# Square Baler twine problem



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I have a John Deere 24T baler that was built in 1971 that I bought from my neighbors estate sale. It has worked very well for me the ten years that I have owned it. I have trouble splicing twine bales together and getting the splice knot to pass through the eyes of the needles. I went with a little smaller twine(from 9000 to 10000) and knot still breaks at the needle eye. I have "shaved" the twine diameter down before splicing but this still has not helped. The needle eye diameter seems awful small on this baler. I have tried every knot under the sun with no luck. I am wondering if i could drill out the needle eyes somewhat larger or would this become a nightmare if I did. Any suggestions? Regards, Mike


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## Northeast Hay (Apr 8, 2010)

Personaly I wouldent drill anything I couldent undrill. I would look for places the twine has wore a groove in somthing. The twine might be riding in the groove and when the knot gets to it it wont pass throu but instead breaks the twine. A spot of weld on the grove should stop this problem


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## sedurbin (May 30, 2009)

It's pretty common for twine to wear grooves, like Northeast Hay said'. Look for those grooves and either fill them with weld and grind smooth or if the groove is worn into the eye of the needle, you can use a carbide burr and a die grinder to redo the area of the needle that the twine rides on. Just make sure you leave everything with a nice rounded and smooth surface. Also be sure to check under the baler where the twine rubs across the baler frame.

Another thing to check is your knot, make sure it is a tight square knot and not a granny knot. Square knot is shown. Hope this helps.


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## Rodney R (Jun 11, 2008)

The only open bales are when the knot between balls of twine fails? If that's the only time the knots fail, then I would not worry at all about it, since that's like every 500-600 bales.

Rodney


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Thats right Rodney! Seldom does it fail to tie. This baler was used by the original owner to bale less than 1500 a year for 25 years. I bought it and did not use it much for the first five years I had it, but have been baling around 3000 a year for the last five years. There are no grooves wore in the needle eyes and like I said in my original post, I have tried every knot you can think of including (the overly detailed) square knot.







Hope to figure something out on how to pass the knot through the eye of a needle. (Sounds biblical huh) Regards, Mike


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## Rodney R (Jun 11, 2008)

So your knot doesn't come apart, it gets stuck in the needle? It breaks the twine and the knot it still OK? I know that yours ins't the only 24T out there, you'd think this wouldn't be a problem if there are no grooves. I use the same knot that the baler makes, and it works fine. Many times the knot gets smaller from the tension of the twine being pulled - I had thought the knot came apart - if you cut the ends too short, the knot will pull apart.

Rodney


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Don't suppose it came with a manual?

Always used a square not on our NH balers with no problem.

You wouldn't happen to have a JD dealer around? Maybe somebody in the shop whose brains you could pick?


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Yes, the knot breaks at the needle eye with the knot remaining on the entry side of the needle eye. I have tried many ideas and have spoke with some of the locals but I have not come in contact with a 24T owner in my area, but I know there are hundreds if not thousands out there. As mentioned earlier, I have shaved the diameter of the twine down with a knife to make a smaller knot but that also fails. I would use a nylon or poly twine but we still handle it by hand and I hear that that the small diameter can be very tough on the fingers after awhile. I will try to go by and see the JD dealer next time I am in the area(not nearby). Regards, Mike


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## wbstofer (Mar 13, 2010)

Have been bailing behind a 24T since I was a kid. Baled tens of thousands of bales with it, but haven't used it for more than a few hundred a year in the last 15-20 years. Do you have the problem every time the string hits or is it just occasionally? I use 9000 twine, tie a square knot, but think it passes correctly only about half of the time. Doesn't seem to matter what side it is on. May just be the way it was made. Make sure you don't cut the tails on the knot too short. Sometimes it would pass the knot but break when you pick up the bale or break in the chute but not have to be restrung. I have not tried to make a real heavy bale recently as I sell them by the bale. How heavy are you trying to make your bales?

I just thought that was the way the machine is...anybody else had the same experience?

-Bill


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## hillbilly hay (Sep 21, 2009)

I have used a 24T for about 5 years only doing 45 acres a year and when we bought the baler the original owner said it will break 50 percent of the time when switching from one ball of twine to another which it has been a little less than that but i've just went on. I took it to the dealer early this spring cause of different reasons and ask him why it would break sometime when switching balls of twine and he said his 24T does the the same thing to just live with it. Sorry i don't have an answer why but there are others just like you out there.


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## Steve Wilson (Oct 17, 2009)

My 24T never did hang up on the sqaure knot between balls of twine. I'm thinking of an easy solution. When the bananas start coming out the back because the square knot on one of the strings has hung up in the needle and broken; simply tie a new square knot on the bale side of the needle. That way, the knot only has to get past the tucker fingers and the knotter. If you are like me, you spend as much time looking back at the bales dropping as you do driving. You will quickly spot the bananas and stop to fix the situation.

Just a though.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

The problem is that JD made the needle eyes TOO SMALL. They are tiny compared to later models. After the baling season is over I am going to drill a larger opening in the needles and round them. I can't see that it could hurt anything. If anyone can tell me why I should not with good reason, I would like to hear from them. Regards, Mike


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Aftr reading the thread I tend to agree VOL, sounds like the holes are just too small. Shouldn't be that hard to drill out, then file smooth.


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## chief-fan (Aug 27, 2009)

Personally, I don't think you have a problem. Just asking more than what that machine, or any small square baler is capable of. I have a NH S 69 and and when the ball splice knot goes through the knotter it also will either break the twine, not hold the knot or hang up on the bill hook. I think that is an inherited situation of a square baler and one little problem in 450 to 500 bales I don't consider a problem. Just my 2 ¢ worth.


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## Neilho (Jul 13, 2010)

I use 9000 sisal twine in an IH 46T baler and my twine ball changeovers got easier after an old farmer showed me a special knot.

Start with a long knot (the first half of a square knot or the beginning to a shoe tying knot, before making loops) and leave the ends 3-4" long. Unravel/untwist both ends, lay them on top of each other, then roll them around so they're thoroughly mixed up in each other. (Spit and/or water seems to help.) Then pull the joined, doubled up length back through the long knot so that the knot includes only the double thickness twine. An extra pair of hands is helpfull here to snug the knot. Pull hard on the single strands to set and check the knot. Sometime it takes me a couple tries to get a good knot-success seems to depend on getting the fibers thoroughly mixed up in each other.

Another thing that's helped changeovers considerably is discarding the first 15-20 feet of the ball. It's usually distorted from the winding and sometimes hangs up in the twine tensioner.

I hope this is of some help. I'm glad to find you folks. Now if I can just figure out how to keep the twine discs clean....

Neil


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