Easily serviceable and removable self-adjusting knife arm and head assembly for a sickle

A knife head and knife arm assembly for connecting a sickle cutter to a reciprocating drive mechanism, comprising:

• an elongate knife head having a plurality of holes therein arranged in a longitudinally spaced array, receiving a plurality of fasteners, respectively, for mounting a plurality of knife sections of the sickle cutter in longitudinally extending substantially abutting end to end relation between the knife head and a structural beam of the sickle cutter in a manner allowing removing and replacing at least some of the knife sections individually while others of the knife sections remain mounted by the knife head on the structural beam, a knife pin mounted at a predetermined location on an upper surface of the knife head in upwardly extending relation thereto in a manner allowing removing and replacing the knife pin solely by access from thereabove, the knife pin having an outer surface extending thereabout;
• a knife pin fastener removably mounting the knife pin on the elongate knife head;
• and
• a knife arm having a mounting end for removable attachment to the drive mechanism for reciprocating sideward movement of the knife arm therewith, the knife arm including a distal end opposite the mounting end disposed to be supported in cantilever relation to the drive mechanism above the knife head, the distal end including an inner surface bounding and defining a downwardly open receptacle cooperatively receiving the knife pin with the inner surface in intimate contact with the outer surface therearound for holding the pin in the receptacle sufficiently for the knife arm to reciprocatingly move the knife head and attached sickle knife sections sidewardly therewith while allowing a limited amount of relative vertical movement between the knife arm and the knife head.

A knife head and arm assembly for connecting an elongate sickle cutter to a drive mechanism to facilitate reciprocatingly longitudinally motion of the sickle cutter, the knife head and arm assembly comprising:

• a knife arm comprising a downwardly open receptacle;
• an elongate knife head configured to be attached by fasteners to an elongate structural beam of the sickle cutter;
• wherein the elongate knife head is configured to clamp a longitudinal side-by-side array of sickle knife sections against the elongate structural beam such that selected ones of the fasteners can be removed while the elongate knife head remains attached to the elongate structural beam to allow removing and replacing selected ones of the sickle knife sections, the elongate knife head comprising at least one longitudinally extending portion having a reduced vertical extent to allow vertical flexure thereof;
• a knife pin fastener;
• and
• a knife pin mounted in upstanding relation on the elongate knife head by the fastener, removable from above the elongate knife head to allow removal and replacement of the knife pin from above, the knife pin being configured to be cooperatively received in the downwardly open receptacle of the knife arm, the knife pin having a smooth straight outer surface therearound.