IH 46 square baler knotter problems.

   / IH 46 square baler knotter problems. #1  

conestoga_days

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I have an IH 46 baler that isn't knotting like it did in the past. I got it to knot every time now but the bales are not straight. I tried tightening the bale tensions but it didn稚 work. I can watch it knot the bale and as the twine is pulled out of the billhooks the one side pulls out later than the other side. I had trouble with the bad side cutting the twine also but I adjusted the blade and it cuts now but when it knots the twine seems looser on that side causing the bale to be crooked.
I hope I am making since but since I priced some of the suspected bad part, I decided I wanted to make sure the part was bad before I gave up my arm or leg.
TIA
 
   / IH 46 square baler knotter problems. #2  
Sounds at first like there is a broken tooth (the first one in line), on the intermediate gear wheel. That causes the mechanism to start late on the 'slow' side. That still shouldn't take you down. Check the tension of the twine by trying to pull it by hand all the way the through the system on both sides. They should be the same obviously. There may be some crud blocking the hay restrictors (that hold back the flakes when the plunger retracts), and your main cut knives may need to be sharpened (or shimmed closer together). It depends on whether the strings are the same length loops in a finished bale, or are they different lengths?

It isn't a mystery machine. There's a cause for everything....
 
   / IH 46 square baler knotter problems.
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Sounds at first like there is a broken tooth (the first one in line), on the intermediate gear wheel. That causes the mechanism to start late on the 'slow' side. That still shouldn't take you down. Check the tension of the twine by trying to pull it by hand all the way the through the system on both sides. They should be the same obviously. There may be some crud blocking the hay restrictors (that hold back the flakes when the plunger retracts), and your main cut knives may need to be sharpened (or shimmed closer together). It depends on whether the strings are the same length loops in a finished bale, or are they different lengths?

It isn't a mystery machine. There's a cause for everything....
I have been all over this baler but I'm not sure of the names of the parts, so please bare with me. Where are the hay restrictors? Do they have a spring on them next to the knotter?

Also why do you think the main knives may need to be sharpened? Why would that cause this loose string to happen on the bale?

Thanks for you reply
 
   / IH 46 square baler knotter problems. #4  
Hay "restrictors" are metal ramps on the bottom and sides of the bale case located at the end of the plunger stroke. There is a dropoff at the end of the ramp so that as a flake is formed, the hay is pushed up the ramp and the flake stays put because of the dropoff. If the drop off section is filled up with dirt, chaff, mud, rust or is broken off, the flake will relax and the length measuring wheel will get a mis-que. The cutoff knives I'm referring to are on the plunger and bale case throat (where the hay goes into the plunger area. If the knives are dull, it chops the hay instead of cuts it. This makes a thicker section in the flake and the bale is longer on the cut side as a result. When the knifes are cutting properly, they actually squirt the hay a bit further towards the end side and the bale is more uniform. I presume you've got a good feeder and the hay is entering the bale case uniformly.
 
   / IH 46 square baler knotter problems.
  • Thread Starter
#5  
zzvyb6
I will have to check the things that you pointed out when I get home. One thing that I didn't mention before that made me think that it was in the knotter is that the ends of the twine after it is knotted are about 2 inchs longer and not cut evenly on the loose side. My guess is the three disc's that grab the twine from the neddle and spin it to the bill hook. I don't see any adjustments on them. I changed the knife that cuts the twine. I'm not real sure how they work to know for sure.

Thanks again
 
   / IH 46 square baler knotter problems. #6  
There are no ajustments on the twine disks. These are 2 sets of interlocking disks with notches in them to receive the twine when the needles bring it up and also to hold both ends until the billhooks turn and make the knot. If the tucker fingers don't insert the twine into the disk notches, then it may wait until the next 1/4 turn on one of them to complete the operaton. Spin it over slowly by hand to make sure the needles run by and actually touch the intermediate gear wheels and that the tucker fingers draw the twine into the twine disk at the correct time. While you are at it, make sure the twine cut-off knives are sharp enough to cut the twine, not rip it off the twine disk. If one knotter is working ok, then you have a good reference for how both ought to work. The timing of all movements of both knotters should be identical.

Check this out:

YouTube - John Deere Baler Knotter Action
 
   / IH 46 square baler knotter problems. #7  
Did you ever get your 46 tying properly?
 
   / IH 46 square baler knotter problems. #8  
I have an IH 46 baler that isn't knotting like it did in the past. I got it to knot every time now but the bales are not straight. I tried tightening the bale tensions but it didn稚 work. I can watch it knot the bale and as the twine is pulled out of the billhooks the one side pulls out later than the other side. I had trouble with the bad side cutting the twine also but I adjusted the blade and it cuts now but when it knots the twine seems looser on that side causing the bale to be crooked.
I hope I am making since but since I priced some of the suspected bad part, I decided I wanted to make sure the part was bad before I gave up my arm or leg.
TIA

I grew up with my dad baling hay for the public with a No. 46. We baled about 100,000 bales per year. I have seen dad bale 1500-2000 bales in good single species hay and only mis-tie 1-2 bales. I just this fall purchased one and baled 340 bales with it. The baler had set up 2-3 years and after getting the adjustments [twine tensikon, shute tension and knives] set to factory specs it mis-tied two bales of pasture grass. One of the biggest problems with the No. 46 is maintaining an even and uniform windrow and keeping the windrow centered in the baler pickup. What happens is if the charge is not uniform coming into the bale chamber one side of the bale will get more material than the other and will cause the bale to be heavier on one side. All this said assumes that the twine tension is equal on both sides and the shute tension/compression is the same. I hope this helps some.
 
   / IH 46 square baler knotter problems. #9  
Just wondered about something on these old square balers, I am looking over a International Harvester B47 square baler with the idea of buying it to bale a couple of acres of hay each year (small hobby farm).
When I turned the fly-wheel by hand it runs pretty smoothly until it came to the point where the packer was in its 1st position ie at the front of the baler, here it was stiff for a few turns then ran smoothly, I am wondering if this is a cause for concern or if it will always have a bit of resistance at this point in the cycle. Another thing I noticed was that where the plunger arm meets its drive there is a shoulder joint and this joint is slightly knocking/loose, not too much but its not snug, the guy said it just needs the bushes changed.. is this again a cause for concern?
One last thing, it was apparantly baling last year, but the seller didnt want me to put hay through it to see it all working, as its all nice and cleaned up to sell, should I link it up to his tractor and run it without the hay and trigger the tying mechanism a few times just to see if it runs ok? is this too much to ask, or do you think he is hiding a possible pile of scrap:(
thanks in advance for guidance..
Greenboy
 
   / IH 46 square baler knotter problems. #10  
I would insist on seeing it bail before buying. I know the baler isn't worth much as I have an old 47 as well. I would think with the bale chamber empty it should turn free through the entire cycle. I assume the loose bearing you are talking about is where the pitman arm attaches to the crank shaft. Get it rolled up where you can see it and rock it back and fourth and see how bad it is. Remember the baler is probably 30 yeears old or more. Look at the rollers and bearings on the plunger and the knife condition. These can be adjusted and sharpened but if too loose will make shaggy looking bales or the bales will be stuck together because the hay did not get cut between strokes. Take a half dozon bales to the baler and run them through again and see how it works.

Dan
 
 
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