ADLER 169/373 FEED DOG MOVEMENT

[Diyer]

As my new "monster" Adler 205/370, will be sewing thicker and larger items, I have bought an Adler 169/373 for thinner leather and material work. I spent most of the day trying to work out why the feed dog did not rise and fall as it should. Turns out that my machine was originally set up for binding, so the feed dog only moves back and forth.Thanks to a nice gentleman on the other end of the phone at Durkopp Adler for that info.

To replace all the parts to make the feed dog rise and fall is going to cost several hundred pounds,(unless someone here has these items available used??) so my question is-what are people's opinions on what if any problems am I going to come across, or things that will be difficult to do, if I leave the feed dog as it is?

[SARK9]

46 minutes ago, Diyer said:

[...]so my question is-what are people's opinions on what if any problems am I going to come across, or things that will be difficult to do, if I leave the feed dog as it is?

Many walking-foot triple-feed machines used for binding are equipped with the horizontal-only feed dog movement, with the Pfaff 335 and its many clones probably the most familiar. I have a Mitsubishi CU-865-22 which has this system, and it really gives me no trouble feeding the range of materials I usually take to it. Some of the binding combinations are NOT particularly easy to feed if you think about it.....The elliptical or 4-motion feed dog movement is probably more forgiving in some instances, but it all depends on what you are going to be sewing. The way the center foot moves on a needle-feed walking foot system lets it press the work to the feed dog and travel with it, which is a reasonably effective transport. Give it an audition as is and it may surprise you.

-DC

[Uwe]

The only time I really noticed the lack of vertical feed dog movement on my Pfaff 335 was when the material had a step on the underside due to a fold. The feed dog would catch on the step as it moved towards the front and push the material towards the front as well, resulting in short stitches. 

[Diyer]

Ok, thanks for that. I think it is going to be a "suck it and see", on the basis of use vs expenditure. I have yet to come across a sewing machine "breaker", like you do with motorcycles.No racing on roads and crashes, just speed crashes when racing to get a job finished asap I guess- but that does not result in write offs and insurance claims!!