Did a little hay last week ...

[blueriver]

Are you saying your baler is a 530?
Not quite a 4x4 if so, but what the hay:laughing:... They are 39" wide by a maximum of 54" diameter. That's about 51 cu'
A 4'x4'x4' volume is 64 cu' which is about 1.25 bigger than the 530 can make.
The 530 bale is estimated to be 550 pds maximum.
That's what really makes them nice for horse folks that don't have tractors with spears or FEL that buy hay. They can roll them pretty easy off a pick up to where they want them in their horse barns and stand them up on a pallet for unwrapping and feeding with no more loss than rectangular bales.
I'm not sure, but I think Blue River is doing 1,000 or even 2,000 pound average bales primarily for cattle.
The long chain you are talking about drives the forming belts so they are not running anymore when you engage the PTO, right?
Usually if one of the idler rollers for them gets frozen the belts keep on turning
but squeal, not break the chain.
There are a couple pins that hang back at the ejection door. If you raise the door all the way up there is a hole on each side that you can put the pins in and then lower the back door. That takes all the tension off the forming belts so you can replace a torn belt or lace. It also lets you hand turn all the idler rollers to see if they are stuck.
I'm saying this from memory, so check your book for details.
When you were watching the chains before the long one broke was there a lot of slop in it, so it looked like it wanted to jump ahead of one of the sprockets? I can't imagine that chain breaking from a stuck idler roller under the forming belts. Sometimes 2 master links are used to make the length come out right when they were manufactured.
When you have the tension off the belts you might take a piece of board and
try to wiggle the big drive shaft across the top and check the bearing on the other side at the same time.
It would be a shame to buy a new baler ( wait till you see the prices ) if you can fix this one for a few bucks or even a few hundred. It will probably outlast the newer ones. Unless you have your heart set on a new baler
Ron

My 4x4's weight in about the 500-600 lbs ... the 4x5.5 are about 1000 lbs. The small guy with the small tractor really likes the 4x4's ...I can hit both sides of the horse folks with the 4x4's and the square's.

Motor7 ... slow down and study that baler. You will find the problem. New balers are alot of money.

 

[MotorSeven]

I am posting this for those here that are thinking about a older used baler since there are drawbacks. This 530 is probably 25 years old and it was cheap to buy....$2500. But there is a reason older balers are cheap, they are generally worn out. Everything is tired, belts, bearings, chains, etc, and it is older technology(that's sometimes good, & sometimes bad). I'm pretty handy, don't mind turning a wrench or firing up the welder, so I wasn't "es-scared":laughing:

Pacer, yes there was some chain slop and yes it's called a 4x4 but it's not quite:thumbsup:. All in all ours looked to be in good shape except for about 10 broken pick-up teeth. Last year the main shaft grenaded when one of 3 pick up rollers came off and destroyed everything around it. The parts for that were $600 and 3 days of our labor under it. A screw up at the dealer delayed parts for 3 weeks. After that it rolled pretty good, but it has always been slow - meaning I cant go much over walking speed. 2-3 times a day it would clog and I would have to un-roll a partially made bale. This year we cut and re-laced two belts that had bad laces.....no problem there.

Firts cut this year my partner cut hay too early, and with rain pending, we had to roll "green" hay...I am guessing it was 70-80% dry. The 530 hates anything green and that's when the upper clogging started. After doing a ton of reading and asking questions I am confident that that clogging was the result of the un-cured hay. But ever since then the baler has not performed properly and we could not figure out what was going on.

I still suspect a bearing. But here is my bottom line: I'm retired(so is my neighbor), we know we ain't gonna get rich making hay. The reason we want it done is to cut it when we want, instead of waiting around for someone to come do it while the weeds grow 6' tall...been there done that. Nothing irritates me more than to look out over my pastures that should have been cut 30-60 days ago. I like a clean look, and these pastures must be cut 3 times a season...sometimes 4. The farmers really only want first and last cut, and I bet they would even not do the last cut but they know they have to to get your first cut.

Yesterday the farmer that we worked a deal with to come cut our hay the rest of the year said he'd have to "think about it" reference cutting 3 times a season. I even offered him that cut "free", not on the half and he still balked. And before I decided to get into haying I had a deal with another farmer to cut my place 3 times a year...all for free and he just never seemed to get around to that middle cutting.

Anyway, I know the baler can be fixed. I know I can fix it. But I also know that this is going to be an ongoing "project" that I just don't want nor need. I would rather do like Foreman Etexas did and BUY NEW. That way I can actually enjoy cutting hay for the next 10-15 years without setting off my Irish temper a few times a day. Once the house is finished, I can afford a new baler. I just paid off my tractor, and my D-Max is getting close to being paid off, so I can swing it. I'm just picking my battles, and the log house is number one, then it's finish the 60x100 hay/equipment barn. So, by next season I should be ready to roll again.

 

[pacerron]

My 4x4's weight in about the 500-600 lbs ... the 4x5.5 are about 1000 lbs. The small guy with the small tractor really likes the 4x4's ...I can hit both sides of the horse folks with the 4x4's and the square's.

Motor7 ... slow down and study that baler. You will find the problem. New balers are alot of money.

There you go:thumbsup:
The old 530 takes some getting used too to make a really tight round bale
but if you don't make the windrows too high and get your ground speed and PTO speed adjusted right for the windrow you can make some nice tight rolls.
For outside storage there has always been an argument that you will lose more on the smaller rolls but if you compare percentage to poundage it is just a word game. I have adjusted over the years to making what I'll need plus some to cover the cost. I have no desire anymore to fill a barn and then play musical chairs to keep on the first-in, first-out basis. Most hay will store for a long time if cured properly and has never gotten wet. "They" ( whoever that is ) claim the hay really only loses vitamin A in storage, but that happens within 6 days of curing, so it is a mute point for folks to argue over.
In the North the saying is, "it's a lot better than eating snow"

 

[foreman Etexas]

I am posting this for those here that are thinking about a older used baler since there are drawbacks. This 530 is probably 25 years old and it was cheap to buy....$2500. But there is a reason older balers are cheap, they are generally worn out. Everything is tired, belts, bearings, chains, etc, and it is older technology(that's sometimes good, & sometimes bad). I'm pretty handy, don't mind turning a wrench or firing up the welder, so I wasn't "es-scared":laughing:

Pacer, yes there was some chain slop and yes it's called a 4x4 but it's not quite:thumbsup:. All in all ours looked to be in good shape except for about 10 broken pick-up teeth. Last year the main shaft grenaded when one of 3 pick up rollers came off and destroyed everything around it. The parts for that were $600 and 3 days of our labor under it. A screw up at the dealer delayed parts for 3 weeks. After that it rolled pretty good, but it has always been slow - meaning I cant go much over walking speed. 2-3 times a day it would clog and I would have to un-roll a partially made bale. This year we cut and re-laced two belts that had bad laces.....no problem there.

Firts cut this year my partner cut hay too early, and with rain pending, we had to roll "green" hay...I am guessing it was 70-80% dry. The 530 hates anything green and that's when the upper clogging started. After doing a ton of reading and asking questions I am confident that that clogging was the result of the un-cured hay. But ever since then the baler has not performed properly and we could not figure out what was going on.

I still suspect a bearing. But here is my bottom line: I'm retired(so is my neighbor), we know we ain't gonna get rich making hay. The reason we want it done is to cut it when we want, instead of waiting around for someone to come do it while the weeds grow 6' tall...been there done that. Nothing irritates me more than to look out over my pastures that should have been cut 30-60 days ago. I like a clean look, and these pastures must be cut 3 times a season...sometimes 4. The farmers really only want first and last cut, and I bet they would even not do the last cut but they know they have to to get your first cut.

Yesterday the farmer that we worked a deal with to come cut our hay the rest of the year said he'd have to "think about it" reference cutting 3 times a season. I even offered him that cut "free", not on the half and he still balked. And before I decided to get into haying I had a deal with another farmer to cut my place 3 times a year...all for free and he just never seemed to get around to that middle cutting.

Anyway, I know the baler can be fixed. I know I can fix it. But I also know that this is going to be an ongoing "project" that I just don't want nor need. I would rather do like Foreman Etexas did and BUY NEW. That way I can actually enjoy cutting hay for the next 10-15 years without setting off my Irish temper a few times a day. Once the house is finished, I can afford a new baler. I just paid off my tractor, and my D-Max is getting close to being paid off, so I can swing it. I'm just picking my battles, and the log house is number one, then it's finish the 60x100 hay/equipment barn. So, by next season I should be ready to roll again.

You gotta do what you gotta do:thumbsup: Owning new equipment "PRICELESS".My EX gives me enough stress didnt need anything to add to high BP...

 

[blueriver]

Everyone must be cutting, raking and or baling ???

 

[bigbull338]

Everyone must be cutting, raking and or baling ???

weve had 2 days of rain chances,an got .5 of an inch out of it.hoping the guy will start cutting fri or sat.

 

[blueriver]

weve had 2 days of rain chances,an got .5 of an inch out of it.hoping the guy will start cutting fri or sat.

Same here and we held off ... so I quess we get to cutting some down in a day or so ... still catching up with other things.

 

[bigbull338]

Same here and we held off ... so I quess we get to cutting some down in a day or so ... still catching up with other things.

well the rain gave my baler man a chance to get some rest for 2 days.he has been going from 6am till 11pm for the last 2wks.

 

[blueriver]

well the rain gave my baler man a chance to get some rest for 2 days.he has been going from 6am till 11pm for the last 2wks.

When the sunshines make hay!!!

 

[Western]

well the rain gave my baler man a chance to get some rest for 2 days.he has been going from 6am till 11pm for the last 2wks.

Farming sure isn't 9-5, more like 5-9.