A sickle bar assembly is provided including a sickle bar for mounting a plurality of sickle cutting sections along a length of the sickle bar. The sickle bar has a first bar surface and a second bar surface. A bar thickness is defined between the first bar surface and the second bar surface. A plurality of bar apertures extend through the first and second bar surfaces and are arranged to facilitate mounting of the sickle cutting sections. The first bar surface includes a non-flat surface region comprising a plurality of indentations formed therein.