Experience with electric linear actuators instead of hydraulics?

[freedomlives]

My neighbor got a round baler for his tractor (quite used, I have no idea the brand because there weren't any markings I could see today looking at it.)

His problem is that he says his tractor hydraulics are strong enough to lift the gate on the back of the baler, but that's pushing them to their limit, so he can't also operate the hydraulic piston that actuates the baling cord mechanism (which I guess cuts the cord off?)

He is therefore looking for an electric linear actuator, but says all he found in Czech Republic was 500€, which is kind of steep. I told him I'd have a look, as knowing English gets you a lot further in internet searches.

I've seen before and found now linear actuators on eBay, of course Chinese, which are even stocked in German warehouses, which are the right dimensions for him (320mm retracted, 520mm expanded), but I just wonder if they aren't "too good to be true"? They claim an IP68 rating, which means waterproof, which I'm supposing is optimistic, but I just wonder if anyone has fooled with such things?

Also because I have a walkbehind tractor with powered trailer that I use as my "pickup truck" around the farm, but lifting the hinged bed up to dump a load of dirt can be tough if I'm not careful to put more dirt behind the hinge than in front, so some assist would be nice there too.

 

[4570Man]

How much force are you trying to replace? Do you know the size and pressure of the cylinder? What’s the stroke length?

 

[freedomlives]

These are all unknowns, except that the stroke length is 200mm and overall length 510mm, so this is basically a drop in for length.

The mounting points for the cylinder were clearly welded later, so whatever cylinder was on it was certainly not the original.

Now I'm googling, and I found a youtube video where someone is using a linear actuator on a round baler, but their baler has a 100mm stroke length, and the electric actuator is ~250kgf

I'm going back over there to see if I can find out the model of it or some other info. The mechanism swings real easy right now, but there's no baling twine in it.

 

[Scook222]

Look at the Vermeer 605c and 605d series. Those old balers were actually run by a rope to tie out a bale, it’s alittle slower but worked for years. It might be cheaper to get a diverted type valve to tie out the valve with a hydraulic cylinder. It doesn’t take much hydraulics to tie out a bale. You would just select one port, tie the bale, then select the other port to dump the bale. An electric actuator would work but might be more of a hassle to power from the tractor. Also depending on the baler some auto tie from linkage that has to be set from bale size. Hopefully you can find some info on the baler or some pictures would help.

 

[snymat68]

I purchased an actuator from Progressive Automations for a golf cart dump bed and am very happy with it.
They have a nice search tool that you can filter down based on your known criteria.

 

[freedomlives]

Its a "Unibal" which, not sure the story, but looking up the word I find a bunch of references that its the same as a Hesston 5700.

We discussed it a bit more, and how the mechanism works, so he said its supposed to swing back and forth a couple of times while the twine wraps around the bale, and that he knows someone with one where someone just by hand operates the arm (probably dangerous, but that's par-for-the-course over here. cutting firewood with my father-in-law is mildly terrifying with his homemade, 3' diameter circular saw that has no sort of covers).

So, I am thinking speed is more important than strength, so as not to use an inordinate amount of baling twine, though I guess the speed the bale is spinning, and thus twine getting wrapped can be handled by slowing the throttle on the tractor.

 

[freedomlives]

I'm going to look for more suppliers, outside of eBay, because my neighbor said he would pay up to ~200€ if its going to be decent quality. (Can't really order from the US, shipping and then VAT that gets added on here would be killer, but hopefully I can find a supplier similar to the Progressive Automations above, where a slightly higher price gets a guarantee of quality)

 

[Scook222]

Most likely it is a hesston or made by hesston. Vermeer made some balers for Massey Ferguson which were identifical, except for the numbers on the baler. You might be able to search and be able to find retrofit kits to upgrade to a electric actuator. Using the rope to tie out a bale is fine as long as you don’t wrap it around you hand and it worked for years but having a lever is so much smoother.

 

[Dave M7040]

The one question that should be answered in the consideration of a linear actuator is stroke speed.

For those used to hydraulic cylinders they can seem slow.

Electrical is simple to connect up unless your tractor is well equipped for remote hydraulics.

Dave M7040

 

[Fallon]

I used some on my wife's chicken coop & https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/customization/321704-linear-actuator-power-ssqa.html

They are cheap & reasonably strong, but nowhere near the same caliber as hydraulics. It's probably up to the task if there were within the strenght rating & speed requirements. A linear actuator has lots of small fragile parts in them & doesnt have a great duty cycle. Not always a great combo on a vibrating machine But at under $50-100 a pop they can be reasonably disposible.

My new power SSQA build will use hydraulics rather than a linear actuator for what it's worth. I have a 3rd function up there on the new machine. With all the "free" plumbing already I only need $150ish of hydraulic parts.