Haying information needed

[svendawg]

I just received my new Mahindra 5155 the other day and started using it to round bale on Friday. I noticed when hooking up the round baler to the drawbar that there is only 10" of clearance under the drawbar bracket. This lack of clearance became an issue while baling because the windrow was bunching up under the rear of the tractor causing feeding problems. I am a little disappointed in the fact that there is so little ground clearance. The specs on the tractor shows the clearance of 16" but other than the drawbar there a many other projections under the tractor that are less than 16" also. The tractor literature is a little misleading.
My question for all you seasoned hay farmers, what do you do when round baling to avoid the bunching up of hay due to low ground clearance. Do I need some sort of belly pan to press the hay down so it clears the drawbar.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

One thing that might help you is when you rake your hay, don't use the full width of your rake and make smaller windrows, you will have to make more trips up and down the field but the windrows will be smaller/shorter.

 

[repete]

I know it will not help much for the problem you are describing but I usually put the retainer clips for the pins on top of the connection so nothing can pull them out when going through stuff.

 

[oldnslo]

I have seen belly pans used for this application. A piece of corrugated sheet steel works reasonably well and is slippery.

 

[Sportsman762]

Looking at the operators manual the 430mm +-10mm must be for the R1 ag tires. They do not clearly state that though. Most tractors are measured with the R1 ag tires equipped which does not make sense when most compacts are sold with R4.

https://www.mahindrausa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/5100-Series-Operator-Manual.pdf

R1 Ag rear tires are 14.9x28 and have a rolling circumference of 164" and the R4 tires 16.9x24 have a rolling circumference of 153" according to Titan Tire.

https://www.vop-tyres.com.ua/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Titan.pdf

That would explain why your measuring 10" but expected 17 (and it looks like you might end up with 15 if going with R1). I do not have any answers on how to solve this but it will sure suck having to bale with 10" of ground clearance. Perhaps the dealer will let you swap tires for R1?

(see post 11 for corrections)

 

[Hay Dude]

That is really low.
For now, when you rake rows together, don’t “bunch” them together. Instead, make “twin twinkie” rows, so there’s a depression in between the rows, and keep your hitch running in the depression.
Long term, I’m not sure what the solution would be, but less than 16” is difficult to work with.
Are you running their tallest tire?

 

[svendawg]

I have seen belly pans used for this application. A piece of corrugated sheet steel works reasonably well and is slippery.

That a great idea, I'll have to fabricate something like that

 

[zzvyb6]

Consider removing it and using a lateral drawbar attached between the lower links. This will/may require a longer PTO shaft as well. Only other options are to single windrow, make a wider windrow when cutting and don't rake it. Maybe us a loader bucket to flatten the windrow as it comes in.

 

[LHF2019]

Bolt rubber to drawbar. Cut an inner tube or such. You might have other issues as well. With my tractor and large windrows the rear wheel can actually catch the windrow and start balling it up. Doesn't happen much but it does.

 

[Bavarian]

Looking at the operators manual the 430mm +-10mm must be for the R1 ag tires. They do not clearly state that though. Most tractors are measured with the R1 ag tires equipped which does not make sense when most compacts are sold with R4.

https://www.mahindrausa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/5100-Series-Operator-Manual.pdf

R1 Ag rear tires are 14.9x28 and have a rolling circumference of 164" and the R4 tires 16.9x24 have a rolling circumference of 153" according to Titan Tire.

https://www.vop-tyres.com.ua/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Titan.pdf

That would explain why your measuring 10" but expected 17 (and it looks like you might end up with 15 if going with R1). I do not have any answers on how to solve this but it will sure suck having to bale with 10" of ground clearance. Perhaps the dealer will let you swap tires for R1?

Apply some math.
A difference of 11" in circumference result in 3.5" in diameter.
That would raise the tractor's ground clearance by 1.75".