IH 46 Twine Baler

Picked this baler up in a package deal. She has been outside for quite awhile and I can't get the flywheel to turn. Plunger seems to be froze or something is holding it, more than rust. As mentioned she is rusted bad. Any sugestions are appreciated. P.S. I have a call in waiting with the junk man if that is the best solution, but I have sometime to play with it first.

I'm not sure what you have tried, but have you tried turning the flywheel backwards by hand? If the timing of the plunger is off there are two metal pegs that pop up in the bottom of the compacting chamber to prevent the plunger from hitting the two forks as they rake hay into the chamber. That could be the problem.

On my 46 the rollers on the pickup head got jambed in a broken guide plate and locked everything down tight. The tractor had enough power to move the plunger but I couldn't budge it by hand.

The knot tieing assembly is pretty sensitive to rust and neglect. The darn things can be really tempermental if they aren't adjusted right.

I will look for that issue, thanks.

I can't help you but you brought back very good memories. Dad bought a baler like you have brand new and we baled alot of hay with it for ourselves and a few neighbors. It must have been the late 50's. I ran it alot. It got later to miss tie about every 5th bale only on one side and the gear box broke and that was the end of it.
We pulled it alot with the "H" or"M" that I still have and restored. Good luck hope you can get her going.

The plunger and the pickup are likely sticking points. As the other poster suggested, first check that the plunger stopper isn't raised into the chamber. Then debug the pickup last by taking the chain off or loosening the slip clutch. Then you can rock the flywheel back and forth to get the plunger, packing fork and auger turning. Don't be afraid to use some muscle on the wheel. Just watch that you don't pinch your hand behind it while you are doing this!

Once you get it so you can move the flywheel a full turn or two, get the grease gun out and grease every zerk you can find. There are some zerks in hard to see spots in the knotter and the pickup. Then run the PTO from your tractor at idle speed for a while to loosen things up. I don't suggest tripping the knotter for the first time while under PTO power. Take it off the PTO and without twine trip the knotter and turn the flywheel by hand. If its not too messed up, the knotter should go through the cycle. Again, you can rock the wheel if it sticks a bit. Now reconnect the pickup chain (you oiled it, right?) and see if it moves turning the wheel by hand. By rocking, you may be able to tell what's sticking in the pickup by what moves and what doesn't. If the pickup is really stuck, you might try a long bar in strategic places to free things up. Once you can get the pickup turning, it will probably be evident where things are rubbing or misaligned.

I disconnected the plunger shaft from the gear box arm. Then I could rotate the flywheel which turned all the chain assemblies underneath and they turned fine.
Back to the plunger shaft and the plunger would not move,forwards or backwards using a 6'pry bar. Something has to be holding it but I can't see what. I'm stumped!

If you are close to north central Texas I have one that you could possibility use yours and this one to make one. The gear box turns. If interested, let me know as I will make you a good deal on it.

Could be the wood on the plunger got wet, swelled, and rusted to the sides of the chamber. I haven't worked specifically on the model 46, but I assume it still has wood slides instead of the tracks and rollers of later models.

Did you try a come along? Its possible that even if you free it, it will have too much friction to work well if the wood swelled.