John Deere 24t - any difference in years/models?

[Tx Jim]

,the plunger can hit the needles and bust up everything.

Barry
Correction: Unless needles or needle frame is already bent there's no way that plunger head can contact needles and bend them. Hay or some other obstruction can bend needles but not the PH.

 

[Tx Jim]

RT,
Those old balers usually had a sweet spot / RPM range where they ran the best. On the ones I have been around it was usually a little slower than the 540 RPM PTO speed.

I agree on operating at a little slower pto speed especially in "thin hay" but if the pickup attachment is covered up and feeder forks are stuffing hay into the bale case the manufacturer set the operating speed at 540 rpm's for a reason.

 

[Tx Jim]

There are many ways the PH can hit the needles-that is what the safety dog is for.If the needle brake slips and lets the needles slip back in-BAM! If a chain breaks and leaves the needles in the chamber-BAM! In my case,the roll pin in the rod that pulls the needles back to the park position sheared(14T) and left the needles all the way up and my safety dog spring was broken_BAM! Destroyed the needles,needle frame,and one of the knotters.

Barry
You're missing my point as there's not MANY or ANY way PH contacts needles!!!!!!! The needles travel up through 2 slots built into plungerhead and if the needles get bent from anything,anything at all it's not from the PH contacting,touching the needles but rather the hay the PH is pushing on a compression stroke. Think about what I'm stating.
Jim

 

[rtimgray]

I got my manuals yesterday and decided to give the baler a once-over and see if I could do any good re-baling some bales from the barn. It seems as though the previous owner had kept everything greased pretty well, with the exception of a couple of the more "hidden" grease zerks. Gearbox oil level was low, and I discovered that it leaks, so I may have to replace a seal there. I had to replace a shear pin in the pickup drive shaft. After that, I cycled it a few times by hand and everything looked okay, so I hooked it up to the tractor and gave it a shot.

Once side (the left side, furthest from the twine box) did well. The right side (closer to the twine box), kept breaking the string. I re-threaded a few times, pulled out alot of the string to get rid of all that had been exposed outside of the box in case that might be it. No luck there. After a couple of times of trying, I looked a the knotter every little turn of the flywheel (by hand). It seems as though the twine is missing the twine disc as the needle brings it up. On the left side, the twine is landing in a little notch in the twine disc - on the right side, the twine disc is too low or already closed before the twine gets into it. There's a couple of notes in the manual about adjust the twine discs, but there are also notes about needle adjustment, and I'm curious which one might be more likely the culprit. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I've got to say that I'm already a ton more knowledgeable about square balers that I have been, just from messing around with it for a few hours, but realized I have a LOOOOOOOONG way to go before I become competent on it. Once again, I would welcome any comments or suggestions.

Thanks. Good luck and take care.

 

[Tx Jim]

I'm not very knowledgeable on twine balers as I've mainly repaired/operated wire balers. The needle must be adjusted close enough to the twine disc for twine to get caught in the disc. Be sure that the needle frame has minimal movement side to side in it's pivot areas.

 

[rtimgray]

Good news - it turns out that the twine was threaded improperly. I guess that the needles have two "eyes". On the left one (that worked) it was threaded the eye closest to the end. On the right one, it was threaded through the eye furthest from the end. I threaded it correctly and cleaned everything out, spread out some hay, and promptly baled three bales. They bales were tight, especially considering that was the 10t or 12th time most of that hay had been through the baler. Strings were good, knots were strong. So I've gone out and mowed a couple acres to see how it will do in real life. This is the second cutting for this area, so most of it is going to be pretty light, but maybe it will give me a good indication of how the unit is going to do.

Thanks again for the help. Take care.

 

[rtimgray]

Even better news - I got around to raking and baling the little bit I cut the other day and tried out the balers. Most of the hay was very light, but I cut a small section that had not been cut earlier this year, so it was pretty heavy. I put out 42 bales and didn't have any problems (whew). Some of the bales were a little on the heavy side, which kind of surprised me since the hay was so thin, but I was about 75% done before I bothered to check. Anyway, the baler ran very well and my tractor (DK 45) seemed to handle it fine, although I will say that when I was in the heavy hay I could tell when I was finishing off a bale.

I'm probably going to start cutting the rest of the 2nd cutting of hay within the next week or two and try to bale another 200 bales or so. I'm looking forward to seeing how it works in the future.

Good luck and take care.

 

[Kioti Tom]

Shawn Larrabee of<bestbalerparts.com> has a number of baler DVD's and videos. He has one on timing of the 24t
and others and also inspection areas to look for.
They may help...

Tom

 

[slowzuki]

6 of 1 half dozen of the other, the force of the plunger head stroke is what breaks the needles and knotters if they are up when they shouldn't be.

Barry
You're missing my point as there's not MANY or ANY way PH contacts needles!!!!!!! The needles travel up through 2 slots built into plungerhead and if the needles get bent from anything,anything at all it's not from the PH contacting,touching the needles but rather the hay the PH is pushing on a compression stroke. Think about what I'm stating.
Jim

 

[Tx Jim]

slowzuki
There are rare exceptions but without hay or other obstruction in the bale case the needle to plunger head timing can be wrong but the needles will not get bent or broken when cycled. As I previously stated needles travel up through slots built into the PH!!