Well done Bill! A picture is worth a thousand words as they say.
Ron, I believe you asked about the roller balls on the knotter having flats or being otherwise worn earlier. Yes, they are replaceable and they need to be in decent condition. You want to start looking in your area for a parts machine or a parts knotter assy. I was fortunate that a farmer friend gave me a parts knotter and I was able to rob the updated roller off it. IIRC it's an actual bearing type roller and not just a bushing. Or you can use a good old style and just peen the end over as the factory did. As long as it revolves freely and isn't full of flat spots (many used ones are) it's good to go. A bit of oil on them now and then seem to keep them working. The same guy also allowed me to copy his baler manual from a much later baler, a 315 or 320 IIRC, and it has a lot more info than my old 68 manual. And I'm very tempted to get this manual-https://external_link.com/new-holland-baler-knotters-service-manual.html Looks to be THE knotter manual for NH.
On your plunger knife, if you have a 1/2" gap then yeah, things are worn. There are slide adjusters on the baler you can try but I had to pull my plunger and renew the slides. If you do that then take the time to locate and loosen up the adjusters. They rust in place. Don't so like I did and try to heat one up to loosen it after you've made a few hundred bales. WAAAAYYY too much excitement!!! But it's a good way too find out that your old pressurized water fire extinguisher still works.....
Those allen headed plow bolts- You can't get them anymore, that I know of anyway, so try to get them out intact. The knife will come out with the plunger in the machine, buts it lots easier if it's out. The shear plate has a 90 degree edge and you want to follow the factory edge on the knife. Don't they to put a longer, shallower edge on the knife. It won't stay razor sharp no matter what, so just use the factory edge which is a very stout edge that will give good service for years as long as you don't try baling fence wire, staples, metal roofing of a Tee post. Again, you can guess how I learned this! The knife and shear plate want to just miss each other. I think the factory gap is supposed to be about 1/32". Let your new slides wear in for several hundred strokes before you make your final adjustment.
Slides are the same all around. Bale counters are available from a bunch of sources. I got mine at TSC. I never have found out where the factory location is though, so mine runs off the knotter trip arm. There is a piece of metal in the feeder opening that hangs down. I'm not sure what it's supposed to do, control hay flow I imagine, but it's supposed to be there. There is also a sheet metal cover on the side of the plunger that is supposed to be there. Mine wore in 2 some time back and it seems to work fine with out it.
Despite what Bill found, my trip arm definitely had horizontal grooves cut in it. They were very clear at the top of the working section that had never been used. Apparently no one ever saw the need to a 4 foot long bale! Anyway, NH might have done away with the grooves in later years, but at one time at least they had them.
On the fiber washer- you can buy material to make stuff like that from McMaster-Carr if you can figure out what it is. The $76.00 NH gets would probably buy you enough material to make 50 discs.
Ron, I believe you asked about the roller balls on the knotter having flats or being otherwise worn earlier. Yes, they are replaceable and they need to be in decent condition. You want to start looking in your area for a parts machine or a parts knotter assy. I was fortunate that a farmer friend gave me a parts knotter and I was able to rob the updated roller off it. IIRC it's an actual bearing type roller and not just a bushing. Or you can use a good old style and just peen the end over as the factory did. As long as it revolves freely and isn't full of flat spots (many used ones are) it's good to go. A bit of oil on them now and then seem to keep them working. The same guy also allowed me to copy his baler manual from a much later baler, a 315 or 320 IIRC, and it has a lot more info than my old 68 manual. And I'm very tempted to get this manual-https://external_link.com/new-holland-baler-knotters-service-manual.html Looks to be THE knotter manual for NH.
On your plunger knife, if you have a 1/2" gap then yeah, things are worn. There are slide adjusters on the baler you can try but I had to pull my plunger and renew the slides. If you do that then take the time to locate and loosen up the adjusters. They rust in place. Don't so like I did and try to heat one up to loosen it after you've made a few hundred bales. WAAAAYYY too much excitement!!! But it's a good way too find out that your old pressurized water fire extinguisher still works.....
Those allen headed plow bolts- You can't get them anymore, that I know of anyway, so try to get them out intact. The knife will come out with the plunger in the machine, buts it lots easier if it's out. The shear plate has a 90 degree edge and you want to follow the factory edge on the knife. Don't they to put a longer, shallower edge on the knife. It won't stay razor sharp no matter what, so just use the factory edge which is a very stout edge that will give good service for years as long as you don't try baling fence wire, staples, metal roofing of a Tee post. Again, you can guess how I learned this! The knife and shear plate want to just miss each other. I think the factory gap is supposed to be about 1/32". Let your new slides wear in for several hundred strokes before you make your final adjustment.
Slides are the same all around. Bale counters are available from a bunch of sources. I got mine at TSC. I never have found out where the factory location is though, so mine runs off the knotter trip arm. There is a piece of metal in the feeder opening that hangs down. I'm not sure what it's supposed to do, control hay flow I imagine, but it's supposed to be there. There is also a sheet metal cover on the side of the plunger that is supposed to be there. Mine wore in 2 some time back and it seems to work fine with out it.
Despite what Bill found, my trip arm definitely had horizontal grooves cut in it. They were very clear at the top of the working section that had never been used. Apparently no one ever saw the need to a 4 foot long bale! Anyway, NH might have done away with the grooves in later years, but at one time at least they had them.
On the fiber washer- you can buy material to make stuff like that from McMaster-Carr if you can figure out what it is. The $76.00 NH gets would probably buy you enough material to make 50 discs.
