Bugger...

[equusmaximus]

     The problem with old machinery is that it's OLD...  Parts wear out, sometimes they're very difficult (if not impossible) to replace, so a lot of improvising goes on.  Even if you can get the part, sometimes the old ones are so rusted into place (or at least the nuts & bolts holding them) that removal is nearly impossible.  It seems that almost all machinery, old or new, also has at least a few parts that are in such an inaccessable location that you have to wonder what kind of mutant designed it in the first place?  Someone with arms 5' long, with no actual bones, but utterly prehensile and strong?

I got the old IH201 swather completely lubricated and ready-to-go, but a quick test on a small section of high grass clearly demonstrated that a lot more work is going to be involved.  The knife-sections on the cutter-bar are so worn out that they couldn't cut cheese, so they're not able to deal with the crop.  Also, I found out why I'm having so much trouble raising and lowering the header; It isn't low on hydraulic fluid (anymore) but the belt that drives the pump is old, worn-out, and loose.  Thus, anytime that the pump is put under any real pressure, the belt just starts slipping.  There are several problems involved with replacing the worn belt:  

1. The bolts holding the pump in place, and providing the ability to tighten or loosen the belt, are heavily rusted, as is the mounting bracket for the pump itself.  Loosening these bolts is going to be difficult.
    
2. Even getting to the bolts will be extremely difficult. There is simply no easy way to access them.
    
3. Assuming I do manage to get at the bolts and loosen then enough to move the pump and remove the worn drive-belt, actually removing the belt is a lot more difficult; It's an "inner" belt, which means that there's another (much larger) belt in front of it. It doesn't come off unless the larger belt comes off first, and that's a fairly major project.

      The knife-sections on this machine (there are about 50 of them!) are held in place with rivets!  These are not your normal pop-rivets that a lof of folks might be familiar with; I'm not exactly sure what these kinds of rivets are called, but they're a lot more work to install and remove.  Newer machines use nuts & bolts, but this machine is not new...

What I really need out here is someone who's got a lot of experience with these older machines.  These are the sorts of times when I really miss Frank (my father-in-law); He was supposed to be retired now, and would have been a wealth of information about stuff like this.  Sadly, he passed away before he was really able to share that knowledge.  He did pass it on to his sons, but they're busy with their own things, so that doesn't help me much.  I could ask Jack for advice, and that's probably the route I'll have to go.