Saga - Gettign our first hay baler - JD 24T

[TwinWillows]

Guards are top of my list as I don't like the thought @ all of unprotected rotating chains/shafts.. I guess I need to figure out what baler it is first.. 14 or 24..

Twin

I'd put some priority on getting some of the covers and guards for the pto shaft and the slip clutch drum (near the main gearbox). These are high speed rotating parts and very likely to snag something (clothes, twine, hay, hands, pets, gloves, fence wire, etc.

Start by oiling up the chains with chain lube (not WD40). Check the gearbox oil levels, and mark each grease fitting with a yellow paint stick. The knotter frame area has quite a few on it.

Here's what it can look like when you are in production:

 

[zzvyb6]

There should be a model and serial number plate attached on the left side (looking forward) just below the needle lift link at the knotter frame. Also, look on the john deere website under parts (diagrams). The 14T is there as a pdf file (to download and keep locally). The 24T is there for HTML use. Your pics make your machine look just like mine in all aspects (knotter drive, auger drive, twine box, paint scheme, and knotter trip mechanism. My plate says "14T".

BTW: I run a NH479 mower/conditioner with a 35hp tractor and it never gets on the governor, even in high gear. I used to run the same machine with a 22hp Yanmar. See if you can borrow a sickle type of mower from a friend, neighbor, or even a dealer (to try it out).

 

[rankrank1]

The only way I have to do the mowing would be with my 6 ft bushog (I seem to recall that this can be done somehow).. Do you have any advice re using a BH?. I'm guessing I'd need to pull the rear guard off to allow the grass to fall out w/o getting chopped again.

I think can borrow a wheel rake to do the raking if it comes to that.

From what I can tell my 40 HP tractor kind of limits my mowing options w/a MoCo or haybine or disc mower...

Twin

A Bushog can work decently for fescue or grassy types of hay (but may cause excess leaf loss on Alfalfa).

FWIW I have used my old Square back bushog to do all my hayings so far, but I do not have alfalfa (will probably have to use BH again on my first haying this year as well as I do not have my old sickle bar refurb'd yet). The main keys to sucess are the BH must discharge the hay out without chopping it up into little pieces - my old square back BH does this quite well without any modifications whatsoever. There are also "hayside type" rotary cutters where one side of the skirting unbolts to help the discharge. Some farmers have even fabricated their own removable skirt by cutting the skirt of their BH. On some rotary cutters, Another trick is to set so the back is higher than the front to help discharge (I prefer to run mine level though so I do not do this).

In short, a rotary cutter is not the best tool for the job, but it can work acceptably in my opinion. One thing a BH does well is that it will also serve kinda like "a poor man's haybine" as the hay does get mangled some by the blades which does help it dry faster. The main disadvantage to the BH is that you will lose some yield (can not speak from experience but everything I have read suggests anywhere from 20%-40% yield loss using a BH. I do not think I am losing anywhere near 40% myself since my BH discharges so cleanly. I think the 40% loss crowd was using a BH that cut it up into little pieces which would create excessive yield loss). That said, I would still rather get something off a hay field as compared to absolutely nothing. Even a 60% yeild is better than getting nothing at all.

Lastly your other cutting options may not be as limited as you think:
a) CCM makes a drum mower that would work on your size tractor or even my 26 PTO hp tractor, but it is too expensive for me.
b) You can easily power a sickle mower. and they can be had cheap, but can be frustrating to use.
c) You may even be able to power a 7' haybine. Heck ZZ ran a 9' on a little Yanmar 20 hp tractor. (I have never ran a haybine though myself).

For a cheap rake: Consider a JD 594 on steel wheels or possibly a New Idea steel wheel unit (JD and NI made rubber tire versions too of same rakes). These things work well if not worn out and can be bought cheap - less than $150. If you have more money available and want a modern unit then I would look for a NH 56 or a NH 256 but these will be $1000 - $1500 in my area.

 

[farmerjim]

ditto what zz said about that being a 14t instead of a 24t, looks more like the old 14t that we used to have than a 24t, which i currently have. i believe the 24t's had the right side wheel set behind the pickup? at least on ours it is. also the knotters on my 24 t are a bit different. your 40hp tractor should be fine for doing what you plan to do, heck we have an old jd 2010 about the same hp and it used to do everything including running a 2 row corn chopper set up on the 100 rpm pto. a 3pt sickle mower would probably be your best bet for cutting as they can be had for a cheap price just to get you going, then move up to either a 7ft mower cond. or a drum type mower. again the sickle mowers can be a pain to fix/ adjust, but they do work well for the price, jd makes some fairly good models as well as ford, and most of the parts for them can still be had throught the dealer or tsc.you can find rakes for decent deals if you look for the off brands like new ideas or others, in my area the nh's or jd's usually bring top dollar no matter what their cond is. have you thought about a tedder? to help in the drying, kind of a must have in my neck of the woods s. new england. good luck that baler looks to be in decent shape for its age.

 

[rhinomax]

quick question for zzvyb6, will 14t and 24t parts interchange?

 

[zzvyb6]

Many parts knotter stuff for example are interchangeable. (Even parts from the 336 line will work (bill hooks). I happen to know that needles and wheel bearings are NOT interchangable. I cringed when I read how they tried road speed on this trip home. If its a 14T and you ordered a 24T wheel bearing, you're gonna be in a heap of hurt out there on the highway.

My dealer(s) seem to have all parts in stock or next day UPS. For example I just replaced plunger bearings for good luck and it was a snap. The play in the old ones made me worry a bit.

A good welder can fix just about anything on this baler should you ever run a tree or a bicycle or a telephone cable thru it. I've seen a lot of stuff turned into stackable bricks. Best one was a beautiful alfalfa bale with a 3 ft rattle snake sticking out of it. (Well, he started out at 3 feet). Still pretty upset about it all when I dropped by to pick up the bale by hand. That justified a NH Stackhand in the budget....

 

[zzvyb6]

I've used a 5' BH to mow a grassy field for hay baling. Don't run it at full rpm and sharpen the blades. This will require a full comb on all the baler pickup teeth because the stems and plant cuttings will be short. Rake the swath very tight by combining 3 rows into 1 to get a lot of volume for the baler throat and you will be fine. The hay dries very quickly using this method.

 

[TwinWillows]

There should be a model and serial number plate attached on the left side (looking forward) just below the needle lift link at the knotter frame. Also, look on the john deere website under parts (diagrams). The 14T is there as a pdf file (to download and keep locally). The 24T is there for HTML use. Your pics make your machine look just like mine in all aspects (knotter drive, auger drive, twine box, paint scheme, and knotter trip mechanism. My plate says "14T".

BTW: I run a NH479 mower/conditioner with a 35hp tractor and it never gets on the governor, even in high gear. I used to run the same machine with a 22hp Yanmar. See if you can borrow a sickle type of mower from a friend, neighbor, or even a dealer (to try it out).

ZZ,

Well I uncovered the model @ plate last night.. It's a 14T so I guess I need to change the title of this thread

Thanks for the pdf info. I went there & pulled the PDF off already. That's great info.

Last night I got all the dirt & mess out of the machine & excess grease off the zerks & shafts. Now I can see about a zillion places needing grease - you weren't kidding about how many there were. I like your idea about hitting them w/a yellow paint stick. I'll get after that tonight along with soaking some parts w/Kroil & starting to break some bolts off to get to the pickup & untangle a giant twine hairball that's got it totally bound up.

Twin

 

[flusher]

I've used a 5' BH to mow a grassy field for hay baling. Don't run it at full rpm and sharpen the blades. This will require a full comb on all the baler pickup teeth because the stems and plant cuttings will be short. Rake the swath very tight by combining 3 rows into 1 to get a lot of volume for the baler throat and you will be fine. The hay dries very quickly using this method.

I assume you shortened the top link on the 3pt so the rear of the BH was raised pretty high to prevent mulching as much as possible. Or did you remove the left side of the BH housing so the cuttings blow out to the side? I think King Kutter used to have this option for their hogs. Maybe other brands did also.

Don't know if my MF-124 baler would do a good job on the short cuttings from a BH.. That 124 has packer fingers instead of an auger like you find on JD balers. I'd assume that the short cuttings would be a problem for that finger-type packer.

 

[zzvyb6]

What I did was to drop the tailwheel all the way down via the links that held it in place. Then I dropped the front of the mower down via the 3pt arms. I don't use a top link on my bh (its actually a KK). There is not a side discharge option.