2014 - Volume #38, Issue #4, Page #37
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McCormick Binders Repaired/Rebuilt
“Back then, a local International implement dealer still carried most, if not all, parts for the McCormick binder,” says Fischer. “At the time you could still get binders in good shape. Over the years as parts were discontinued, we began making them or finding those who could.”
Today, General Repair has a complete list of parts available for the McCormick pto version, and most parts for the ground drive version. If they don’t have a part, Fischer knows where to get them.
Some parts are used, but most of the more than 100 new parts are made by General Repair. That includes the entire knotter assembly with knotter frame, drive clutch for the ground drive, cutting knives, needle pitman and more.
“The knotter is probably the piece we work on the most,” says Fischer. “We also make all the shields and binder boards.”
In addition to making and selling parts, Fischer repairs binders. Increasingly, he gets asked to do a complete restoration. Pricing either a repair or a restoration is tricky without seeing the shape it is in, he says.
“Photos help along with the history of the binder,” says Fischer. “If you find one that sat in a fence row for 25 years and the board is rotted off, very likely the gear parts will still be solid. Restoring it will take a lot of elbow grease and new boards.”
Fischer has shipped parts as far south as Texas. While he doesn’t advertise much beyond the state of Pennsylvania, customers are spreading the word on the internet and person to person. FARM SHOW reader LeRoy Baumgardner wanted other readers to know about the service provided.
“They completely rebuilt my binder with new sprockets, chains, cutter sections and other parts that were worn out,” he says.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, General Repair Shop, 63 Old Leacock Rd., Ronks, Penn. 17572 (ph 717 768-3902; voicemail 717 656-1967).
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