Cotton cleaner assembly with saw drum and releasable grid bar mechanism that includes bars and a release mechanism that moves the bars between operational and released positions is disclosed. In operational position, the release mechanism locks the bars in a fixed position relative to the saw drum to knock debris from cotton that rotates with the saw drum. In released position, the release mechanism moves the bars away from the saw drum to enable blockages that interfere with saw drum rotation to be cleared. The grid bar mechanism can include side members, where the bars extend between the side members, and the release mechanism moves the side members. The release mechanism can manually or hydraulically pivot the side members about pivot points against and away from stops. The pivot points and stops can be adjustable to adjust distance between the bars and saw drum in the operational position.
