NH 644 twine cut/wrapping issues

I have a 644 New Holland round baler that has worked great for the 3 years that I have been using it. This year it has been giving some trouble getting the twine to wrap. This baler has dual twine arms and It seems that once it cuts the twine after wrapping a bale, the pig tail of twine left is not long enough to be grabbed by the next bale that needs to be wrapped. I sharpened the knives, no difference, I have moved the knives to several different locations and nothing improves the pigtail length. I am using the same twine I have always used, 16,000 Golden Harvest Brand from the local creamery. I"m wondering if dulling the knives a bit would help, maybe the cut would be less clean , leaving a longer pigtail?? I"m not sure what to try anymore, its getting frustrating getting off the tractor to manual push the twine into each bale so it will wrap.

Is it doing it for the entire ball of twine or only the first 8-10 bales? My Gehl is hard to start the twine on for the first bales out a new balls.

From what you describe it sounds like your current batch of twine balls were wrapped too tight and it's not pulling freely enough off the ball, or that something is impeding the free movement of the twine.

I am not familiar with the NH but if it has a twine arm system similar to my Hesston it could be the arms not going close enough to the bale for it to catch the twine. If the moving sequence of the arms has been obstructed or electrically disturbed in the controller i mean. This has happened for me anyway but like I said I don't know how your baler works. Just a thought.

On my 852 NH, when the needles drop I have to keep going for at least 4 feet before stopping, the incoming hay pulls the twine into the bale for wraping.

I have noticed that the twine pulls harder first 8 or so bales after changing balls of twine. It definelty gives more trouble then. I don't think thats the balers fault, I think the twine just pulls harder at that time. I kind of like the though of continuing to drive ahead for a bit after the tying process begins, that incoming hay may be just enough to pull the twine in... Also I will look to see if there just may be an obstruction keeping the arms from coming close enough to the bale. Any other thoughts??

Make sure the twine arms are not tripped, they can trip forward or backwards. Try pulling on one of the arms and make sure it doesn't move easily one way or the other. Sometimes they will trip backward and not allow the arms to go all the way to the middle. Twine is definitely more problematic than net.

I've been having more trouble with mine the past few years with some of the newer twines. Make sure the twine tension slides in the twine box aren't too tight, and after the needles trip into the chamber, make sure some hay is still flowing. I have a tendency to hit the brakes as soon as the signal goes off, and the needles haven't gone into the chamber yet. So, there's no hay moving underneath the needles and the twine just hangs there. Another thing I have done with mine that seems to help, is to take some strips of 3M deck tred and stick them on the lower roller. It's really shined up and slippery. I wiped it off good with alcohol swabs and put a 12" strip between each of the friction bars. It's rough like sandpaper, and seems to provide some extra grip on the twine. Nothing has been foolproof, but it's helped. I have also noticed that a heavier windrow starts better than light material- keep the head loaded. Another trick I have done on my machine is to put two pulleys on the front left side and looped the twine over them- one pulley for each side, and painted a cross on them. It makes it really easy to see the twine moving or if one side didn't start for some reason. These are just small idler pulleys on a bearing- the twine does one loop over them on the way across the front to the glass feed tube going to the needles. They start to spin as soon as the twine starts to feed. Very easy to see..

I got a 648. I'll check it our tomorrow.

I think the twine arms release the ends when they get to full position, in the center.


I will look.


That is a good baler. Let me check it out before you chuck it over the hill.

If it's like mine, and I thinke they are the same, there's a little wedge lock on the end of the twine tube to keep it from pulling back into the twine arm as it snaps into place, so there is always that 6" or so piece hanging from the twine arm. That's in addition to the tension plates up in the twine box corners. I don't think the chock pieces are even adjustable- they are just spring loaded and part of the arms.

I have a 648 which is essentially the same baler, and have struggled over the years to get the twine issues down to a minimum. Here's what I've learned:

1) Make sure the tension is properly set coming out of the roll through the first tension guide. Even a miniscule difference in tension can throw the operation off.

2) Make sure your knives are sharp and cut well, and that the cutter arm (left side) is greased well. It is spring-tensioned and this can be adjusted too, in case its not springing closed tight enough to cut completely.

3) Make sure you have enough hay feeding the chamber when the twine arms drop to the center. Either bigger/fluffier rows, or going faster, will help grab what twine is hanging.

Also, if the twine cutters do their job they will pinch and hold the twine in place while the tubes retract, giving you even more twine to be caught by the incoming hay. If it simply cuts the twine and doesn't hold, you might only have 2-4 inches of twine hanging out. Although this isn't necessary.

Good luck !