So far baling my first year!

[BryanM]

To start out I am having a good time haying being my first year I am learning alot trying to figure out as I go. I just got down bailing again (second time) still a little unsure about the variables such as: hay dry enough, witch way to rake, do you turn pto when at the end of a row to turn around best way to stack! you get the point rookie stuff.

I do have a question about the bailing grass hay first you should know the wind rows where not the fullest which I am betting makes a differance. I am bailing with a 14t but it seemed not to pickup the grass hay as much as the clover hay, what I mean it left a little trail out the side and I was going as slow as I could go and my teeth where set down almost on the ground aprox 1/2 to 1" from the ground. I seem to have alot of bales that the string was a little looser on one side than the other. This one I am not sure of maybe not enough hay in theplunger or auger area or may be it has to do with tightness of bales I am just not sure??? ZZ any thought on that one? thanks Bryan

 

[Mickey_Fx]

Been some time since I was in the haying business and sure others will comment.

I don't recall ever killing the power to the baler making turns. I'd suspect this somewhat depends upon how tight the corners are. Not sure what you mean by "which way to rake".

I'd definately double up on the light wind rows. By double I mean combining multiple rows so there is enough hay entering the baler to fill the throat each stroke. Don't compound the problem with light rows and too slow of a ground speed. I'd start to be concerned if you don't have a bale tying off about every 15 sec of so. A lot depends upon the baler. I used to be poping out a bale about every 8-10 sec on 1st cutting fields.

 

[zzvyb6]

The grass hay problem is easily solved if you have a bar type rake: Reduce the plan view angle (so the rake bars are more perpendicular to the windrow) . This makes the hay "rope" more on exit. There's usually another side view angle adjustment that keeps the hay in the rake longer.

This "roping" action winds the hay into a yarn thread. The baler pickup draws in the thread instead of trying to snatch individual grass blades and clumps. If you don't have a bar rake, go to TSC and get one of those tiny wheel rake deals used to push leaves into a row for burning. Adapt the wheel rake disks to the tine bar on the front of the hay pickup and they will comb the grass into the feeder tines. Sort of like a prebaling rake. This helps for windrows that are too wide, also. Makes your fields look better without the baler drool spots

If the bales are uneven, there are two possible causes: Tension on the bale case cranks needs to be tightened on the loose side (give it 2 turns). Then count the number of threads showing on the crank bolts. If the number of threads is very unequal for getting a nice tight bale, then the feeder fork drive probably ought to be changed. This could mean that the feeder forks are out of time, too. Best way to check on your baler is to set the plunger crank at 90 degrees before rear dead center (crankshaft at highest point from the ground). Then feeder forks should be square straight up & down and midway between the fork slots.

 

[zzvyb6]

Mickey has good points. I just realized what you are talking about for "cutting the PTO off when turning". Your baler is complaining about the prop-shaft angles. This is caused by 2 things: The drive chain at the friction clutch is too loose and the hitch pin is not centered under the 1/2 way point of the first driveshaft section. This causes a harmonic in the driveshaft. One other possibility is that the intermediate driveshaft is put together wrong: The Cardan joint trunions MUST be installed as mirror images of each other. If one is off by 90 degrees (easily done because the pto shaft is square), then its gonna shake like Michael J. Fox when you turn.

I once helped a friend out by running a JD 4430 cab tractor with a 1000 rpm corn chopper in a field next door. (A/C, cassette tapes, SoundGuard quiet). Never did it before. Made the first right turn and the pto shaft flew right by my right ear. PlexiGlass ice all over the place. Six inches closer would have ended my career. He put the pto shaft together without checking the alignment. This happened because he forgot to take off the pto shaft when unhooking from another tractor. When he pulled away, the shaft separated. Oops.....

 

[WTA]

forgive my typing. i broke my r hand stacking hay real bad a couple weeks ago.
20 ft tall stack came over on me.


i started using a rake last year when my hay got rained on the first time. back then i was doubling the windrows and it really helped a lot with feeding the baler. Another trick that my neighbor kept harping on me about is baling in the middle of the night when the humidity is up and the dew is starting to fall. it helps make nicer looking bales down here where it is so dry. now i rarely ever start baling before midnight.

get a baler mounted moisture meter. i picked one up at the hesston dealer a few weeks ago for under 300 bucks and love it. now i know the moisture content of every bale that comes out and if one looks high to me i get out and flag it with a little red flag and in the morning my son goes and gets those first and stacks them by the goat pen. i sure dont want them in the barn with the good stuff.

this year my hay yields are much better as the bermuda is more established. on my last cutting i was dropping 60 pound bales less than 12 inches apart on most of the rows and they were not doubled at all. the fertilizer and soil samples really pay off now.