trouble-Ford 532 baler

[Niji]

Oh, I see the retarder and I'm with you now. I'll give that attention. I was looking in the wrong place altogether.

I had a miserable day. Broke a needle twice, once just turning things over by hand with the bale box empty of hay. I could not believe it! Took so little effort and I was being quite careful at the time. Never got that hay up either.

It sounds like the 14t needles may work then. I absolutely have to get some spares.

I'll rally again tomorrow, although with a week of rain forecast starting tonight, I seem to have some time to just tinker now for a few days.

Many thanks for clarifying the brake/retarder situation.

 

[Niji]

It's been pouring rain since I last worked on the baler, but I've got the busted needle welded up again and I'm ready to get it all running smoothly. So, I think the knotters are much improved after the wiper arm adjustment. Next, onto the needle retarder/brake. Revisiting what you said, zzvy69:

These pictures show that the needle brake is not tight enough. The needle brake is the 90 degree sector that is around the needle hinge shaft. There are two bolts with springs on them. These clamp 2 disk brake shoes to the disk, just like on cars. These bolts usually have lock nuts or are double nutted to keep them in place. In fact, the brake disk is still pretty rusty so its not even a player in the needle safety equation. Since this is a Deering knotter mechanism, its virtually identical to the early John Deere types. So, that being said, the John Deere operators manual advises to disconnect the needle lift link, set the needle frame to a vertical position, and adjust the brake shoe tension to deliver 17 - 22 lbs of rearward horizontal force. If you get it too tight, there's gonna be some bad noises, one from the machine and one from the operator.

Is the 17-22 lbs of rearward horizontal force measured by a fish scale kind of set up? I've made enough bad noises lately, so I'd like to avoid any more.

I also wanted to go over twine, and I see it has been covered before in another thread, but I might just start a new one to cover it.

 

[zzvyb6]

Yeah, the 17-22 lbs is kind of a setup level, but if you take a measurement before you make any changes you will know where you stand. When you run the baler at full rpm, empty of twine and hay, the needle dynamic motion is so swift, that they tend to bounce back into the game because of all that rotary inertia in the needle drive. The brake helps dissipate much of this. Another thing I thought of is to check the needle lift link length (say that real fast 5 times). If its too short, the return stroke is not getting them out of the bale case far enough. There is obviously plenty of unused slot in the need brake sector, based on the amount of paint I see on it. My needles are several inches out of the case. Lastly, I see there is another rod coming off of the needle drive which is not straight. Parts calls this a "headlock rod". Is it supposed to be straight? They just don't make bent rods, so I'd straighten it and figure out why its bent.

 

[slowzuki]

Without the needle brake working the needles won't stay in the home position in the field, I have to say my JD336 (same knotter almost) which has a needle protection feature broke a lot of shear bolts before fixing the brake. A bump would let the needles move which drew the blocker in front of the crank arm and ker-snap. Better than needles but still a pain.

 

[zzvyb6]

Now that I've studied your photos with both eyes open, it looks to me like the main culprit is the marginal condition of the plunger stop mechanism. Its the "bent rod" parts. The pics also show that the plunger stop engagement spring is all but failed, too. Get a new one (TSC or Home Depot/Lowes/Manards), straighten the rod, and free up the plunger stop with oil/grease and a new pin or bearing or whatever makes it stay in position and you will be back in business without the worry of a snap or a boom.

 

[Niji]

About the plunger stop--the spring is in sad shape, I'll get that replaced directly. While it looks pretty sorry, I have wire brushed the safety, used compressed air to clear it our, and hit it with PB Blaster (before starting to the field, and before the needle disaster), and it is moving freely. I will definitely get that rod straightened up. I probably don't even want to know what caused that. I'm still trying to track down a fish scale to get on the needle retarder project too....

 

[Niji]

Ack...oh, it is all starting to become evident.

I was over working on the baler, and started to figure on that needle retarder, when I started poking around the safety. That's when I realize the plunger is bent at the top driver's side (left) to the point that the safety when engaged barely even touches it. There are several cracks in the metal. And I can see one bearing or roller on the bottom that is worn out.

So, I guess I need to go right to advice on pulling the plunger so I can get it straightenned and welded and replace the rollers, and whatever else. On a quick look it seems it must come out through the bale box to the rear.

I'll be looking closely at that eploded parts view tonight, and any advice at this point is much appreciated!

 

[Niji]

Alright...I got the plunger pulled out of the baler this morning with no trouble. It was a very simple process. One roller bearing is totally shot, and it happens to be the cheapest one, and I'll have a replacement in hand tomorrow morning (I looked up the part on the NH website, and the local NAPA store cross referenced the NH number and has it coming for the same price, minus the long drive to the NH place for me, so I'm truly amazed).

The left side (if you're sitting on the tractor looking forward) of the plunger definitely took a beating from something. I noticed two things in particular, one is that a piece of metal had been welded onto the plunger in this upper left section where the safety hits it (a past injury, no doubt), and second, all the cracks, breaks, and bends appear to have long been rusted, none are fresh, so I think I must have been running this baler with the plunger in this condition since I got it. So much for my keen observation merit badge.

All the damage is isolated to the left side, mostly towards the top. The fellow who welds for me has the plunger in his shop on the bench as we speak, and will hopefully get it in order by sometime tomorrow.

I'm starting to feel like I may enter into the world of a dependable baler after all this--that could make for a good season! Plus, it's just pouring rain this week, so no stress to get it fixed and back in the field for the moment.

 

[biker4jc]

Niji I'm wondering how that baler project has developed. I've been following it and I'm hoping you're having a success story. If you have time, and are so inclined is it possible to get an update?