Hello,
I am a first time owner of a Massey Ferguson #9 square baler. I recently got it off of craigslist, and am wanting to get it ready for 1st cutting.
Today I hooked it up to my tractor engaged the PTO and nothing happened... I turned the shaft but the flywheel did not turn the baler. I thought I heard a faint gear grind sound.
What do y'all think I should do next?
First thing you should do is
unhook it from the PTO, you have a lot of work to do before you get there.
Check for shere bolts as Hay dude said.
Grease it per the manual's instructions, most older manuals are available online for download via a nominal fee.
Oil all the chains.
Check all your bearings, rollers, bearing surfaces for the plunger and feeder.
Check your feeder/feeder bars for freedom of movement, any tangled baler twine in there, bent rock guards that rub, chain or drive system for function, and bearings.
If that's all good spin it by hand a few times
Next trip your knotters and spin the flywheel by hand to check timing.
Next engage the knotter safety manually or engage the needles out of timing and see if the safety stop works (spinning by hand).
Next, tie some knots. Spin by hand.
If all that checks out, then hook it to the tractor and spin it slow for 5-10 minutes and check for any heat on any of the bearings/bearing surfaces. Next bring it up, probably not to 540, but to where you think it would work and run it anther 5-10 checking for heat.
If all that's good try tying a knot with it moving slow, then fast.
If all that works well you can try to feed a few broken bales through and see how it eats/bales.
Honestly I wouldn't have bought a baler without having the previous owner demonstrate all this...while easy to work on they are not fast or cheap to repair.
And remember, don't put your fingers/arms/hands/clothing anywhere close to the moving bits!
