Baler flywheel shear bolts

[barrybro]

I just baled my 6 acre field yesterday. I am using a New Holland Hayliner 269 with 1964 Ford 4000. I went through a number of flywheel shear bolts while baling. The only constant was they were shearing becase of the needle guard being up. Otherwise there were no other similiatiries. It would do it in thick hay and in thin hay. My tractor was working pretty hard with some sizeable swings in the RPM's with the torque of the baler. I am relatively new to farming. Is this normal?

 

[SPYDERLK]

The needle guard should not be coming up in normal operations as you bale. I would suspect your knotter is not timed correctly. The only time my needle guard has come up is when the knotter was triggered after the baler was stopped and then the baler was rotated some...?backwards? before restarting. Bang! Broke a shear bolt. Ours is an IH37 but it probably works the same.
larry

 

[barrybro]

I am probably not explaining the needle gaurd right. It comes up everytime the needles go up and stops the plunger from going back and breaking the needles.

If it was out of time wouldn't it do it all the time. I could go an hour and everything would be great. sometimes I would go ten minutes and shear one off.

 

[zzvyb6]

The "needle guards" aka plunger stops are doing their job. The primary causes of your problem are wet hay plugs, too fast a feed rate, dull plunger knives,and pto rpm too low.

I blew thru 2 shear bolts myself yesterday. I had double raked all windrows and there were a few wet globs that stalled the plunger. When I stop the tractor to reduce the feed rate, sometimes I push in the clutch too far and this removes power to the baler as well as the tractor. Oops. In very dry hay, I sometimes run a higher gear and this can choke the plunger throat area. I'm lousy at raking and turn around areas of my windrows get too big. Dull plunger knives and poor knive spacing loads up the plunger cycle excesively. And finally, balers are designed to run at rated rpm 540/1000 rpm. I see so many users who run at 1/2 speed because the tractor moves too fast, they think they are saving fuel, or the ride is too rough. Pick a gear set that gives the pto rpm and ground speed that your machine was designed for. If you are moving faster than a brisk walk with your equipment, its probably too much.

 

[barrybro]

I had a few wet globs, and I think my plunger knives are probably the equivalent of a butter knive. I will sharpen those up for the next time and see if I have better luck.

I also want to share my appreciation to you frequent responders. I have learned a great deal from your replys to other posts. It is a great service you do.

Barry

 

[bill in ny]

i had a problem similar to yours on an old jd. baler i had. there is a rod that goes from the plunger stop to where the needles attach to the baler. on the end of the rod is a lever that rides on the bar where the needles attach to the baler. the lever got a groove worn in it from riding on that bar for so long. this let the plunger stop hang up in the bale chamber once in a while. for a quick fix in the field i wrapped some tape around the bar where the needles attach right under where the lever rides. never sheared another bolt. hope that makes sence.

 

[barrybro]

I will take a look at mine and see if I have a similiar situation. Thanks!

 

[SPYDERLK]

I am probably not explaining the needle gaurd right. It comes up everytime the needles go up and stops the plunger from going back and breaking the needles.

If it was out of time wouldn't it do it all the time. I could go an hour and everything would be great. sometimes I would go ten minutes and shear one off.

Hmm. Makes sense that they come up each time for safety. If timed correctly tho they always get out of the way before the plunger come back into the chamber. If your plunger is hitting them it has to be at least a borderline timing problem. If it is NOT hitting those stops the plunger is encountering a high resistance impulse from somewhere else or the bolts are not appropriate. Is your bolt a grade 5? Ive had my ram stopped several times on the push stroke but my 5/16 gr5 never sheared from that. Compression of grass just doesnt stop it quick enuf.
larry

 

[RickB]

Some of the probable causes are:
Needle latch linkage out of adjustment.
Knotter 'Home' position incorrect, coupled with weak knotter shaft brake adjustment or worn brake linings.
Knotter to plunger timing off just a little.

All these scenarios can be checked with the information provided in the operator's manual.

If the needle latch is causing the shearbolts to break, wet hay, feed rate and other load related factors are NOT the cause.

 

[cjk]

My NH 273 broke a few the last 2 days also. I know there were a few wet spots in the field and the knives have never been seen by me or sharpened.

So how do you get to these knives to sharpen them? I havent completely emptied the baler since I got it and just cant see how to access the knives.

Do you get to them from the bottom after taking all the hay out? The manual shows what they look like and how to adjust them but does not show how to get at them.