# Agco/Hesston 1837 Knotter Problem



## BradTX (Jul 22, 2012)

The baler is only a couple of years old. The right side is not tying correctly, and trying to fix it in 104 degree heat is not working. I baled 800 coastal bales yesterday and about 100 mistied. It seems to be leaving the bale side of the twine with a loop and the needle side is frayed from being broke. Sometimes the needle stays laced and sometimes not. The billhook also has several knots on it sometimes. I adjusted the twine finger this morning and it baled 100 without a miss, then it started missing again. All the the parts seem smooth. Any help will be greatly appreciated.


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## bryce (Jul 10, 2012)

Look at this:

http://www.polyexcel.com/TroubleShoot.pdf

Also, whenever I have problems, I have someone turn it over by hand and watch what it does or doesn't do, helps a lot. Make sure everything is adjusted right. Put the twine disk tension and bill hook tension to whatever the working one is at.

When my bill hook has knots left on it, the bill hook tension is too high or the sweeper thing underneath isn't close enough to the bill hook to sweep it off.


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## Hand&Hand Farms (Feb 5, 2011)

Did you change brands of twine? Our 1835 only likes 1 brand of plastic. Check bill hooks and twine knifes. I keep a box of knifes on baler.


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## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

Had a similar problem with my new-to-me JD 336-kept breaking twine about 1" or so from the knot @ between every 7 and 20 bales. Was using new twine from the JD dealer. Finally changed twine to the old stuff that was in the baler when I got it, probably 2 or more years old, & baled 100 bales withOUT a break. When that ran out, the bale with the twine-change knot broke.
Not saying that's yer problem, just something to look at.
Good luck.


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## DKFarms (Aug 11, 2008)

I had the same problem with my 1837 after starting it's second season. By lifting up and comparing the two knotters through a cycle, I found that the tension of the sweeper that passes under the billhook on the right side was not quite as much as the left. Didn't seem like much to worry about, but I adjusted the right side drag to match the left as best I could. It's not an adjustment for the faint-hearted because you have to use a hammer and a wrench to physically bend the arm to adjust it. That fix made it 98% reliable. I loosened the twine tension nut 1/4 turn the next day and now it's 99.8%. Missing one in 1000 is good enough for me.


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## joe_doss (Aug 11, 2012)

Had this problem on the same baler. After trial and error and many headaches I found that after baling for a while the bill hooks would start to bend in ever so slightly allowing the sweeper arm to pass over the twine instead of wiping it off. I lightly tapped the bill hook with a hammer bending it back to the correct position. Be careful when doing this because the bill hook bends real easy and it doesn’t need much. Not sure if this is what your problem is (or if it's the smartest way to go about solving it) but it was easy to try and it solved most of my problems.


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## floyd (Jan 7, 2012)

Try reshaping the wiper arm instead of the billhook. Wiper arms are designed to be adjusted. Bill hooks aren't.


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## Bill Davis (Feb 10, 2011)

When shaping the wiper arm, is it ok to apply heat to the arm to make it easier to control the bending process? Maybe while it is install on the knotter?
any thoughts?
thanks

bill davis


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

I would not recomend heating the arm to bend. Wiper arms are made of malable iron which allows it to be bent just a little cold. No problem with tweaking them on the knotter. My suggestion would be to take the time to find or fabricate the right tool to bend the arm where you want it. I have adjusted wiper arms many times on a NH D1000 and I have found that it is more difficult to find a way to bend the arm than what it takes effort to do it.


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## gradyjohn (Jul 17, 2012)

Of course, I have a wire baler so I am not versed on twine. That said I had a similar problem and everything was lined up, tension ok just perfect. Gave up and called the dealer. He found the needle frame was cracked under the side that kept busting. A place you never look. Just a thought.


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## Bill Davis (Feb 10, 2011)

thanks hay master. I guess I'll keep on doing it like always. Take off put in the vise, bent it, see if it fits, repeat this process many many times until it fits. 
Have you or anyone else have any experience Ford 542 twine tie baler? There is one coming up for sale. I looked at it. it seems like verily heavy duty type. It seems to similar to 575 NH.
Any thought on this?
thanks
bill davis


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

I should add that if the wiper arm has too much tension going aross the bill hook and previously it did not, it would be a good idea to first be sure there is not a buildup of hard dirt/oil in the wiper arm pivot. I have seen the wiper arm tension go from too tight to too loose just by cleaning the pivot. This problem mainly comes from insufficient lubrication and the presence of soil dust.


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