It is good practice to replace the shoe soles of the mower with higher
adjustable soles, so that a stubble up to 12 inches in height may be
left when cutting sweet clover, Shoe soles such as are shown in figures
6 and 7 may be made on any farm provided with a blacksmith's forge,
or they can be made at any blacksmith shop at a cost which should not
exceed $2.50. Preferably they should be of strap iron, about one-fourth
of an inch thick and 2 inches wide; however, old pieces of iron or
steel which may be found on the farm will serve the purpose.
[Illustration: Fig. 7.--Shoe sole to be Used on the outer shoe of the
mower, so that a high stubble may be left when cutting sweet clover;
_A_, End view of the back part of the sole; _B_, side view of the sole,
showing general shape; _C_, forward end of the sole to be used on
certain Deering machines; _D_, end view of the front part of sole shown
in _B_.]
Then these soles are to be placed on machines that have shoes of the
type used on the Deering mower, the forward 8 inches of the sole for
the inner shoe should be tapered gradually to a blunt point and bent
in such a manner that it will hook into the slot in the shoe. (Fig. 6,
_C_.) When the soles are to be placed on mowers having shoes of the
type used on McCormick machines, the forward 8 inches of the sole for
the inner shoe should be tapered gradually to about 1 inch in width,
bent forward so that it will fit against that portion of the shoe where
it is to be bolted, and have a hole of the proper size bored for the
bolt three-fourths of an inch from the end. (Fig. 6, _B_ and _D_.) The
bottom of the sole should be rounded, so as to run smoothly on the
ground when the cutter bar is raised to cut at different heights. The
back portion of the sole should be upright and should have holes bored
in it, so that it may be set for the cutter bar to rest at different
heights from the ground. Preferably the lower hole of the upright
should be located so that when the bolt in the shoe is run through it
the cutter bar will be 6 inches from the ground. It should be long
enough to permit four or five holes, 1 inch apart, to be bored above
the lower one. (Fig. 6, _A_.)
With some makes of machines it is not advisable to raise the cutter bar
higher than 10 inches from the ground, but when this is true the cutter
bar may be tipped upward, so that a 12-inch stubble is left.
The forward end of the shoe sole to be used on the outer shoe should
be tapered gradually to 1 inch from the end. The forward inch should
be one-fourth of an inch in width and bent slightly upward and inward,
so that a hook will be formed to fit into the slot in the front end of
the shoe. (Fig. 7, _B_.) The rest of the sole should curved, so that
it will run smoothly on the ground when the cutter bar is set to cut
at different heights. The upright which is bolted to the sole should
preferably be made of three-eighths by 1 inch material and should
have six holes, 1 inch apart, bored in it, so that the outer end of
the cutter bar may be raised to the same height as the inner end. On
practically all standard makes of mowers the outer shoe sole hooks into
the shoe instead of bolting to it, as is the case with the inner sole
on some machines. A wheel is used in place of a shoe sole on the outer
end of the cutter bar on some machines. When this is the case, the
upright to which this wheel is attached should be lengthened. On other
machines the forward end of the sole hooks into a slot in the shoe in
the same manner as the inner sole. In this event the front end of the
sole should be bent slightly upward and outward. (Fig. 7, _C_.)
Before shoe soles are made for any mower a careful examination should
be made of the shoes to determine the exact size required and the
manner in which they should be attached to the forward ends of the
shoes.