188 APPENDIX 



immediate repair. Next, the bearings must be 

 well oiled, so the oil will have a chance to get 

 worked into the bearings. 



If the knife is still in the binder, it should now 

 be pulled and sharpened, if it is a plain one, 

 or if a rough edge sickle broken sections should 

 be knocked off and replaced by new ones. 



The canvases should now be overhauled. 

 Buckles, straps and slats should be replaced where 

 they are broken or worn out. Patches should be 

 sown on the holes, as here is where a great deal 

 of trouble is often met with. Leaves and straws 

 go through the holes and wrap around the rollers. 

 This makes the roller too large, and thus jambs 

 the canvas against the frame of the machine, 

 causing the canvas to stop, sometimes tearing 

 off slats or buckles. Before putting on the canvas, 

 be sure that all rollers run free, and also that the 

 frames are square. The canvas will not run true 

 if they are not, but will run towards one corner. 

 This, of course, will tear them. 



In order to make the frame true, take a car- 

 penter's square; hold the long end against the 

 frame, the other against the roller. You will 

 then see exactly how much they are out, and by 

 screwing up the truss rods correct the fault. 



The reel is one of the most important parts of the 

 binder, yet few farmers seem to think so, judging 

 by the way they have it tied up with binder twine, 

 wire, etc. Unless there is a good reel on a binder, 

 it will not make a good sheaf. The shape of 

 a sheaf is determined by the way the grain is 

 laid on the platform canvas. Unless the reel is 

 perfectly true, it will not lay the grain so that 



