Beautiful Hay Fields + Antique Equipment + Weather

[Egon]

The picture comes from a previous post on this sight by another fellow. I just saved it.

We used to call them farmhands Too.

The hay was made into a stack on the field. Many people had stack movers to bring the stack back to the feeding area. When feeding they used a pipe fence that was movable so the hay did not have to be handled.

Other people made smaller stacks, put them on a stackmover that had a sickle bar cutter on the front and would dispense the daily required feed by driving and cutting off hay from the end of the stack and into a trough or just on the ground.

But all this does not help the original poster with fixing his machine. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Egon

 

[Egon]

The picture comes from a previous post on this sight by another fellow. I just saved it.

We used to call them farmhands Too.

The hay was made into a stack on the field. Many people had stack movers to bring the stack back to the feeding area. When feeding they used a pipe fence that was movable so the hay did not have to be handled.

Other people made smaller stacks, put them on a stackmover that had a sickle bar cutter on the front and would dispense the daily required feed by driving and cutting off hay from the end of the stack and into a trough or just on the ground.

But all this does not help the original poster with fixing his machine. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Egon

 

[Cliff_Johns]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The picture comes from a previous post on this sight by another fellow. )</font>

That would be me. I posted it on the Strange tractors thread. Here's a slightly different version.

Cliff

 

[Cliff_Johns]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The picture comes from a previous post on this sight by another fellow. )</font>

That would be me. I posted it on the Strange tractors thread. Here's a slightly different version.

Cliff

 

[JKNY]

Hi Burnet ma , after several years of "lurking " on TBN I finally registered so as to be able to try and help you with your baler.Here are some things to check - I assume you have access to a manual for this baler, if not I suggest you get one. The older machines usually have good manuals with alot of troubleshooting/repair advice. Do thiese checks with tractor off, pto off (unhooked) as you may need to turn baler over by hand. You may need to take some hay out of the chamber to mmake this possible/easier. First check ALL linkages that operate needles/needle carrier from the knotter shaft down. You shouldnt have any slop/wear or binding at any pivot/moving part . Repair as needed. Then check your tension of your knoter brake. This will be a brake type assembly on the knotter shaft. Ck to see if it is adjusted as per manual. If no manual, proceed as follows - with baler off , knotter not tripped, try to push the needle carrier out of place, you may need to use your foot. It should not move. If it does try slightly tightening /adjusting up on knotter brake until movement stops. Is baler stored under cover when not in use?? Could be rust wore off knotter brake ater your first 100 bales allowing needles to drop slightly from the motion of the baler running wich will then allow plunger stop to activate.Or your brake linings may be worn out and need replacement. Ater all this is done try turning baler over by hand on the flywheel. I t should run smooth. Then try tripping the knotter and turning it thru atying cycle slowly , stopping to check for irregularities. Needles should enter , cycle and exit bale chamber before plunger comes in to needle area. Lastly chck main and knotter shear bolts for tightneess, proper bolts, excessive wear in bolt holes .Also check any drive chains for being partially set up( 2-3 stiff links in a row can cause problems in timing) All this assumes you have already checked baler for proper timing.This is where a manual in invaluable. Hope this helps you out. It is raining here today too , I wont start my haying for another 2-3 weeks weather permitting. Good luck and if this doesnt fix the problem let me know. I hope you have a tedder for when the rain stiops. JK-NY

 

[JKNY]

Hi Burnet ma , after several years of "lurking " on TBN I finally registered so as to be able to try and help you with your baler.Here are some things to check - I assume you have access to a manual for this baler, if not I suggest you get one. The older machines usually have good manuals with alot of troubleshooting/repair advice. Do thiese checks with tractor off, pto off (unhooked) as you may need to turn baler over by hand. You may need to take some hay out of the chamber to mmake this possible/easier. First check ALL linkages that operate needles/needle carrier from the knotter shaft down. You shouldnt have any slop/wear or binding at any pivot/moving part . Repair as needed. Then check your tension of your knoter brake. This will be a brake type assembly on the knotter shaft. Ck to see if it is adjusted as per manual. If no manual, proceed as follows - with baler off , knotter not tripped, try to push the needle carrier out of place, you may need to use your foot. It should not move. If it does try slightly tightening /adjusting up on knotter brake until movement stops. Is baler stored under cover when not in use?? Could be rust wore off knotter brake ater your first 100 bales allowing needles to drop slightly from the motion of the baler running wich will then allow plunger stop to activate.Or your brake linings may be worn out and need replacement. Ater all this is done try turning baler over by hand on the flywheel. I t should run smooth. Then try tripping the knotter and turning it thru atying cycle slowly , stopping to check for irregularities. Needles should enter , cycle and exit bale chamber before plunger comes in to needle area. Lastly chck main and knotter shear bolts for tightneess, proper bolts, excessive wear in bolt holes .Also check any drive chains for being partially set up( 2-3 stiff links in a row can cause problems in timing) All this assumes you have already checked baler for proper timing.This is where a manual in invaluable. Hope this helps you out. It is raining here today too , I wont start my haying for another 2-3 weeks weather permitting. Good luck and if this doesnt fix the problem let me know. I hope you have a tedder for when the rain stiops. JK-NY

 

[burnetma]

JKNY,

Thank you for all of the advice. I am glad you stopped lurking! FYI, the unit lives outside and has done so for the last 6+ years. It belonged to my uncle who let a neighbor borrow it. When he broke it, he just stuck it out in a hedge row. I pulled it out and got it running last year and it did pretty well. I cleaned it out and covered it with a heavy tarp for the winter. This year has been nothing but trouble though. Between the manual and advice like yours, I hope to remedy these issues.

I worked on the machine half the day yesterday in between downpours. I found that the rod that operates the needle safety dog was bent on one end and the clevis hole was badly worn. I repaired that problem, cleaned up and adjusted the needle brake. I walked it through a half a dozen timing checks and decided to adjust the timing a single tooth on the little gear. It appears to be in time and OK to go. I will follow-up with the rest of your suggestions this morning. I will then try to bale some old dry hay from the barn and see what she does. That may have to wait until Monday night or so. If it ever stops raining, I will try to bale up the 300 bales of now wet hay for mulch this week.

Thanks again for the advice. I will follow-up.

 

[burnetma]

JKNY,

Thank you for all of the advice. I am glad you stopped lurking! FYI, the unit lives outside and has done so for the last 6+ years. It belonged to my uncle who let a neighbor borrow it. When he broke it, he just stuck it out in a hedge row. I pulled it out and got it running last year and it did pretty well. I cleaned it out and covered it with a heavy tarp for the winter. This year has been nothing but trouble though. Between the manual and advice like yours, I hope to remedy these issues.

I worked on the machine half the day yesterday in between downpours. I found that the rod that operates the needle safety dog was bent on one end and the clevis hole was badly worn. I repaired that problem, cleaned up and adjusted the needle brake. I walked it through a half a dozen timing checks and decided to adjust the timing a single tooth on the little gear. It appears to be in time and OK to go. I will follow-up with the rest of your suggestions this morning. I will then try to bale some old dry hay from the barn and see what she does. That may have to wait until Monday night or so. If it ever stops raining, I will try to bale up the 300 bales of now wet hay for mulch this week.

Thanks again for the advice. I will follow-up.

 

[HammerFour]

One other source for help would be the implement forum over at ytmag.com.

One thing I did on my JD 14T ( 1950's - early 1960's baler ) was replace all the chains on it. You can do that usually pretty easily and cheaply and new chains make it much easier to keep the baler timed ( at least it fixed my problem where I couldn't get the baler to stay timed at all ).

That hay that got wet may still be decent quality. I would rather have hay that was cut at the right time that got rained on, dried out and baled than hay that was cut way to late ( or early ) anyhow. As long as you get it good and dry before you bale it, I'm sure it will be fine.

I don't know if you are feeding this to horses or cows, but I figure it's better than them trying to eat a snowball come winter. If you feel the protein is a bit low in it compared to non rained on hay, just feed a bit more of it. The digestion process of the roughage is a big part of what keeps the animals warm in the winter anyhow...

 

[HammerFour]

One other source for help would be the implement forum over at ytmag.com.

One thing I did on my JD 14T ( 1950's - early 1960's baler ) was replace all the chains on it. You can do that usually pretty easily and cheaply and new chains make it much easier to keep the baler timed ( at least it fixed my problem where I couldn't get the baler to stay timed at all ).

That hay that got wet may still be decent quality. I would rather have hay that was cut at the right time that got rained on, dried out and baled than hay that was cut way to late ( or early ) anyhow. As long as you get it good and dry before you bale it, I'm sure it will be fine.

I don't know if you are feeding this to horses or cows, but I figure it's better than them trying to eat a snowball come winter. If you feel the protein is a bit low in it compared to non rained on hay, just feed a bit more of it. The digestion process of the roughage is a big part of what keeps the animals warm in the winter anyhow...