I5O FARM MACHINERY 



The tension should not be used to produce tight bun- 

 dles. It should be used only to keep the twine from play- 

 ing out too fast. 



210. Binder attachment (21). The mechanism which ties 

 the bundle is usually spoken of as the binder attachment. 

 The first binder attachment depended upon a train of 

 gear wheels to transmit the power to the needle and the 

 knotter mechanism. At least one binder still retains this 

 feature, while others have adopted the shaft and bevel 

 gears, a chain and sprockets, or a lever in some form or 

 other. Each binder, however, seems to be satisfactory 

 in this particular. The levers have perhaps a disadvan- 

 tage in that a very slight wear produces a marked effect 

 upon the adjustment of the parts. The clutch is one of 

 the important features of a binder attachment and per- 

 haps demands of the expert more attention than any 

 other one part of the binder. If the attachment stops 

 before a bundle is made, even though it may be for but a 

 short time, the action would indicate something to be 

 wrong with the clutch. The binder attachment is driven 

 directly from the crank shaft in some makes and in others 

 by the elevator chain. The former method is to be pre- 

 ferred, as it relieves the elevator chain of part of its work. 



211. Knotter (22). The term knotter is applied to the 

 knotter hook or the part on which the knot is produced, 

 and also to the entire mechanism making the knot, in- 

 cluding frame, knotter hook or bill, knotter pinion, knife, 

 disk, gear, etc. (See Fig. 113.) 



The knotter has been changed but little since it was 

 first introduced by Appleby. The worm gears have to 

 some extent been replaced by cam motion, which is more 

 adjustable. Simplicity of parts may or may not be an 

 advantage. An adjustable device to drive the twine disk, 

 for instance, is often a great advantage. A stripper to 



