baler troubleshooting

[tomturkey]

How do some of you trouble shoot tying problems on your small balers. I have been using a 1x with a couple of notches and a couple bungee cords and a block of wood clamped near the hay dog but beyond the plunger stroke. Frankly its like trying to juggle three footballs. Some will say get a helper well wifey cannot push the flywheel and stop it and start it like required, so it is a one man show. Anyone have a better twine management idea? BTW the knot is hanging on the bill hook. I have a manual, I've read the trouble shooting guide, which is why I need to assess the problem by cycling it thru by hand. Any helpful ideas thanks gobble

 

[DanielW]

This is one of the best resources - especially if you scroll down to the pictures section:
Knotter Troubleshooting Guidelines

 

[lastcowboy32]

(quoted from post at 08:20:02 07/25/23) How do some of you trouble shoot tying problems on your small balers. I have been using a 1x with a couple of notches and a couple bungee cords and a block of wood clamped near the hay dog but beyond the plunger stroke. Frankly its like trying to juggle three footballs. Some will say get a helper well wifey cannot push the flywheel and stop it and start it like required, so it is a one man show. Anyone have a better twine management idea? BTW the knot is hanging on the bill hook. I have a manual, I've read the trouble shooting guide, which is why I need to assess the problem by cycling it thru by hand. Any helpful ideas thanks gobble

Maybe a board or piece of plywood with two small notches, top and bottom... to space the twine even with the needles/knotters and pull like a bale of hay... Then put a bungee from the center of the board to both sides of the chamber.

???

 

[lastcowboy32]

(quoted from post at 08:20:02 07/25/23) How do some of you trouble shoot tying problems on your small balers. I have been using a 1x with a couple of notches and a couple bungee cords and a block of wood clamped near the hay dog but beyond the plunger stroke. Frankly its like trying to juggle three footballs. Some will say get a helper well wifey cannot push the flywheel and stop it and start it like required, so it is a one man show. Anyone have a better twine management idea? BTW the knot is hanging on the bill hook. I have a manual, I've read the trouble shooting guide, which is why I need to assess the problem by cycling it thru by hand. Any helpful ideas thanks gobble

Also, you'll get knots hung on the billhook more often at hand-cranked speeds than full bore baling conditions.

 

[mennometis]

I had a couple of 3/8 rod in the wedge mount holes top and bottom across the bale chamber. Careful the bottom rod doesn't interfere with the needle yoke. I bent the rod ends right over because it was overhanging too far. It worked best when the twine box tensioner clamp was set to 5+ lbs on each.

My problem was the knot tail was too long and looping back into the knot as the knot came off the hook. Dull knife was the main issue.

 

[tomturkey]

Thanks to all, I fumbled around with my notched board and another clamped on the base of the bale chamber. I believe I've got it fixed, too much tension on the bill hook cam and the knife arm not rubbing hard enough on the bottom of the bill hook. My lite weight ball peen hammer and a 12 inch pipe wrench and a 9/16s wrench fixed it up. we will see gobble

 

[showcrop]

Ijust take the tension off by removing most of the hay, then it will push over easily by hand. Then feed a little to make a flake, trip it, then advance it a little at a time to see what is happening. The key is to remove most of the hay so it frees up.