Spit knott

ihcarl66 · Mar 26, 2018

87 year old farmer I worked for in 80's would unravel both ends of twine shove them into each other spit on twine then rub between hands and you couldn't pull twine apart went through knotters perfect my square knotts hang up 1 out of 3 times never could figure out how he made knott now he's not around anymore and took the secret with him

carvel minne farmer · Mar 26, 2018

ihcar66 there is photos and and a description of how to do that in my jd 336 balers operaters manual, being a computer dummy i'll have to try and figure out how to scan and post that on here if you like.

Crazy Horse · Mar 26, 2018

Link below shows several videos ....... not sure if any of them are like the method you described ....... maybe your farmer friend posted some of these ..... ha, unlikely. Here ya go .... let us know if they work for you .....
Knots without knots .... videos

jeffcat · Mar 26, 2018

How about a wrap or two of electricl tape.

Roger in Iowa · Mar 26, 2018

Take and fuzz up about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of each twine. Make the first part of the knot, like the first movement of tying you shoe. Then take the two fuzzed up ends and work them into each other and pinch with thumb and finger and hold. Pull on the two strings while still holding the fuzzed ends. It will leave a very compact knot. Takes a little practice.

jeffcat · Mar 26, 2018

So you are saying it is the same deal you can do with two phone books? If you inter lace them a page at a time you can not pull them apart. The baleing string sounds neat. Here are a couple. You m8ght have your strings backwards.
first how too.

tim s · Mar 26, 2018

No on the tape idea...the old guys way is the best,,I was shown how to do this when I was young and still use it. When I worked at the Dealership back in the 70's I was sent out to start every new baler that was sold to make sure all was well with it,,I always showed this to the owners as a way to let a new bale of twin start with out a miss.

ihcarl66 · Mar 26, 2018

That might be where he got
it from he always had jd
square baler

carvel minne farmer · Mar 26, 2018

(quoted from post at 07:31:49 03/26/18) So you are saying it is the same deal you can do with two phone books? If you inter lace them a page at a time you can not pull them apart. The baleing string sounds neat. Here are a couple. You m8ght have your strings backwards.
first how too.

good morning jeffcat, watched the video, thank you for posting that, i'm going to try that knot on my jd 336 square baler, I think it should work fine, do you use this knot jeffcat?

hydro70guy · Mar 26, 2018

Thats the way the guy who did all our baling over the years did it. I remember as a kid think how neat that was. I also remember if you tied a knot between bales any other way about half the time it would mistie when going through knotters.

rlp in Co. · Mar 26, 2018

Just love this site. Always learn something new.

rrlund · Mar 26, 2018

I can remember Dad telling about that,but he could never do it right. I never tried.

Duner Wi · Mar 26, 2018

What you describe is what Dad taught me to do over 50 years ago.

showcrop · Mar 26, 2018

A neighbor who passed on a few years ago showed me 30 years ago how to tie it and I have done it that way ever since, and almost never have one fail to hold. He showed me to tie just a plain old overhand knot, but before pulling it tight to roll it between your palms, no spit, and then pull it tight. Then you trim off any free end that points ahead. He also told me that he used to make his knots by just opening each end up a little as you said, then pushing them into each other, then rolling them between his palms. I didn't believe him for a second. He then told me that unfortunately modern twine is not of adequate quality any more to be able to do that.

coshoo · Mar 26, 2018

Probably works with sisal twine, because it is a plant product and gets sticky when you moisten it. Probably not with plastic.

TimV · Mar 26, 2018

Video below is one of the ones in the list CrazyHorse posted and is pretty representative of the basic method. By fraying and interleaving the ends, you're effectively making a crude splice, and by spitting (which this video does not show) you're using the moisture to lubricate the threads and ensure they're drawn together tightly--an old fisherman's trick, especially useful for barrel knots or other knots requiring multiple wraps of line to sit tightly together in order to maximize holding power.
twine knot

Crazy Horse · Mar 26, 2018

I tried it with nylon baling twine. The nylon strands are not quite as forgiving to get layered into place as maybe the jute twine is. After a few tries, it seems to work pretty good. There is a small lump in the join but nothing near as big as a square (reef) knot or some other kind of knot. Practice will make you efficient at doing a good job.

TomH in PA · Mar 26, 2018

Knitters do the same thing with wool yarn when they start a new ball, they call it "felting" the ends together.

jeffcat · Mar 26, 2018

I have always been fascinated how the old timers did stuff. Many years
ago i had someone show me how to loop a rope around and weave the ends
back into the rope. So you ended up with a nice permanent loop at the
end of a rope. Very cool. Haven't try3d it again in over 45 years. So
many old ways of doing things are fadeing away. So sad our own
government is helping, NO destroying ways things should be. Sad.

carvel minne farmer · Mar 26, 2018

(quoted from post at 17:55:24 03/26/18) I have always been fascinated how the old timers did stuff. Many years
ago i had someone show me how to loop a rope around and weave the ends
back into the rope. So you ended up with a nice permanent loop at the
end of a rope. Very cool. Haven't try3d it again in over 45 years. So
many old ways of doing things are fadeing away. So sad our own
government is helping, NO destroying ways things should be. Sad.

my dad showed me the same way to braid rope, he used to braid steel cable underground in the mines, he was an underground driller when he was young. and your 100% right jeff we have lost so much in the name of progress. I wonder if I should do a post on braiding rope here with a series of pics showing how it's done from start to finish?

oleclint · Mar 26, 2018

That really 'dates' me, I tied twine together like that before I was out of school. It worked good on a McCormick 45. a J D 14 T and a Case 130. clint

James Williams · Mar 27, 2018

Great knott,and very easy to tie,An old farmer tought me to tie it.
jimmy

Spit knott

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