Cap Screw

    Tighten cap screw (A) to specification.

    Item	Measurement	Specification
    Knife Head Cap Screw	Torque	130 N·m (96 lb-ft)

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21. Verify knife section is still properly positioned in first guard slot after knife head cap screw is fully tightened.

22. See ALIGN KNIFE HEAD AND KNIFE DRIVE in this section to ensure cutterbar is properly aligned.