JD 214T, knotting problem

The symptom sounds like your bill hook tension is to tight. There should be a adjustment on the part that closes the hooks. There should be a adjustment for each knotter. The wheel I think you are talking about is just to keep things still while the bale is being baled. If the surface between the hooks is rusty that can cause the same problem.

I think the crescent shaped levers you are refering to are the needles. At least that is what they are called here in NW IA. Those need to be adjusted so they lay the twine on the knotters at the right place at the right time. They hold the twine there while the knotter does it's thing.

All in all I would suggest not messing with anything until you get your manual. There should be a good guide in there for dealing with knotter problems.

As to the twine tension I am assuming you are talking about where the twine comes out of the twine box. That only needs to be tight enough to keep the twine from floating.

HTH

jt

My first guess was bill hook tension or rust there. Loosen them up and be ready to tighten back up as the rust comes off. If you get a knot that doesn't stay tied you may need to tighten back up.

Knotters can be easly mastered (I did it). Just learn to understand how they work and remember that adjustments need to be made in small increments. Like a quarter turn on some.

Good Luck

jt

Or is the knot being formed IN the bill hook? If it is in the bill hook the twine isn't in the right position when the bill hook spins and opens and closes to form the knot. Most likely it is a tucker finger problem ( the half moon things that hold the twine up against the bill hook ).

Make sure the tucker fingers are holding the twine right on the bill hook. If they are adjusted to loose, you will get knots forming in the bill hook as the twine is flopping around and getting in the bill hook when it shouldn't.

The wiper/knife arms on our 14T take more than 5 pounds to pull them across the bottom of the bill hook. I would think maybe reducing the bill hook tension or the twine tension might help along with making sure that wiper contacts the bottom of the bill hook lightly. The bill hook just needs to grasp that twine hard enough to pull the knot in it, if it clamps down to hard the knot will stay on the bill hook. And if the knot stays on there a plunger stroke or two it will be drawn down real tight, making it hard to get off....