Hay baler

[Sberry]

I swore I would never own a hay baler but it makes some sense at this point. I bought old one in fair shape but going to strip the thing and r&r in back to factory.

[Sberry]

I don't know the first thing about a hay baler. I really don't want to know or become some kind of expert in it. I got a service manual, the thing has a couple worn things, I repaired the feed last summer, going to rip the guts out of it and put it back together a piece at a time like the setup manual dictates. In theory that once it is reman and in adjustment I shouldn't have to screw with it at my duty cycle. Its nice enough, the sheet metal etc that I was thinking while I got it stripped I might wash it off and give a blast of paint. Nothing fancy just blast a coat of Imron overall. The main point of it all is that when I want to make 3000 bales a year I wanna do it now and don't want downtime or PM every year. The thing has to be good enough that when I park it when I am done its user ready. In good enough shape I shouldn't be able to wear it out.

[mikecwik]

i don't know anything about them either. make sure safeguards are in place and working properly, theres probably been more than one person that had half their arm get baled.

i always thought it was bailer. i've learned something new so technically i can go back to bed.

[usmcpop]

A bailer is the guy with a coffee can in a leaky boat.

[Blacksmith]

You have a boat that leaks hay?

[mikecwik]

i made it to work and back again... just having a cold one to celebrate the new hay machine. PROOST!

[canoecruiser]

[QUOTE=mikecwik;415131]i don't know anything about them either. make sure safeguards are in place and working properly, theres probably been more than one person that had half their arm get baled.

Amen. As a young buck I ran with the local VFD as an EMT/firefighter. A farm up the road was running a tractor-powered combine and stopped in the field to do something, who knows what. Anyhow, one of the farmhands was working on it, he propped his foot on a drive belt next to the sheave, the tractor was running, another hand engaged the PTO....... We flew him out. Still makes me cringe......

Like with driving cars, the greatest cause of accidents is "not paying attention". Fortunately we haven't gotten to text-messaging while threshing.

[Roger]

My high school basketball team lost to team from another small town with a star guard that almost never missed a shot. His left arm just hung there useless as result of baler accident years before. He was also a pitcher on their baseball team.

[Blacksmith]

I used to ride snowmobiles with a guy that had a severely damaged arm from a corn harvester when he was younger. They were able to save his arm, but he had very limited use of it. Same thing, something jammed in the cutter head/feed chains, he tried to clear it and the PTO vibrated into engagement. If he hadn't been able to kick the lever back out it would have killed him. I don't care how hard a piece of equipment is to restart, I'll never clear or make adjustments on anything with the engine running.

[Sberry]

I hate working on the stuff and not that fond of driving it. I am thinking I can take the constant pain of repairs out in one pull. About the main thing it looks to need in this deal I can see is new roller track angle for the carriage, most of the adjustments on this thing are right from the factory, must have always worked well enough the guy didn't fool with it but wasn't taken up for wear. I restored the pickup section now the feed really works well and causing another minor issue but I am going back to the start once and for all and make sure the bale chamber is slick, going to restore any wear items once and for all and that its timed perfect.

[Sberry]

I got a rake and a conditioner cutter, already fixed a couple issues but I only need to do about 20 acres a year, I think I timed it like 4 hrs or something, its got a couple drive line u joints about 3/4 worn out but I think I might leave them, at the rate it would last about 50 yrs as it is but the baler is fussy and I need it on time and cant afford a frustrating event sapping energy at that point.
Along with this scheme is a different pickup if I can score one like I want, 1 more tractor, 2 more golf carts and a small sprayer I am working on. The baler I am going to fly on though, pick a spot right after Christmas and spend a week or 2, what ever it takes to finish it.

[Sandy]

Coming from the farm back ground I can say this; Most farmer types didn't used to pay much attention to finite adjustments or even minor wear for that matter. Run it till it quits or is hacking up curdled blood. Not unusual to find a piece of equipment that is in pretty good shape everywhere except just one movable part completely toast. They weren't big on preventative or a quick repair. Something like a hay baler they look to see that hay is going in the front, look to make sure a bale is coming out the back, look ahead to see that they are on the row, repeat the looky cycle again. About the only things that would make them stop and take a look at a rolling-moving piece of tag along machinery is if there's big heaps of stuff piling up in the front with nothing going in, nothing coming out the back, or it's dragging completely sideways cutting a furrow in the dirt or the road. Anything other than that can be fixed later.

Be carefull Sberry, on a regular basis some guy or gal or kid has to get ground up in one of the many potential agricultural meat grinders just to remind the rest of us how easy that can happen. Don't be one of those guys.

Speaking of which, a guy I know did that literally about a month ago--------a real meat grinder. Stuffing meat down the grinder with his fingers. Ripped the tip off. Oldest one on the books. I reminded him what a dipsheit he was.

[canoecruiser]

When someone does get body parts stuck in ag equipment it can be difficult for the first-responders to deal with. For a motor vehicle accident with entrapment, roof pillars, steering columns and so forth get sliced by the Jaws like twigs. Farm equipment is not at all impressed by the usual carbusting gear. We have disassembled equipment to get someone unstuck and even CAREFULLY reverse-rotated the machinery to spit the patient back out. Access is typically tight so gas-powered Partner saws and hydraulic spreaders aren't too useful.

Another anecdotal observation......the vast number of unoccupied bolt-holes you see that once held now-missing guards and shields designed to keep people from getting chopped/crushed in the first place.

And as Sandy pointed out, worn equipment will get another coat of paint over the winter but trashed bushings, wobbly bearings, dry-rotted tires and leaky cylinders remain until it won't operate at all.

[Sberry]

Finally cleared the spot and pulled it in, am going to pull the bale chamber apart Monday most likely. I have the manual somewhere and it has pretty good set up guide but didn't say as I recall on how the chamber comes out, can't be that hard I guess. Need to extract a couple bales from it.

[stampeder]

SBerry:

I have a model 271 New Holland that I picked up real cheap. Been restoring it as well.
Are you really going to pull the bale chamber out or are you just going to remove the plunger?
I have some guide plates inside mine that are worn (rusted out) and I need to replace them. I can't see any way of disassembling it so it looks like I have to crawl inside to do it.
One thing to watch on these is the springs on the bale dogs. If you bales come out banana shaped you will need to replace the springs. It's not hard to do at all.
Post pictures of your progress please.

Thanks.
Glenn.