Hay balers

[Creekside Quarters]

Does anyone have any experience using a MF #12 baler? Just starting out doing our own hay and have be having some tying issues and i really have no idea where to start.
What would be a good used round baler to purchase for a JD5205 tractor (50 h.p.)?

Thanks.

 

[zzvyb6]

A MF 12 baler, like the JD, Ford, NH, etc small square balers, use 2 Deering designed knotters that are easily adjusted for consistent knotting once certain conditions are met. Having the manual for the baler generally insures you getting the knotters working properly because the diagnosis of problems is covered there ad nausium. There are quite a few threads on this formum (usually in the Spring or Summer months) that describe how they work, what to look for, what to adjust, and how to keep them in good condition. Search for them.

Is this a new machine for you or is it an icon that has always worked, except now it's starting to misbehave? Once its loaded with twine (plastic or sisal), needle timing, tucker finger tolerances, billhook pressure and bale case holdback forces are all in the game. You are gonna need to know the names of all the parts in the machine so you can respond to our questions and suggestions. Ebay has manuals for sale if your toolbox is empty...

Is this an occasional misfire, or has one or both sides gone on vacation?

 

[Verticaltrx]

Does anyone have any experience using a MF #12 baler? Just starting out doing our own hay and have be having some tying issues and i really have no idea where to start.
What would be a good used round baler to purchase for a JD5205 tractor (50 h.p.)?

Thanks.

Don't have much to add on the square baler trouble, the possibilities are nearly endless with the info provided. As for the round baler, a 4'x4' baler is the maximum you want for that tractor. We use a JD 446 round baler (4x4' bales, 600-800lbs) on a JD 2550 tractor and a Kubota M9540. The 2550 is 65hp on the PTO and handles it nicely except on the steep hills, where you really have to slow down in heavy hay. The M9540 is 85hp PTO and handles it like its not even there. I know people that have used that same baler on a ~50hp tractor and in heavy hay it was all it could handle. I believe there may be even smaller round balers out there, if memory serves me Heston made a pretty small round baler, maybe as small as 3'x3'.

 

[Creekside Quarters]

Thanks for your replies

This machine was bought new by my grandfather and he had only used it for occassional baling and probably hasn't had 1000 bales through it. It has sat idle in the barn for the past 15 years and he gave it to me when I was discussing doing our own hay at our farm.
We are using sisal twine that we just purchased from TSC last summer, have never tried plastic twine through it. If I can recall correctly, during our last cutting of season, it started mistying on one side. The other side worked fine everytime, but the left hand side (looking at rear of baler towards tractor) was having problems. It would bale maybe 6 or 7 correctly then mistie 2 or 3 and progressively got worse. When I examined the problem, it appeared that the twine was getting hung up on the billhook and wasn't releasing the twine and eventually the twine broke from being under pressure from the next incoming bale.

I did order a service and owners manual and parts catalog, just haven't gotten a chance to review it.

Any advice would be great. This is the first time for me ever using a baler and really have no clue what to look for.

 

[Goodluck w/ That]

Wow, less than 1000 bales for a machine that old, should be like new!!! I sold my MF 9 this summer because I found a NH 273. When I bought the 9 back in 2000, my first ever baler, I had the same problems, breaking twine. Local friend with a old MF 3 told me to polish the bill hooks until they were shiny silver. I used a wire brush on a drill & removed all the rust even though it felt smooth before. It started tying, would still miss one about every 50 bales or so but I could live with that. Since it worked for me you may want to try that before you go changing adjustments on things. Like the name says Goodluck with that!

 

[Creekside Quarters]

Wow, less than 1000 bales for a machine that old, should be like new!!! I sold my MF 9 this summer because I found a NH 273. When I bought the 9 back in 2000, my first ever baler, I had the same problems, breaking twine. Local friend with a old MF 3 told me to polish the bill hooks until they were shiny silver. I used a wire brush on a drill & removed all the rust even though it felt smooth before. It started tying, would still miss one about every 50 bales or so but I could live with that. Since it worked for me you may want to try that before you go changing adjustments on things. Like the name says Goodluck with that!

I will definitely try that. My grandfather said that it was working fine when he parked it so I wouldn't image something could've gotten out of adjustment with it just sitting. Did you use sisal twine or plastic? Do you think it would make a difference?

Yea, it is in really good shape for its age. No dents, scrapes or rust and paint is near perfect. There is still paint on the pickup and inside of the chamber. The only thing it may need in the future will be some new tires cause the old ones have a little dry rot.

Would like to purchase a round baler and round bale most of our hay and just square bale a small number of squares to sell to the public. So as long as the baler was reliable for the most part it would work out fine.

Thanks alot for your help.

 

[Goodluck w/ That]

9000 Sisal Twine, have never tried the plastic because I hear the older balers have a hard time gripping it. I think the plastic is thinner & the holders were designed for the thicker twine. You could try it, if it works, it works, if not you can go back to the sisal.
If it's been sitting I'd clean everything up real good, even a barn moisture in the air can cause light rust & corrosion. Hope it works out for you, nothing more aggravating then fighting a piece of equipment in the field when you got hay down & rain coming.

 

[Tongy]

I have a old Oliver baler that was giving me trouble with the knotter. My neighbor worked on it last summer and he said I would not be able to use plastic twine with that knotter. It still needs a little adjustment on the twine pickup on the right side. It will kick out 5-7 bales then miss one.

 

[Sackett2]

one case for the QA. Had a small tilling job last spring, and by removing the bucket I was able to maneuver around a bit more and save a bit of time, and reduced the risk of damaging a fence

 

[HayDR]

Does anyone have any experience using a MF #12 baler? Just starting out doing our own hay and have be having some tying issues and i really have no idea where to start.
What would be a good used round baler to purchase for a JD5205 tractor (50 h.p.)?

Thanks.

 

[BWBrown]

Those knotters look like mini-rube golberg things, but are amazing (when they work).
In my experience: (ymmv)
1) the bill hook must be shiny clean - in the whole knotter(s) dirt and rust are not your friends - neither is fresh paint
2) every joint must be greased, but a bit of 3in1 oil on the hooks themselves, there is a through shaft plunger on them that can stick
3)sharpen the knives

4) use the short (9000 or less) bales of twine - they're a little heaver gauge
5)use the green treated twine - it seems to be a tad stiffer

6)the first several bales will nearly always miss, til the bale tension is where it should be and things get shined up a bit

7) string tension and bale tension work together to make or miss a knot
8)check knotter timing, needle adjustment

9)most important - beg, borrow, buy or steal, whatever you have to do - get a manual for service, operation and parts.

Good luck
Bob

 

[jpm1]

also dont forget to put a bit of grease on the bill hooks, this helps the twine slide off easier. Check the twine tension on the side of the balere, sounds to me that it might be a tad to tight.

 

[kenstrac]

The best thing to do is get the baler full,run a few in it shut PTO shaft off and have someone turn the flywheel by hand at that point trip the baler and watch it move in slow motion you can learn allot and see how everything works ,also check the stripper and if you have any weak or broken springs.

 

[the bear]

the bigest problem ive had with square balers is the knotters and useing sisal twine it will build up in the knotters and need to be cleaned the bill hooks will gather most of the fragment of sisal and cause you a problem on the top of your knotter is like a pipe and if this is open dust will build up in there and not allow proper pressure to the springs thats in there for the bill hooks causing knotting problems i used a 1/4 in bolt with a notch cut into the end with a hack swa and used it to push the spring down so i could get the pin out and then clean out the barrel all the dust over the years wasnt allowing the spring to work properly and once cleaned and put back together the knotters never missed a beat hope this helps

 

[Creekside Quarters]

Thanks alot for all of the replies, hopefully I can get it figured out and have a less aggravating hay season.