FARM MACHINERY 247 



perfect, well-bound bundles will be formed and tied. To 

 procure such bundles, attention must first be given to the 

 adjustment of the reel, which should so catch and deliver 

 the standing grain that it will fall evenly and squarely upon 

 the platform apron or canvas. If the grain is straight and 

 standing well, the reel should be set far enough ahead and 

 low enough that the grain will be slightly bent back over the 

 platform when cut off. This will cause it to fall directly 

 back at right angles to the cutter bar. Often the grain varies 

 in height in different parts of the field, and adjustment of 

 the reel should be made from time to time while the machine 

 is in motion. 



Again, the proper adjustment of the binder attachment 

 and the butt adjuster canvas should not be overlooked. 

 In all machines these two parts are adjustable. The binder 

 attachment may be slid forward and backward, enabling 

 the operator to place the band nearer the head or the butt of 

 the bundles as he may desire. In like manner, the butt ad- 

 juster may be set so as to push or pat the straw into an even 

 bundle at the butt end and to push the straw back more or 

 less as desired. 



Sometimes a binder will give trouble in tearing the slats 

 from the canvas. This trouble is due to the fact that the 

 rollers over which canvases pass are not parallel or square 

 with the frame. If trouble of this kind occurs, the elevator 

 frames and rollers should be immediately trued up. Pro- 

 vision for adjustment is found on all machines, and the car- 

 penter's square will be found a useful means of securing 

 accuracy. 



The main drive chain of a binder, if run too loosely and if 

 dry or muddy, has a tendency to climb the sprocket teeth and, 

 in slipping in place again, give the machine a jerky motion 

 as if some part of the machine were catching or striking some 



