Knots on billhook - new holland- update update

Ok. Part iii.
Still hanging them on the billhook.
1. Shined bill hooks
2. Checked twine disc rotation
3. Adjusted wiper arm
4. Sharpened and replaced twine knives
5. Adjusted wiped arm "lift".

Noticed there is too much play in the wiper arm and
bill hooks. Seems that both rollers on the cam
sides are pretty worn. Billhooks are pretty worn too.

Grabbed new billhooks and new rollers.

1. How is the wiper/knife arm removed?
A). Removed cotter pin.
B). Arm can't get clearance for removal. How do I
proceed?

2. Bill hook appears to be held in place by a pin -
what is it? Roll pin? Tapered shaft? Key? Any
tips here?

Thanks
Steve

Have to hold your mouth just right to remove knife arm. Roll pin in billhook.

You need to swing the knotter frame up as you remove the knife arm to get the clearance to pull it out. The the pin you refer to is just a roll pin, but it can be stuck in there pretty good. I heated mine up a little to help in driving it out.

The nut/spring arrangement that adjusts the grovved arm below the billhook roller determines how wide the jaws open. You might try fiddling with that a bit. If the jaws don't open sufficiently, the knot will hang. Quick check is to look at the tails of the knot. They should be about even. If not, that's the adjustment.

(quoted from post at 14:42:53 07/05/17) Ok. Part iii.
Still hanging them on the billhook.
1. Shined bill hooks
2. Checked twine disc rotation
3. Adjusted wiper arm
4. Sharpened and replaced twine knives
5. Adjusted wiped arm "lift".

Noticed there is too much play in the wiper arm and
bill hooks. Seems that both rollers on the cam
sides are pretty worn. Billhooks are pretty worn too.

Grabbed new billhooks and new rollers.

1. How is the wiper/knife arm removed?
A). Removed cotter pin.
B). Arm can't get clearance for removal. How do I
proceed?

2. Bill hook appears to be held in place by a pin -
what is it? Roll pin? Tapered shaft? Key? Any
tips here?

Thanks
Steve

Click to expand...

I'm not what model baler you have, but myself and my brother have a NH 276 and a NH 575 respectively. I only point that out; because depending on the model (you may even have a different brand), there are different options for too much play in the wiper arm.

My brother was having trouble with play in his wiper arms. He was able to solve his by going to the NH dealer (the probably sell them on websites too) and getting these little shims. They look like very very thin washers with an inner diameter just the right size for the wiper arm shaft. If you need to tighten the wiper arm up, you can put as many of them as you need between the roll pin and the knotter casting, and BAM...wiper arm tightened up right to the bill hook.

He was helping me with my 276 and noticed that I also had play in my wiper arms and the occasional knot hanging in the bill hook. He suggested that I get some of those shims. So...the next time I was at the dealer; I described the shims...got some and brought them home.

Guess what? There isn't enough of a flat surface on my 276 knotter casting for shims to rest. The shims aren't an option.

I didn't want to buy new wiper arms just yet. The last two summers, my haybine is bleeding the repair budget dry. So I tried different twines.

7000 foot sisal twine was terrible. Hung up all the time.
9000 foot sisal twine was a little better.
The cheapest and thinnest 9000 foot orange poly twine has run since last July without getting a single knot stuck on the bill hook.

So...check to see if your wiper arms (even if they're new) are "shim-able" if they are, it's probably easier to install shims than to try to bend them into shape or go through a few bales of twine to find a type that works.

Good luck.

I just wanted to add...the twine giveth and the twine taketh away.

The cheap, thin, orange poly twin works because the knots are so small; and they don't have as much fraying as sisal. So the pull out of the bill hook easily. That's the "giveth"

How does it "taketh away"? I have had the twine pull out of the twine discs on about 5 bales (out of about 3000). It happened as my father in law baled around a field with dry, thin grass on one end and some thick clover at the other. He didn't adjust the bale chamber tension when he got to the clover; and the baler tried to make some super tight/heavy bales.

The thin orange poly twine is harder for the twine discs to hold, so it just pulled out. Some fuzzy sisal probably would have held in the discs.

Even so, we just re-baled the broken bales after reducing the bale chamber tension...and probably saved our backs a little. Those broken bales would have been some back breakers.