McCormick IH 45 baler

Tims0566

New User
I'm trying to get this baler working, I can get the knottier to work, but it's not cutting the twine, then it wraps itself around the knottier ? How do I get the knife's to work, I bought replacement ones, that have the replaceable blades, and set them to the book for clearance still doesn't look right though? Any help would be appreciated.
 
We started out with an IH 45. It would not tie-same problem as you describe and it was new. The dealer practically lived with us when we baled. He even replaced the knotters but no improvement. We had for three years and it was always a problem. It had no capacity either. Ours had a motor on it and it would really rock the Cockshutt 30 with its shaking when the plunger stroked. Traded it on a New Holland and was glad to see it go. Good luck with yours. You need to get a manual for it- check on E-bay. They were not one of IH's better ideas. Even when it did tie, it was slow going. Again good luck. I did not know there were any of these still on the planet. I thought they all had been scrapped.
 
Do yourself a favor and $#!+can it...They were trouble from the start,even when new.Try to find something a bit newer. Preferably a nonIH. Deere or Newholland would give the best sevvice.Sorry to "burst your bubble" but that's just how it is.
 
Dad had one when I was a kid. I ran the SC Case and Dad stacked on the wagon. Grandpa rode on the twine box tying the twine string cause the darn thing wouldn't tie. Never sheared a shear pin, would just kill the SC. It was a pos. Dad then bought a new 133 Case baler....that thing never missed a bale, a couple kids could bale all day and never have trouble.
 
I know where one is...It is sitting out in a pasture with a big tree growing through it.I think it is the first 45 I ever saw.Up close and personal.lol
 
We used one back in the sixties one summer. It was on loan from a dealer while we waited for our new Oliver baler to come in. That thing would never tie worth a darn, we was glad to return it when our new baler came in.
 
IH didn't make a reliable twine baler until the 430 and 440 with the all twine knotters. The 45 is the worst of the lot. Some 46s work - but I'd want to see proof before I would even consider buying. 47s are a bit better than the 46s but the 440s where a huge step up in capacity and reliability. The problem is the other manufacturers (namely JD and NH) were already "there" in capacity and reliability.
 
I stacked a lot of racks of bales behind an IH 45. Nickname was the "wonder baler". (You wondered when it was going to work.) It would tie thousands of bales perfectly, then start missing every other one. Certain mechanics could make them tie pretty well.
 
Dad had a 45 until he traded it for a new 37 in 1967. He never had much good to say about it. Before the 45 he had an NCMT Case that didn't impress him much either. He bought a new 425 IH around 1980. It had Deering knotters and flat out baled (and tied) hay. I regret letting it go on his sale in 99.
 
Hi Tim, as a kid I used to ride the twine box of our IH #45 and tie the knots that it missed. One side would tie perfectly and the other would miss 1 in 20. One day when it was very hot and dusty hay, I decided to figure why the one side was missing, I read the manual. Next morning sharpened the twine knives, checked all the adjustments vs the good knotter and took 1 shim out of the twine disk holder. Now it was down to missing 1 in a 100 bales and I thought the problem was the needle was not placing the twine in the twine disk holder perfectly. Had a hard time convincing my Dad to let me adjust the needle and we actually had to bend the tip downward about half an inch. After all that both knotters tied perfectly except would miss sometimes when changing twine balls or when the twine knives became dull.
Some hints for a 45:
1)Twine quality is very important, cannot tolerate thick and thing spots in the twine, 9000 Ft better than 10,000 Ft.
2)Keep twine knives sharp and they must be properly timed, positioned and aligned with twine disk. If the twine knife fails to cut the twine cleanly it will pull the knot loose.
3)Twine disk has to be timed and the proper width set by adding/removing shims. There was also an addition to later models like #46 called a twine keeper that went under the twine knife mounting studs and behind the twine disk to give extra holding power on the twine. This twine keeper should also fit a 45.
4)Bill hook timing and closing pressure have to be correct.
5)Twine needle has to place twine perfectly.
Bottom line everything has to be perfect for an IH 45 to tie perfectly.

After setting everything by the book, I used to trip the knotter and have someone turn the pto by hand and watch very closely the knotters perform a tie cycle. There are diagnostics in the manual how to analyze where the knotter is going wrong.

As someone else posted that the later models with the "All Twine" knotter were 1,000 times better. Ie, I have never had to
work on my brother's IH 435 knotter ever.

JimB
 
I'm confused with this as it looks like it's knotting, but not cutting the twine loose, than when I trip it using hay, it cut the knot loose and then it wraps it up again, than I'm let with it trying to do next bale, but the first bale twine isn't tied, but the twine is still there. I've tried setting the knife spacing, by the way, I replaced the worn out old knives with the ones with replaceable blades. And that doesn't seem to work, I think it's the cutting than I'm having more of the problem, than the tying? But any help is greatly appreciated
 
Hi Tim, on the first bale that is not tied, is the twine long enough to go around the complete bale? Is there a single knot on the twine that goes under the bale? This is symptom of the the held end of twine slipping out of twine disk.
If twine is correct length and appears to have knot on both ends that has been untied then the twine knife is not cutting clean.
If the twine is broken and wrapped around the bill hook with the knot still on the bill hook then the bill hook tension is too tight or something is preventing the bill hook tension arm from moving freely. On our next baler an IH #46 it had a problem on the inside knotter where sometimes the billhook had insufficient tension to make a complete knot. It turned out to be a casting flaw in the U-slot that the billhook tension arm rides in. Some filing and sandpaper took care of that problem.

JimB
 
I will check that out and get back, the twine is lone enough, but when it cycles, the twine is not even close to look like it's tied, but the knot and excess twine is still on the knitter and wrapped around the disc
 
Have you tried turning it by hand and watching what it does or mount a cell phone taking video to see what it does. I don't have any experience with a 45 but seems it has to be missing the knives based on what you have described. I have a 46 and it relies on the next bale coming through to pull the twine off the bill hooks. If it breaks the twine before it pulls it off it will wrap around the knotter on the next bale because the bill hooks can't open. On a 46 there is an adjustment for tension on the bill hooks. If you think it is a cutting issue I would sharpen the old knives and put them back on. If you really want to continue with this baler I would strongly suggest getting a manual. That is the only way I have made my 46 work over the years. I've gotten pretty good with the knotter on a 46 and I don't know what the differences are to give a much advice. Maybe it would help if you can post some pictures.
 
Tim, the other thing I forgot is the twine knife cannot start cutting the twine until the billhook is completely closed or the twine to be cut will be pushed out of the billhook and still be attached to the twine disk. The twine cutting is at the very end of the knotter cycle just before the twine gets pulled off the billhook by the next bale pushing the tied bale out the chamber.
Also are the "breast plates" (the piece that the twine rests against onto of the bale chamber) in good shape? No nicks or burrs?

Do both knotters do the same thing or only one?

JimB
 
Charlie, the knotters are almost identical between IH 45 and 46, just a few tweaks. The needles are different, 45 had a cast needle with a steel tip where as the 46 had a complete cast needle.

JimB
 
I hate to add another person to the list of those that have had the misfortune to ride the twine box tying missed bales, but I have spent my fair share. Dad and I fought one for a few years, and every time we got it to tie more than 10 bales we thought it was fixed. Honestly I think we hand tied more bales on that baler than it tied successfully. He finally bought a little MF baler and thought he was in heaven. The old 45 was sitting where it was last parked when I sold the place, and I guess someone finally hauled it off when scrap prices were high as it disappeared. Good luck with the 45. About the only thing I can say good about the old baler was that it made Dad and I spend more time together as it literally took two people to get the hay baled in any reasonable amount of time. And we just thought that old baler was worn out when we bought it.
 

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