Opinions on a NH 640 round baler?

[chh]

I wish I was getting $50 a bale. Hay movement is real slow here in OK. For that price you could probably use the machine a couple of years and come close to getting your money back out of it. You might want to get that NH ace to go out and give it the once over. Pickup, belts, ect. Have them hook it to a tractor(if they will) and listen to it run.

 

[CumminsLuke]

Here are some pics he sent me. I'd go look at it but it is 2.5 hours away, and I don't have time. Some of these were when it was still out at the guys house they got it from.................

 

[CumminsLuke]

That one picture of the one door shows "Fastnet" on the door. That is not accurate as you can see. The salesman said it came open on the guy and hooked a tree, so he got that door out of a salvage yard.

 

[chh]

The sprokets look pretty good. The pickup guards are staight. Is the left side end sheild bent in on the pickup or is that just the angle? The cylinders look to be leaking a bit maybe. I would say the belts are pretty well worn. The new alligator grip lacings are the way to go if you end up going with this and replacing them. He has sure been putting plenty of oil on the chains. Probably too much. It looks like the tensioner is down quite a ways but that is hard to really say. The chains might be close to being replaced.
The door thing happens. They need the rubber keepers on them on the highway or to be bolted shut.

Oh yeah, everything looks clean out by the drive line. The plastic guard on a lot of these is usually broken off.

 

[RickB]

The worst thing I see is the density cylinder leaking from the rod seal. The cylinder will need to be repacked or at least recharged ASAP in order to ensure proper bale density. The sprockets look good, chains will need a close inspection to determine wear level. Not sure what the other guy means by 'too much oil' on the chains, that's a new one on me. If they 've been oiled like that from day one, the chains are probably OK. The belts don't scare me unless you plan on 500+ bales a year. Wear on the outside edge of the outer belt is from not enough hay in the outside edge of the bales. I'd put new lace wires and ferrules on the belts and run them until you figure out whether the rest of the baler is as good as it looks.You really should test the Bale Command before you write a check. But I'd buy it for the price you have negotiated, no problem.

 

[chh]

All I meant by that was to check the chain wear. Too much oil attracts dirt, dirt is abrasive, and wears the chains. More oil is not always better. Of course no oil is worse.

All in all is it pretty straight.

 

[RickB]

Too much oil attracts dirt, dirt is abrasive, and wears the chains. More oil is not always better. Of course no oil is worse.

All in all is it pretty straight.

Organic (hay)dust is nowhere as abrasive as mineral dust. More oil will flush away dust as it is thrown off the chains & sprockets. The only downside is the mess. I agree that for the money, that 640 looks good.

 

[mark.r]

Their about the same age machines. But the 8420 is a much smaller and lower capacity machine. I had it for when I only had 47 gross hp tractors(Kubota M4700 and JD 4700). But it is slow, it only has spring tension, not hydraulic, it has manual tie, and the bales are too small for my liking. Don't get me wrong, if you had a 30-45 hp tractor it is a good machine, but on a 68 gross hp tractor it is not ideal. I think I got it sold.

What is the definition of manual tie and spring tension? Can you run a Case/IH8420 on 45 gross hp tractor?

 

[chh]

Manual tie is generally described as you must move the tyeing arm that feeds the twine with hydralics or in the case of the early round balers you had to pull the arm with a rope. Stopping at points across the bale to put on how ever may wraps you need for that location. It is not as fast or convenient as automatic wrapping wear a hydraulic cylinder or electric tye arm moves itself. Dual feeds are also better than a single tie arm.
Spring tension means that there are large springs on the side of the baler to control the belt tension to form the bale. Hydraulic uses rams to maintain tension on the belts. It is variable so it can be adjusted for tighter or looser bales if desired.
At one time a company sold kits to add a set of extra springs(Damco Top Springs) that controlled tension on the belts from another location on the baler to attempt to make the tension more uniform and tighter thru the entire bale.
I probably forgot something in there.

Organic dust or regular dirt. Too much oil will still cause problems. I have removed some of the early auto oilers before because of it. It is also a hassle when you have to work on the machine or when you clean it up at the end of the season. The best product I have used is put out by Vermeer(and possibly others) that sprays on the chains. It does not attract as much dirt as oil and does a very good job of lubing the chains.

 

[mark.r]

Thanks for the education.