New Holland 68 Update

Bill VA

Well-known Member
The manual I ordered from the dealer came-in today. Going out this weekend and start getting to know this baler. Via the manual, timing looks pretty simple? We'll check that, grease everything, check the gear box oil, etc.

Any reason to go ahead and swap out the chains to the knotter, etc with new ones from the get go? Can't know if they are original, but probably old.

Anything I should be doing from a prep/maintenance standpoint beyond the manual recommendations prior to stringing it up and giving it a spin with the tractor?

Thanks!
Bill
 
Hi Bill
Make sure the safety latch on the big wheel
side of the bale chamber is free and cycles into
the chamber when the needles come up to tie.
I have my Dad's 68 he bought new in 1957 and it bales as well now as it did then. Good luck with your 68.
Larry D
 
I would check chains for slack. I don't think the knotter chain tends to wear as much as main drive chain or even the big feeder chain. Oiling chains helps a lot. I would run it first to see how things go. Check feeder fork timing and even if needle timing is off it won't hurt it if baler is empty.
 
If the chains are still able to turn and don't jump off the sprockets I wouldn't worry about them at least for now. When I bought my 68 it turned over at the auction but when I got it home it was stuck, I found out the main drive chain had rusted through. I got a new one at TSC and put it on and everything was fine. Even with a new chain and a used tire/new tube and a used sheet metal piece to replace a missing one I was still only in it about $300 and it has been baling for two seasons now. Yours looks a lot nicer, it looks to have been kept more carefully.
Zach
 
Yes, timing is simple. Marks on top of the machine to center the plunger drive arm, marks behind the feeder access door to check the tine bar pivot position, little dots on the knotter drive to check alignment there. the only thing to watch out for is if chains are stretched, can't really get them to work by taking out links. The feeder drive chain should be goodntight.

You've got the manual, you'll have no problems.
 
Thanks!

Took a quick look at the baler this afternoon - the stop that prevents the plunger from slamming into the needles is definitively not frozen and in good working order.

Thanks again,
Bill
 
Thanks for the reply!

Took a quick look-see at the baler this afternoon and the chains have a bit of slack in them. Tomorrow, I'll see if I can take a bit out. The feeder forks look like they are in time, but the plunger timing with respect to the needles coming into the chamber are out. The plunger coming past the needles by maybe 3 or 4 inches before the tips of the needles penetrate the chamber. Once the plunger stops, the arch of the needles is probably within an inch or less to the back of the plunger slots. I believe I've got a timing issue here.

Thanks again,
Bill
 
The chains have some slack in them - but don't appear to be in danger of coming off the sprockets - but they have my attention. Overall all the chains appear to be in good shape, though warn/used. I'll definitely put some lub on them.

Thanks for the reply!
Bill
 
A quick look at the baler this afternoon, we spun the flywheel by hand to watch the needles and knotters interact. I could find the marks for the timing for the at the crank (for lack of a better word) coming off the gear box - that drives the plunger, and found the timing marks for the feeder forks. I did not find the timing marks on the knotters. There is some repainting on the knotters and maybe the little marks are full of paint, so tomorrow I'll have a wire brush with me to try to take a layer of paint off.

Thanks for the reply!
Bill
 
Update for today:

We visited the baler today - only had a few minutes as we had other fish to fry, but got some preliminary info to share.

we found the timing marks for the large crank at the gear box and the feeder forks. Didn't find any on the knotters - but there may be more than one layer of paint on them. Will try again tomorrow when I've got more time.

Feeder forks are definately in time, needles and plunger timing are IMHO - out. The needles don't come into the chamber until the front of the plunger is past them by some 3 or 4 inches. I believe the manual calls for this measurement to be 1/4 to 3/4 inches. The plunger mechanism and knotters, needle and break all seem to spin very easily by hand. The plunger seems tight against the wood slides/bearings. Probably put a little oil on the wood/plunger to keep it lubed and moving freely as they slide against each other.

The chains seem to be in good shape, but probably somewhat wore and stretched some. I'll leave them as they are - but keep my eye on them.

Looked in the tool box on the baler and found a few chain links. I hope someone hasn't removed a link or two to tighten things up. I haven't looked at the online parts list yet, but I assume it gives some kind of measurement or number of links for each chain? It would be good to know from the start if each chain had the correct number of links. Sprockets look great - as best as I can tell.

Working the knotters, the one of the bill hooks is rubbing against what I believe is the twine finger? It is a long curved piece of steel behind the bill hook assy. Don't have the manual in front of me to know the proper name. I seem to have read that any adjustment to the twine finger is with a tap of a hammer? There is enough contact with this finger that a groove has worn into it.

Also picked-up some New Holland 9000 twine from the dealer. If I can get everything timed and looking good (to me), after a few spins, we might string-up the baler and hook it up the tractor for a spin. We've got some loose hay we can feed into it for several bales - we'll see.

Thanks again for the replies!!!!!!!!!

Bill
 
Spray them down with a penetrating oil first run the baler for 10 minutes or so Then use the good chain lube sold by Loctite or IH. It's "stickier" than regular oil.
 
(quoted from post at 00:23:36 08/03/14) A quick look at the baler this afternoon, we spun the flywheel by hand to watch the needles and knotters interact. I could find the marks for the timing for the at the crank (for lack of a better word) coming off the gear box - that drives the plunger, and found the timing marks for the feeder forks. I did not find the timing marks on the knotters. There is some repainting on the knotters and maybe the little marks are full of paint, so tomorrow I'll have a wire brush with me to try to take a layer of paint off.

Thanks for the reply!
Bill

My 68 has punch marks for timing the knotters.
 
(quoted from post at 20:40:29 08/02/14) Update for today:

We visited the baler today - only had a few minutes as we had other fish to fry, but got some preliminary info to share.

we found the timing marks for the large crank at the gear box and the feeder forks. Didn't find any on the knotters - but there may be more than one layer of paint on them. Will try again tomorrow when I've got more time.

Feeder forks are definately in time, needles and plunger timing are IMHO - out. The needles don't come into the chamber until the front of the plunger is past them by some 3 or 4 inches. I believe the manual calls for this measurement to be 1/4 to 3/4 inches. The plunger mechanism and knotters, needle and break all seem to spin very easily by hand. The plunger seems tight against the wood slides/bearings. Probably put a little oil on the wood/plunger to keep it lubed and moving freely as they slide against each other.

The chains seem to be in good shape, but probably somewhat wore and stretched some. I'll leave them as they are - but keep my eye on them.

Looked in the tool box on the baler and found a few chain links. I hope someone hasn't removed a link or two to tighten things up. I haven't looked at the online parts list yet, but I assume it gives some kind of measurement or number of links for each chain? It would be good to know from the start if each chain had the correct number of links. Sprockets look great - as best as I can tell.

Working the knotters, the one of the bill hooks is rubbing against what I believe is the twine finger? It is a long curved piece of steel behind the bill hook assy. Don't have the manual in front of me to know the proper name. I seem to have read that any adjustment to the twine finger is with a tap of a hammer? There is enough contact with this finger that a groove has worn into it.

Also picked-up some New Holland 9000 twine from the dealer. If I can get everything timed and looking good (to me), after a few spins, we might string-up the baler and hook it up the tractor for a spin. We've got some loose hay we can feed into it for several bales - we'll see.

Thanks again for the replies!!!!!!!!!

Bill

You need to get the timing marks lined up right. Read that manual a dozen times at least and you'll start to get it. I timed my knotter drive on my 68 4 times the other day and got it wrong 4 times. I don't know how I did it,probably overthinking things. Then I got it right. Don't use a little oil on the plunger slides...use LOTS of drain oil. You won't hurt a thing and try to get it into the top slide area too. Get it running and before you thread the twine soak the knotters and drives down good with pentrating oil, get all the old grease and dirt off them, then use new grease. Trip the knotters several times before you thread it to get them freed up. Feeding the baler loose hay won't replicate field baling, but it will help things get cleaned up. At least you can see if it wants to tie.
 
I clean my knotters with an ample supply of diesel fuel and a parts brush. Scrub the chaff off real good, remove the old grease crud, etc. Then I re-lube it for the next time. I keep the fuel off the friction portions of the knotter. Of course this require me to remove any bales of hay in the baler, but you should not leave hem in there for any length of time unless you like rust in the chamber.

John
 
The twine fingers don't look like fingers at all, they are kinda disk shaped deals with a pointy protuberance that are on top of the chamber beneath the knotters. They hold the twine in such a way as to allow the billhook to make the knot after the needles have delivered the twine to the twine disks. Knotters are mechanical magic, right up there with sewing machines.

I think what you are looking at is the knife arm or wiper, which actually needs to rub on the the bottom of the billhook just lightly to wipe the knot off the billhook once it's tied. It should be worn to approximate the rounded shape of the bottom of the billhook.

Once you get some string in it, turn the machine slowly by hand to see how it works. I wouldn't make too many adjustment changes at this point before you have a good understanding of the mechanics, because you may be changing things back in short order. Remember, the manual shows how to set up a machine that hasn't had 10,000 bales run through it. You may have some slop in the adjustments, mine did.
 
Another update:

Got to spend a little more time with the baler yesterday, manual in hand and just read through the manual and referenced the baler while going along.

Some things I found:

1. I found the dots on the knotter and drive sprocket and the knotter is out of time - probably by one link.

2. Last time I was at the dealer, they had an aluminum feeder fork, same used on this NH68, setting on the desk waiting on a customer. I've read these things wear and the new one measured from top to bottom about 13-3/4 inches long. The forks on this NH68 are 13 to 13-1/2 inches long. My thought is - that's OK.

3. Plunger knife needs to be sharpened and re-gapped. It probably has 1/8ish clearance and I think the manual calls for 1/32 inch clearance. Wondering how hard is will be to get the knife off to sharpen, etc.

4. Feeder tines are in time. I've got three sets of feeder tines on the rail. The first two sets are mid and bale chamber side, the third are metal, like a thick pick-up on a rake - out near the side opposite the bake chamber. Need to figure out if these are in the right location and where that would have been out of the factory.

5. Pick-up chain has a lot of slack in it. Need to figure out what's going on there. No pick-up tines are missing on the pick-up, but they pick-up wheel is in the second hold from the bottom. The pick-up tines almost touch the ground. I'm thinking I need to take those tines off the ground a bit more, else I might be baling dirt and maybe a rock or two.

It's amazing how freely this baler spins - fingers crossed.

It got dark on me - so more next weekend.

Thanks!
Bill
 
Thanks for the reply! All good stuff. We are reading the
manuals over and over and watching some great videos on
the internet too.

Thanks!
Bill
 
Great info - definitely going to clean up the knotters and really
whole baler.

10-4 on leaving the bale in the baler. I saw a baler one time
that was otherwise a good baler, but after setting with the
chute end in the weather with a bale in it for years, the
chamber had some holes on it.

Bill
 
My bad - it is the knife arm. Looks like it's doing a little more than rubbing, more like interfering to some extent.

Thanks for the info!

Bill
 
The knotter chain on my baler is stretched, when it's running the punch marks don't line up exactly but it bales just fine. I would rather have a stretched original NH chain than the cheap chain TSC and other places sell,but that's just me. The cheap Chinese chain will break at the worst of times.
 
Not to monopolize the thread, but I've got some time on my hands today.

1. Knotter timing marks. Mine don't line up perfectly either, and the knotters work just fine. Could be chain stretch. If nothing knocks or makes untoward noise pulling it through, I'd go ahead and try it where it is and see if she ties. Don't try and remove a link to tighten it up. It won't stay in time without the correct number of links. It's a baler, not a precision watch. Close is generally good enough in this case.

The thing you're going to want to check is the knotter brake. If the baler pulls through by hand as easy as you say, I'm thinking the brake could be set too loose. You should have to give the brake rod a real good, sharp tug before the needle arch will move backwards. If it moves easier than that, you're going to hear some real loud bangs, and have a good chance of breaking needles once you put some hay though the machine under power. That brake should hold the needles fast in home position until the knotter engages.

2. Plunger knife is held in there by three shoulder bolts flush to the knife surface that have recessed 3/8" allen heads. They can be a real pain to get out if they've been in there 50 years, and they strip fairly easy. I ended up finally having to tack weld a hex driver socket in one of mine, and welded a nut to another, even after soaking the heck out of the bolts with PB Blaster. Using a torch to heat them'll work too, just be careful of loose hay.

Working with your head in that pickup chamber is no picnic either.

What I've taken to doing is dressing the knife edge with an angle grinder and file by reaching through the pickup tine access door. If you do that, wear heavy gloves, it's real easy to knick yourself. If you decide you just have to remove the knife, keep track of the shims that hold the knife square to the anvil. If you can get away with leaving the knife in position, by all means, let sleeping dogs lie.

3. For feeder tine adjustment, I started with the tines in the original factory position, and that was pretty darn close to perfect for me. You can adjust it once you get to baling, but keeping the chamber full and having good, consistent windrows has much more to do with making a quality bale than a couple inches one side or the other of the original paint marks. That's my experience anyway.

4.Slack in the pickup chain can just be a matter of adjustment, or it could be that the adjusting idler pulley is worn. You can tell by looking to see how low the chain is riding in the idler. On mine the rollers of the chain were contacting the base of the pulley. I built up the edges of the idler with some mig weld and ground it back down to smooth, but I'm a cheap SOB. The tightness of the drive chain is independent of how low or high the ground wheel is set.

Keep us posted.
 
As far as the feeder tine position, every NH baler I've ever seen was painted with the tines in the factory position and the marks were plain to see if they'd ever been moved. If all you see is red paint around the tines on the tine bar, they are in factory position, otherwise you'll see silver stripes the width of the tine on the bar.


The knife is supposed to be held on by bolts with the allen head recess but a lot of people replaced them with plow bolts. I would try to use the allen head bolts if I could as it makes getting them apart sooooo much easier.
 
I saw that TSC sells the chains in bulk. I checked
and the New Holland dealer sells it too.

Thanks!
Bill
 
No monopoly here - all GREAT info!!!

I'm sure the chain has stretched to some extent on the knotter - but it looks like it's out by one link length. I might replace the chain over the winter anyway. I found in the NH parts online listing the appropriate links for each chain, I'll count them - just to be sure the PO or the PPO didn't take out a link. I do know the needles are coming into the bale chamber very early and perhaps the knotter timing is causing this - but I'll check.

The knotter brake I believe is in good shape. When I rotate the flywheel, everything turns pretty easy from that end, but when I pull the U shaped arch-bracket that holds the needles - back to the home position, it's a two handed grunt to get them back on the home position.

Yea - the plunger knife may be a real pain to work - don't want to break anything. It may have to live as it is until this winter.

So what is the penalty for a dull plunger knife - ragged bales?

I'll take another look-see at the feeder tines and any paint marks - great tip!

I need to take another look-see at the pick-up chain. There is a guard that covers it - so I'll pull that off and have a look-see at it.

Will definitely keep everyone posted. As my threads get older, I'll probably start new ones to keep them near page 1.

Thanks again for your input!
Bill
 
Good tip on the paint vs the feeder tine location -
I'll check that next time out.

The plunger knife may be a challenge. I won't try
to destroy the fasteners holding it in place if it
proves to difficult - until this winter.

Thanks!
Bill
 

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