I have exactly the same problem. I bought a used Brother HK860 from 1987 a few weeks ago. Also the needles get caught in the L carriage. The machine came with a ribber KR850 attachment and the same thing happened with the connector plate connecting the K carriage and R carriage. After many tries I realized what the problem was. The Purl needles on the Kr850 ribber are flush with the bed, they were ok.
The needles on the HK860 are not, they are a few mm higher. I remember reading that the sponge on the needle retainer bar gets old and squished. I slid a plastic strip in to push the needles down, and voila, the needles cast on fine, they did not get hung up in the ribber connector plate, but they still are getting caught in the L carriage. I'm hoping to somehow get a replacement sponge or new bar so that I can use the L carriage.
wanda
November 2009
Why?
Firstly make sure you are using the correct tension - refer to the manual.
You should bring out every other needle to working position, run the carriage with threaded yarn over these needles, then hang the cast-on comb making sure that it hangs on the threads and not on the gate pegs. Next you should hang some claws on the comb at each end to give it tension, then bring the remaining needles into working position, and then run the carriage across the bed. Knit a few more rows and you have cast on.
Jo
October 2009
Automatic Answer
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