NH 269 knotter question

pellerinpac · Jul 23, 2017

We just picked up a NH 269 square baler. We ran some test hay through it and discovered that the knotter was misstieing 3 out of 4 bales. The left hand knotter (looking at it from the rear) was knotting the twine on the bale end but the twine from the needle was in the knot but not tied so it slipped right through. The manual while very helpful has not yet solved this problem. Hay dogs are good, twine finger is good, the only thing that I see that seems out of place is that there is a stack of 5 plates on the right hand twine disc and only 3 on the left hand disc. We are running sisal twine by the way. Any suggestions out there? I realize that this baler is 50+ years old, but it seems to run alright other than this.
Thanks

Bret4207 · Jul 23, 2017

Go get a couple bales of 7200 or 9000 plastic twine and try that. If the sisal has been in the twine box more than a month or two it can cause all sorts of problems. Start with the easy stuff unless you absolutely have to run the far more expensive sisal twine.

Switching to plastic twine got rid of 95% of my knotter issues on my near 60 year old NH 68.

pellerinpac · Jul 23, 2017

(quoted from post at 17:05:58 07/23/17)

Go get a couple bales of 7200 or 9000 plastic twine and try that. If the sisal has been in the twine box more than a month or two it can cause all sorts of problems. Start with the easy stuff unless you absolutely have to run the far more expensive sisal twine.

Switching to plastic twine got rid of 95% of my knotter issues on my near 60 year old NH 68.

So the different number of plates on the twine discs is ok?

Mike(NEOhio) · Jul 24, 2017

I'd say that was your problem. The twine discs need to hold both ends until the bill grabs the twines. One is probably slipping out too soon.

pellerinpac · Jul 24, 2017

(quoted from post at 05:10:42 07/24/17) I'd say that was your problem. The twine discs need to hold both ends until the bill grabs the twines. One is probably slipping out too soon.

So repair or replace the disc?

Bret4207 · Jul 24, 2017

(quoted from post at 22:54:18 07/23/17)

(quoted from post at 17:05:58 07/23/17)

Go get a couple bales of 7200 or 9000 plastic twine and try that. If the sisal has been in the twine box more than a month or two it can cause all sorts of problems. Start with the easy stuff unless you absolutely have to run the far more expensive sisal twine.

Switching to plastic twine got rid of 95% of my knotter issues on my near 60 year old NH 68.

Click to expand...

So the different number of plates on the twine discs is ok?

I doubt it, but even if it isn't, I wouldn't trust any sisal these days unless I personally knew it to be good twine that works perfectly in other balers. The problem with sisal these days is consistency and rot resistance. I've personally seen a brand new ball of twine rot in multiple places in the twine box of the baler during a 10 day rainy period. I've seen so much "thick and thin" twine that I simply gave up on sisal. Maybe there is a brand that's of the same quality as the old NH twine I used for years, but I haven't found it yet.

DeltaRed · Jul 24, 2017

Most knotter problems are simple adjustments.adjust it 'by the book' and it will work.Most old balers such as yours have been tweeked/messed with so much it's a wonder they work at all.Start at the beginning and go completey through the process.The The twine disk issue (5 disk) is the 'updated' part.should be no issue there if tension is correct.Ditto on the sisal twine. Throw that crap away and get a good quality 9600 plastic twine.

bjr · Jul 25, 2017

You brought back some rather unpleasant memories. I owned a 269 for a couple of years, it had been torn down for a parts machine and I had to reassemble and replace the removed parts. I dropped 'bout $2000
tryin' to get it to tie consistently. Believe what the others are saying, switch to the plastic twine. twine tension plates those little flat plate twine tensioners (the ones up on the knotters) will have to
be adjusted to get some kind of consistent knot. Go over the bill hooks and the ramps (where the bill hook roller rides on) on the knotter frame. I had to build up the ramps as mine were very worn. I finally
sold the old thing and bought a Hesston 4550 inline, but had knotter problems with that as well. Hopefully you'll not have to get into the needle timing as that can be a whole can of worms itself. If you do
pay attention to the main drive chain number of links as it does seem to matter,(there's still a big debate over if the number of links is important or not but, I was told by the dealer it was). Good luck bjr

pellerinpac · Jul 25, 2017

(quoted from post at 10:06:32 07/25/17) You brought back some rather unpleasant memories. I owned a 269 for a couple of years, it had been torn down for a parts machine and I had to reassemble and replace the removed parts. I dropped 'bout $2000
tryin' to get it to tie consistently. Believe what the others are saying, switch to the plastic twine. twine tension plates those little flat plate twine tensioners (the ones up on the knotters) will have to
be adjusted to get some kind of consistent knot. Go over the bill hooks and the ramps (where the bill hook roller rides on) on the knotter frame. I had to build up the ramps as mine were very worn. I finally
sold the old thing and bought a Hesston 4550 inline, but had knotter problems with that as well. Hopefully you'll not have to get into the needle timing as that can be a whole can of worms itself. If you do
pay attention to the main drive chain number of links as it does seem to matter,(there's still a big debate over if the number of links is important or not but, I was told by the dealer it was). Good luck bjr

Thanks for the input (everybody) I need to follow the entire knotter sequence with the twine under tension without hay in the chamber so that I can see what is happening. I've tried this several times but without the hay in the chamber to keep the twine taught and it just seems to get wound up on the bill hook. I'll see if I can do something different tonight.
Thanks again

lastcowboy32 · Jul 25, 2017

[/quote]

You can rig up a couple of bungee straps to pull the twine; instead of using hay.

Plus, it's really fun to watch the little loops of twine with a knot on them get bungee flung down the bale chamber when you activate the knotter.

pellerinpac · Jul 25, 2017

(quoted from post at 15:02:39 07/25/17)

Thanks for the input (everybody) I need to follow the entire knotter sequence with the twine under tension without hay in the chamber so that I can see what is happening. I've tried this several times but without the hay in the chamber to keep the twine taught and it just seems to get wound up on the bill hook. I'll see if I can do something different tonight.
Thanks again[/quote]

So here's an update. After watching the sequence several times we noticed that on the knotter in question the twine disc didn't seem to be in time with the working knotter. After a few failed attempts, we discovered that by loosening the nut on the bottom of the work gear we could turn the disc enough to get where it looked like the other side. Voila, knots like a charm. Now, let's get it into some hay.
Thanks again everyone

NH 269 knotter question

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