DigitalCowboy
Member
This is my first time out with this "new" $500 ancient baler... mostly it worked. I'd tested it before hand by feeding it some loose hay, tripping the knotters, etc. Once I'd gotten the twine tension right everything seemed good. Greased every fitting I could find and oiled the roller chains with old motor oil.
On one of the first bales I sheared the flywheel shear pin. Found the reason but not the root cause- the "stop"(sorry about the terminology) that comes out to block the plunger from coming back when the needles go in was in and the plunger had hit it. I shut down and replaced the shear bolt but still couldn't manually rotate the flywheel around. I rolled it backwards and gave the needles a little "foot assist" which made the stop come out. I was then able to roll the flywheel and plunger forward. All seemed right. I checked the timing by rotating the flywheel so the plunger arm was 90 degrees straight up. The 3 dots on the drive gear/knotter assembly lined up exactly.... so assuming I did that right the timing is fine. Other causes I read in the manual were suggesting things being dirty/rusty/etc. I crossed my fingers and fired up the tractor and turned on the PTO.... the baler tied off a knot and ran. So I took it back out and made another 30 or so bales without incident.
Then it sheared another bolt- this time the knotter hadn't tripped and the stop was out and a non-issue. I didn't hit anything, there was no foreign object in the bale chamber, I didn't suck up a particularly large wad of grass. Couldn't find one reason why it sheared so I replaced the bolt. Kept baling till I was done. Not a clue why that one happened.
Thought it was worth asking about. I do notice some of the roller chains feel like there's a lot of slop in them... I'm not a baler mechanic but I don't thing they should flop around as easily as they do. The one adjustment I did make before taking it out was to increase the tension on the chain(again sorry for terminology here) that runs across the baler and moves the forks that shove hay into the chamber. They were so loose they'd been clearly slapping against the sheet metal.
Am I likely just having random issues because I'm running a 60 or more year old baler that's had god knows how many bales run through it and stuff is just worn and is just occasionally going to do something goofy? I'm OK with that but I'd hate to tear something up that could have been avoided with some basic adjustment/maintenance or spending a little on a part.
On one of the first bales I sheared the flywheel shear pin. Found the reason but not the root cause- the "stop"(sorry about the terminology) that comes out to block the plunger from coming back when the needles go in was in and the plunger had hit it. I shut down and replaced the shear bolt but still couldn't manually rotate the flywheel around. I rolled it backwards and gave the needles a little "foot assist" which made the stop come out. I was then able to roll the flywheel and plunger forward. All seemed right. I checked the timing by rotating the flywheel so the plunger arm was 90 degrees straight up. The 3 dots on the drive gear/knotter assembly lined up exactly.... so assuming I did that right the timing is fine. Other causes I read in the manual were suggesting things being dirty/rusty/etc. I crossed my fingers and fired up the tractor and turned on the PTO.... the baler tied off a knot and ran. So I took it back out and made another 30 or so bales without incident.
Then it sheared another bolt- this time the knotter hadn't tripped and the stop was out and a non-issue. I didn't hit anything, there was no foreign object in the bale chamber, I didn't suck up a particularly large wad of grass. Couldn't find one reason why it sheared so I replaced the bolt. Kept baling till I was done. Not a clue why that one happened.
Thought it was worth asking about. I do notice some of the roller chains feel like there's a lot of slop in them... I'm not a baler mechanic but I don't thing they should flop around as easily as they do. The one adjustment I did make before taking it out was to increase the tension on the chain(again sorry for terminology here) that runs across the baler and moves the forks that shove hay into the chamber. They were so loose they'd been clearly slapping against the sheet metal.
Am I likely just having random issues because I'm running a 60 or more year old baler that's had god knows how many bales run through it and stuff is just worn and is just occasionally going to do something goofy? I'm OK with that but I'd hate to tear something up that could have been avoided with some basic adjustment/maintenance or spending a little on a part.