Abstract: A sickle assembly includes a cutter beam and a plurality of guard fingers fixedly mounted at spaced along positions along the cutter beam. Each guard finger includes a lower finger portion and an upper finger portion defining a sickle slot therebetween. A plurality of sickle blades on a sickle bar align with the sickle slots. The sickle blades can be positioned in a central position between adjacent guard fingers in which the sickle blade is not overlapped by either one of said adjacent ones of the guard fingers for ease of removal. In further embodiments, a hold down member is hinged relative to the cutter beam for easy access to the sickle bar. Quick release fasteners may be associated with respective pairs of sickle blades for further ease of removal and changing of sickle blades.