loose bales

[SPYDERLK]

Hi I baled some grass mix hay yesterday and i was getting loose bales tightened tension and was still not able to get twine tight on the bales.
The grass was soft and when I used the baler (565) last year to bale alphalpha/timothy the bales where perfect.
I was wondering if I could not get tight bales it was because of the texture of the hay ???????????????????//

I recognize the tendency for that problem when the grass is good and dry and slips thru the chute easy. From your pictures I thot I saw a compounding matter on yours but waited to take a look at my baler to compare. My bale chute is a good 5' long - yours looks a bit shorter. It doesnt take much loss in length to put you over the edge for being able to control tightness with the bale squeezer with slippery hay. Maybe a little more twine tension would bring back better control when you do the slippery stuff. Then loosen it back up after cuz tight twine accelerates wear a bit.
larry

 

[SPYDERLK]

That's fine advise for your locale. No one bales dry hay "here" without a preservative more than about 30 minutes after the dew starts falling. That can be as early as 6:30PM even in midsummer. A moisture meter is a great tool.

RickB, Do you have a source you could quote for the application system for the preservative. We are often racing the clock around here and google got me propionic acid, but not application equipment.
Thanks,
larry

 

[RickB]

RickB, Do you have a source you could quote for the application system for the preservative. We are often racing the clock around here and google got me propionic acid, but not application equipment.
Thanks,
larry

Harvest Tec is the OEM supplier for buffered acid hay preservative and application equipment to CNH and, I believe, AGCO and perhaps others. My experience with their equipment, parts system and tech support has been excellent. They have reliable equipment, topnotch support, and deal fairly and swiftly with the very few problems that occur. Their application kits are generally machine specific and install properly as designed when the instructions are followed. I would expect them NOT to be the cheapest kid on the block.

Harvest Tec

 

[scotts185]

All good responses on the loose bales. I just wanted to bring your attention to a new product on the market to help in these situations with varying windrows etc. It is called an Airbaler system (visit Scott Seaver Co. - West Michigan Farmer and Inventor of the Airbaler System.) and it uses an air bag to control bale density rather than springs or hydraulics. Saves a lot of time trying to constantly adjust for varying field conditions and maintains a nearly constant force on the hay when the tensioning slides are all the way open in heavy windrows or all the way closed in light ones.

 

[RickB]

All good responses on the loose bales. I just wanted to bring your attention to a new product on the market to help in these situations with varying windrows etc. It is called an Airbaler system (visit Scott Seaver Co. - West Michigan Farmer and Inventor of the Airbaler System.) and it uses an air bag to control bale density rather than springs or hydraulics. Saves a lot of time trying to constantly adjust for varying field conditions and maintains a nearly constant force on the hay when the tensioning slides are all the way open in heavy windrows or all the way closed in light ones.

I can see no functional difference between this and a typical hydraulic tensioning system.
Educate me.

 

[pengs68]

Nice setup. How does the TN55 pull with the baler and a full load of hay on the wagon?

 

[xcsp]

Pengs68 hi my tn55 does a good job ,it seems to have plenty of power to handle the job ,as you can see the ground is flat here in Ohio .If I had a lot of hills it might be a issue

I really like my TN55 picked it up last year at a good price,

have a great day
Greg

 

[scotts185]

I can see no functional difference between this and a typical hydraulic tensioning system.
Educate me.

The functional difference is that air is compressible, where hydraulic fluid is not. The advantage is the speed with which a compressible fluid is able to adjust to changing field conditions. The Airbaler system will adjust itself every plunger stroke. In fact it flexes every plunger stroke to ease the impact on the plunger as it pushes each new slice of hay into the bale chamber. Hydraulic systems must sense an increase or decrease in system pressure and then a valve has to shift to allow fluid into and out of the system, and some manufacturers have decent systems but most are inadequate to do the job required. There is also no contamination concerns with an air based system if there is a leak.

 

[slowzuki]

The air spring is very similar to the metal ones, just a more consistant force over the stroke. It is similar to the hydraulic ones that have an accumulator. The ones with out can be a bit of a pain in wildly varying hay I'm told. Mine just has the springs. I never mess with them until the sun starts to set and the hay missbehaves. Usually means its gonna be too wet to bales within 10 minutes.

Once the hay get a bit damp the spring back after each stroke falls off and the bales density goes crazy. Wagon crew loves a 100 lb bale trying to squeeze the outside windrow in at the end of a day.

 

[DanD78]

I added two more chute wedges to my IH baler so I didn't have to crank the tensioner so far down in to the bale. Made a big differende in grass hay.

The more consistant your wind rows are the better bales you get. You could easily make your twice as big

Dan