Thanks for the Stellite suggestion, but the wear I was talking about is the knotter assy, specifically the bores of the shafts the components turn in. What I need is a newer complete knotter assy, 2 of them actually. BUT! As it happens I spent several hours in the hot sun yesterday morning and afternoon working on the baler. I got the needles about where I thought they should be and then, since there was still hay in the bale chamber, I ran the knotters through a fraction of an inch at a time, turning the flywheel by hand. What I found was several things the guy wrote about in the online essay, essays actually, I mentioned. I made several adjustments per his recommendation and found I still had a problem or 2. So I ran the knotters through again and compared parts positions between the good, reliable side and the problem side. I found that my bill hook issue appeared to be on the opposite side of the bill hook "catch" channel as I'd thought and I found the "tail" or sweep on the rear of the knife arm on the problem side was at a different angle than the "good" side. I worked over those 2 areas with a Dremel grinder and a crescent wrench and gave her a try in the field. Made one more adjustment in the field to raise a knotter tip slightly and it SEEMS to be trying right! I will still be fine tuning, but it ties better now without the benefit of additional hay in the basket chute than it ever has in the 20 some years I've owned it. I think that "tail" on the knife arm was a critical issue, but I've never seen it mentioned anywhere in all the material I've read on knotters over the years. It guides the twine somewhat and helps position things. The twine position on the good side was almost 2" closer to the knotter than on the bad side. I won't say I understand why a 1/4" bend up and at a different angle would help, but it seems to have done so. I realize all this is mumbo-jumbo to many of you, so I'll provide this link to show just what I've been playing with-
After getting the knotter more or less fixed, I made the mistake of mumbling out loud, "By golly, NOW I can start knocking down some hay!!!!" Unhitched the baler and hitched up the haybine (hay mower) and headed for the field. Remember that hot sun I mentioned at the start of this post? Honest injun guys, 20 minutes after I got the baler unhitched and made my fatal announcement to the fates, the skies darkened, the temp dropped 10 degrees and the rain began! It hasn't so much as sprinkled in the better part of 2 weeks! I swear, I should hire myself out, go to these nations plagued by drought, walk out into the middle of a desert and loudly announce, "Well boys, think I'll start mowing hay." Within 30 minutes the skies will have opened up into a steady, soaking rain! I only seem to have 2 talents, sticking my foot in my mouth up to my hip around people I had no intention of offending and causing rain to appear out of a clear blue sky!
Got a load os stuff to do today, in the rain it looks like. Back to work I guess!