Tying Knots for Baler

We had an International Harvester hay baler when I was young. My memory is that the baler was an IH 55 baler. However, all the images and videos I found on the internet for IH 55 balers included a separate engine on the baler to power the plunger like the one in the video I include below. 

The baler we had was powered by the power take-off (PTO) drive shaft and did not have the mounted engine to turn the flywheel for the plunger. I did learn that IH produced a 55T and 55W. I found the picture below of a baler that looks like the baler we owned. But the model number is hidden by the belt around the plunger flywheel and drive wheel. So, I cannot see the model number. 

This picture shows the PTO-powered drive wheel. The baler in this picture does not have twine boxes attached to the side of the bale chute like the baler in the video above and the second picture below. Our baler did have twine boxes along the bale chute. In addition, our baler did not have dual wheels. 

IH baler

In the mid-1970s, Dad started buying plastic twine for the bales. I was too young and do not remember why we stopped using sisal twine and converted to using plastic twine. I think Dad could not buy sisal twine from Dana's store. After we started using plastic twine, the knotter on the baler would not consistently tie knots in the strings on the bales. 

Eventually, Dad had us kids start riding on the twine boxes to check the knot on each bale as it moved through the bale chute. If we found a knot that missed, we could quickly tie a square knot in the twine before the bale moved too far along the chute and started expanding. Due to the tension in the bale chute, the bale stayed compressed for a bit and there was enough excess twine to tie the knot. 

I remember riding the baler for hours. While I remember Kelly and Cory riding the baler and tying knots with me a few times, I mostly remember riding the baler with Cade. 

The following picture highlights the twine box along the bale chute that we used to sit on while we rode the baler and tied knots. 

twine box on the bale chute