Knotter Issues; the Finale (hopefully)

So, IF anyone has been following, I have had several posts this summer regrading the knotters on my New Holland 273 hanging knots on the bill hook. I believe we have finally reached our conclusion.

Quick background: NH 273 has been on our farm since new, has performed flawlessly for over 40 years. This year on our first loads out, it started to hang knots on the bill hook every 15-20 bales, sometimes more frequently, sometimes less. It seemed (on the first couple) to be on the left knotter, but then it was hanging both pretty consistently. The baler had ended up outside this winter, and the tarp was lost partway through the winter. This will never happen again.

We assumed that the bill hooks had gotten corroded over the winter and started by shining those up, tested on a few broken bales, all seemed good, took it out and it started hanging knots.

We sharpened the twine knives, re-sanded the bill hooks, sprayed a little WD 40 on them, tested it out, seemed ok, next good weather, started hanging them up even more frequently.

Now we replaced the bill hooks, timed the twine discs, replaced the brass roller on the back of the wiper arm, checked adjustments and clearances on that, waited for some good weather and started to hang up knots again.

This time on the way into the shed I noticed 2 things when comparing it to our 311;
1. The twine finger on the LH side did not move or rotate easily, seemed jammed.
2. The welded lever which actuated the time finger had a pretty good bend in it.

Pulled the lever out, straightened it, the twine fingers were quite a bit to the left of the curved rods, as opposed to on the opposite side and lined up with the needles. LH side, when turned by hand, was too far from the needle, RH side was brushing the needle. Got everything freed up, straightened and timed. Took it out for a test, agreed that if it hangs one, it heads right to the shed, baled 300 without a miss.

Our thinking; parked outside caused corrosion and the LH finger to get stuck, first bale of the season, attempted to rotate properly, did not, cause the lever bar to begin to bend. Sometimes it rotated smoothly, sometimes not, particularly at PTO speed as opposed to hand speed. As our tests went on, the bend got worse, causing the knot hanging to get worse. Without noticing that bend, we were chasing a lot of loose ends.

The parts we replaced, definitely needed some replacing but they were not the true criminals.

Thank you to everyone for the information and suggestions. It was frustrating to say the least but every time I posted with our progress, there were tons of ideas and leads to look into. Once we saw the bent lever, there was a wealth of info about that issue even. As always, the people on here have great knowledge both tractor, implement and anything else.

As an encore, when I got inside, I flushed the toilet and water did not go down. Septic is plugged. Such is life.
 
Glad everything is working as it should. The twine fingers position the both twines on-over the bill hook in the right area so both are turned and caught by the opening tongue. The stripper arm then can pull and cut the formed knot off and pull the tail through the knot. Bet you know a lot more about your 273's knotter now. And as Martha used to say "and that's a good thing." regards......Ron
 
As an encore, when I got inside, I flushed the toilet and water did not go down. Septic is plugged. Such is life.[/quote]

That's just the cosmos reminding you that stuck knots aren't the worst thing in the world. Glad that you got your knotter running predictably again. And thanks for feeding back your discovery into the collective knowledge base.
 
Glad you got it figured out..and it gives others more info in dealing with their balers.. I too baled about 300 bales Sunday with three drops at the start and made miner adjust and good to go.. Always a GREAT day when baler works in 100 degree days...

Good luck with the pooper been there done that also with my lagoon.
 
That makes sense back many years ago when I used to let my Baler get wet the first thing that went was the twine finger return spring that would break and the hay dog springs would also I haven't replaced any of those on my Baler in over 20 years since I make sure it gets inside a shot every night after bailing
 

I don't know what everyone else does, but at the end of the season I blow off my knotters as well as possible and add fresh grease to every fitting. Grease helps keep water out of places it shouldn't be. Covering with a tarp is fine, but a baler is one of the things that really needs to be under cover, which is why I'm working on my machine shed roof these days! :lol:
 
Agreed. A roof goes a long ways in keeping corrosion at a minimum. A tarp traps moisture and morning dew - not as bad as leaving it uncovered but a far cry from the benefits of having a roof covering it. If you want to see something nasty - uncover a car that's been covered only by a tarp for a year or more - especially one parked on dirt or grass. The tarp has acted like a green house trapping moisture under it and causing about as much damage as it may have helped prevent.
 
This was the first in 43 years that this baler did not make it into the machine shed. It will never happen again. That is for sure.
 
I always cringe when I see balers stored outside. And this is the reason why. Too many moving parts that are critical to good operation.

Donovan from Wisconsin
 
That is funny, it was a typo but actually it is 1 in the morning and I got in from baling hay all day and delivering and now having dinner and a shot over ice.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top