Over Hauling Baler NH 326

[Robert10565]

I bought it in a dim barn and should have had them bring it out into the sunlight .. I would have spotted more problems and offered less.

I replaced the needles, knives, two transfer forks, four flake ribs, two hay dog springs which on the 326 look good until you put pressure on them with a long screwdriver and .. they are broke. There are three behind the knotter and another three underneath them in case you have never gotten under your baler and looked .. hay and dirt on them all winter will weaken them every time .. blow down your baler after each use, the knotters every day .. like dirty beans .. they absorb moisture and the beans have their shelf life halved and so do your springs.

The only problem we had afterwards was in the transfer area above the take up reel .. it feeds the hay into the baling chamber. The roller bar with the three hay forks had a bolt that was an inch too long and hitting the center brace bar .. we cut that off .. and the front aluminum forks were hitting a rock damaged cross member and we took a grinder and removed the shield and the screw in handle and got in there and put a bull nose on the far side of the bar where it goes flat and raises .. that took the two jerks in the operation out and just one minor scraping sound when it was going full speed .. will play with it some more.

The new knives .. good rollers on the transfer group .. the adjusting the rails the rollers move in .. the new needles without the quarter inch ditch running in the tips .. topping off both gear boxes .. they were full .. new tires $400+ .. and I have great hay. I really like the adjustable pressure wings on the sides of the middle of the stacking area where you can apply the pressure the 320 baler was out to lunch with. I think the hydraulic pressure group is also greatly improved .. I can bale third cutting an hour quicker now .. I back off when I hear the plunger lugging down too much and drop a gear. I have close neighbors and bale at night some .. I'm sure they noticed the quieter operations and faster times also. I have fire wood in the baler barn and will rent space from my neighbor to store the baler this winter .. Idaho.

[5030]

Just curious...What is a flake rib? Never heard of that. Per chance do you mean a hay wedge?

I've never seen a NH needle without a ditch in the top side.