Magnetic attachment of a bed knife in a reel mower assembly

An apparatus adapted for attachment to a reel mower assembly comprising a mower reel rotatably mounted to a frame and a drive operative to rotate the reel about a reel axis, the apparatus comprising:

• a bed bar adapted for attachment to the frame substantially parallel to the reel axis;
• a plurality of magnets mounted on the bed bar;
• a bed knife magnetically held against the magnets in an operating position such that the bed knife is oriented in cutting relationship with the reel when the bed bar is attached to the frame;
• and
• engagement means operative to prevent sliding movement of the bed knife with respect to the magnets while allowing the bed knife to move away from the magnets when a separating force is exerted on the bed knife in a direction away from the magnets that is greater than an attractive force exerted on the bed knife by the magnets when the bed knife is in the operating position.

In a reel mower assembly comprising a mower reel rotatably mounted to a frame, and a drive operative to rotate the reel about a reel axis, a method of holding a bed knife in an operating position such that the bed knife is oriented in cutting relationship with the reel, the method comprising:

• mounting at least one magnet on the frame;
• magnetically holding the bed knife against the magnet in the operating position;
• and
• preventing sliding movement of the bed knife with respect to the magnet while allowing the bed knife to move away from the magnet when a separating force is exerted on the bed knife in a direction away from the magnet that is greater than an attractive force exerted on the bed knife by the magnet when the bed knife is in the operating position.