NewHolland Knotter Troubles...

Hey guys! I've got a few questions about NH Knotters. I'm running a NH68 Hayliner, and last year, it started breaking strings, AFTER the knot was tied.

The knot is failing to come off of the bottom of the billhook, and the new bale being formed pushes the tied bale farther and farther away, stretching the twine until it finally breaks.

I tried tieing a knot last night in our shop, turning the flywheel by hand, fairly slow, and no hay in the chamber, so of course, it didn't go great, BUT, both knots tied, and neither came off the bill hooks.

I removed bill hooks today, and according to my manual, they are "pointed" instead of "rounded", and in the book, that is described to cause the exact problem I am having, knots being trapped on the bill hook.

My manual says to file the tips until they are rounded, and then re install. I believe that is part of the problem, and I'm going to try it, but I also have concerns about the knotwiper? I don't recall seeing it in action last night. I remember when the arm came across and cut the strings, but I don't remember it coming in contact with the bill hook?

Am I correct in thinking that it should at least rub the bill hook on the way by? What other problems should I be looking at / for?

Thanks guys!!! Bryce

Very, very unusual for both knotters to fail at the same time. That yours do tells me it is not something out of adjustment but rather something must be broken. It is difficult to figure out how a knotter works but once you figure it out it is quite simple. When troubleshooting a baler with empty chamber it is necessary to to hook a bungee strap on strings to simulate hay keeping string tight.

Yes, the wiper arms should drag moderately across the bottom of the bill hook, that is what removes the knot from the hook after the knot is tied. If the arms just slide freely across the bill hook without any pressure or drag, they are too loose. If you have a manual it should tell you how to adjust them.

Bryce, You've come asking questions with much more knowledge of how your knotters work and what you think is happening. Many come asking question with no manual and no idea what the different components are. Good for you. Whenever I've needed to diagnosis a problem I use a 1x4 board with notches cut in it and two eye hooks screwed into it to pull the twine back as if a bale were being made. The two eye hooks are for the bungee cords that you hook to the end of the bale chamber near the chute. when rotating the fly wheel by hand you can watch for the needles coming up then slowly advancing thru the tying and release action. Without the board and bungees I ended up with a knotted up mess. I've often thought a go-pro camera set up over the bill hook would allow me to see what my baler is or is not doing when played back frame by frame. You'll get it figured out, your much more of a gear head than me. gobble

The twine arm should have a good 'rub' on the billhook. the mateing spot/point should be suare,notrounde. the billhooks sometimes get a groove worn where the string contacts. Take a file and clean the hook,removeing the groove

Good advice below, also lots of videos on youtube. Twine knotter search brought up a slew of videos.

The plate that's riveted to the stripper arm should rub the bill to strip the knot. I takes a pretty good push on my 273. You can bend the arm slightly to get contact.

Like they say check the wiper arm make sure it is in line with the billhook and goes past it about a half inch but no more change the twine knife loosen off the twine holder as much as you can check twine tension at twine box leave little tension on it and check twine fingers and if all fails change to plastic. This usually always fixes the problem

Bryce,

I chased a similar problem around on my 273 last summer. If you look in the archive you should see a few posts. Ended up being an actuating rod that bent because my twine finger had gotten a little frozen and bent on the first bale of the season. It took weeks and trying every adjustment to find the answer.

Yes - should rub pretty good.

Have you seen the New Holland video explaining how the knotter works? Great one for general understanding.

Also, I paid for a digital copy of the knotter service manual - if you do not have this, I can send a screen shot or two of relevant pages. Let me know.

Bryce, A worn billhook can cause your exact problem. The pivot point can get worn and cause 'lost motion' and the hook will not open enough to let the wiper arm push it off. We had it happen on a 310 that had a lot of bales run through it. The roller on the end of the billhook was worn also. A new $85 billhook cured it our case. Just something to check.

Garry

Replace the bill hooks, it will save you a lot of grief.