older square baler speeeds

[Niji]

Okay...the old Ford 532 baler I've basically rebuilt is running pretty well. Even so , it is really slow. The 336 and 14T JD's I've run in the past I remember being way faster, and able to take in a fat windrow more swiftly than this rattle trap. I can't seem to get ahead of the game and get baling soon enough in the day to stay anything like ahead of my pickup crew, customers, or get more than a few hundred bales in an afternoon. It's killing me.

I think I'll sell it and invest in another baler for next season, and being on the lower end of the budget, I thought I'd see what the expert opinions are simply on the swiftness of the older square balers. It seems to me there isn't a lot of difference mechanically between many of the older machines, but, assuming knotters and everything are in decent working condition, what do you folks find to be the swifter machines? And, how many bales do y'all expect to get made in the course of an average day?

 

[farmerjim]

i run a jd 24t it has done about 600 bales in an afternoon b4. starting early enough in the day but thats a long day on the tractor, then helping the pick up crew. normally i'll try to keep it to around 400 bales max at a time just in case of a breakdown or other issues, thats running at a decent speed not pushing the envelope and not at snail pace. imo when you push the envelope you will break things maybe not at 1st but it will happen. any of the jd models 24t,214,224,336 are great machines, although a 14t may be on the small side it may be a bit of a step up from your old ford. any of the new hollands would be a great choice as well ,68,69,77,273,311,ect. basically you really can't go wrong w/ a nh or jd as their knotters are top notch and parts are still readily available.

 

[bill in ny]

back when i had a 14t, i could bale over 700 bales in an afternoon easily. that baler rarely missed a knot. i would think you're ford should be able to do better than that.

 

[jagyzf]

JD 346 was very good in it's day and was much faster than the 336. If you have to depend on 1 machine and want to be over 1000 bales, I would say spend just a little more and get a 338, 348 or a NH 575. Any of these machines will take a lot of hay, with the 348 or 575 taking it as fast as you can feed it. I know people with these units that get over 2000 on a good day. The reason for a newer machine is very simple, wear. We have a 336 and it's to the point it really needs replacement. It's been a great machine, but the bale case is now paper thin. It's had so much wear that something is always cracking, breaking and it's always when you need it the most. Hopefully either this fall or next spring we will be able o find a used 338 or 348.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

The newer balers can eat a lot of hay well. The most I have ever put through my 575 was 2300 in a single day. If I was just dropping them on the ground and picking them up with a stack wagon I could do more and wouldn't be surprised if I could bale 3k in a day if the dew wasn't there in the morning. Normally I bale 800 a day as that is all my crew wants to deal with at a time. So it isn't a long day for me and my machine.

I know the NH 326 is a good machine and would be a major step up for you without costing you a ton of money. If you start looking now you may be able to find a 320 or 326 reasonbly priced as the hay season is winding down and people will start moving equipment again.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Okay...the old Ford 532 baler I've basically rebuilt is running pretty well. Even so , it is really slow. The 336 and 14T JD's I've run in the past I remember being way faster, and able to take in a fat windrow more swiftly than this rattle trap.

assuming knotters and everything are in decent working condition, what do you folks find to be the swifter machines? And, how many bales do y'all expect to get made in the course of an average day?

If the hay is dry my IH 37 will do 4 firm bales per minute. Maybe a little more but thats about as fast as it will pick up the hay. Still, thats 240 bales an hour neglecting turns and repositioning. Its nice because it will do this comfortably on a 30HP tractor.
larry

 

[Mickey_Fx]

Might help in the discussion if you could give us some idea of what you think is holding the baler back. Baler can't handle higher ground speeds, plunger issues, knoter issues, etc.

 

[Niji]

I recently rebuilt the plunger in this baler, which was bent and twisted--there should be a few photos of that ordeal on an earlier post I put up. I replaced a bearing, sharpened knives and re-shimmed them, etc. I also replaced both bill hooks in the knotters at that time. The right knotter still misses sometimes, which I've been tweaking on still, and the left hasn't missed a knot in 1000 bales so far.

So, aside from the right knotter which isn't a total misfit, it seems to be just a matter of the baler digesting the hay, or not digesting it. I've started to rake out tiny little wind rows so I can try to keep some forward speed. If a thick row of hay goes in, it takes time to get it processed, so I slow or stop while it chomps away at it, and often at these times the bales will get a little of the accordion affect...the kind that will have the hay hanging 2 bales together as they exit the chute until one drops to the ground and pulls loose. Under slower conditions this doesn't happen. I understand that the accordion effect is usually a shimming issue, but my trouble doesn't happen at a slow rate, and the gap between the knives is pretty close to right--and I was a little afraid to push that envelope with too many shims and have a real catastrophe.

Otherwise, it seems to be running really well. I'm lucky if I break 200 in an afternoon, so even if the right knotter cost me, say, 50 bales, that's still nowhere close to what I expected from any old baler in pretty decent shape.

Please let me know if there's perhaps something else I might try. After this past week, though, I decided I've plainly got to improve the time it takes me in the field for next season, and the baler is my weak point of the operation, clearly.

 

[willt1981]

i've run a 532 baler for four years now. i cant say i've had any issues with it. i have had the slow down when the windrow has a sharp turn in it because of the hay bunching up in the rake but it can take a big windrow at a decent speed. the most i did in a day was 400 but that was kicking some in the morning, raking the 400 starting about 2, and then baling them. was done baling about 6 and then picked them up. this was steep ground too. long day. what happens with your baler? does the clutch slip (im assuming yours is like mine and has a clutch at the flywheel) when you try to go faster or pack more in? i like to have mine set to where the clutch is tight enough so that the baler will drag the tractor rpm down some if it hits a clump that isnt too big but not so tight that it wont slip if something goes in that shouldn't. you might have your heart set on getting another baler but if you dont id investigate this problem a little more. im confidant that if the hay was raked and i baled all afternoon i could bale 1500+ with mine.

 

[zzvyb6]

How about looking at it this way: My 14T plunger rate is 1 rev per second. With 13 - 14 plunges per bale for a 45 - 50 # bale, that gives me a bale per hour figure. Because of the way I cut each field, I get about 10 bales per row so I know how long its going to take before I'm too tired to think anymore about picking it up. Since my machine rarely misses a tie, these are very good reliable figures at my outfit.

So, if the Ford's chamber is similar and a flake rate is similar, shouldn't the plunger rate define how fast you can go? If it's not 1 per second, then what does it take to change it? For example, a 336 runs at twice the plunge rate if I'm not mistaken, and that's one reason for its high productivity. By any chance is your baler geared for a 1000 rpm tractor pto and the pto shaft coupler has been rigged to work with your 540 input? That would explain a lot of this. At my 1 flake per second rate, my ground speed is a fast walk. (It's 4th gear which is 3.5 mph with my tires). That fills the baler throat and gives me very consistent, tight, and saleable bales.