Partial baler belt replacement.

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callmefence

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I'm leaning towards one more year out of my baler. End of last season a piece of tpost cost me three belts. I replaced all belts the winter before.
When I ordered the belts the salesman acted like it was a suicide mission to just replace 3. What say you CT . Do I need to pull the other 4 and check measurement s.... cause I'd rather not..lol
 
You can piece the damaged belts and still use them unless shreds from end to end. I ran an ash limb in mine and broke a belt. I did take the belt out and measure to the right length and put a 2 feet piece in. Square the ends off on the belts put the new fasteners on and put back in.

I did it my self as my baler uses these.

 
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I use the Alligator tool as Jltrent shows and just cut the damaged piece out and replace it. I like to make the spliced in piece at least 2 feet long though so the splices aren't too close together.
 
in what way would it be a suicide mission? Do it all the time. Had old original belts mixed with a couple new. Got most of a set of 60% belts from another baler and put those in. I've run belts that had splices in them, I've run belts with half the joiner splice missing. Last summer I had a guy with the same baler come look at mine to figure out how to set his twine arms because - his words, " I make the best bales around". If you replaced the other belts the winter before and didn't make 50,000 bales should be just fine.

Mine's a JD 535 and I make almost no silage with it. Belts are way more important if you do. Even if so your other belts are almost new. Judgy parts guys who've never bought a stupid belt for over $500 (JD price for one $550 here) are the worst...
 
You can piece the damaged belts and still use them unless shreds from end to end. I ran an ash limb in mine and broke a belt. I did take the belt out and measure to the right length and put a 2 feet piece in. Square the ends off on the belts put the new fasteners on and put back in.

I did it my self as my baler uses these.



I use the Alligator tool as Jltrent shows and just cut the damaged piece out and replace it. I like to make the spliced in piece at least 2 feet long though so the splices aren't too close together.
How do you get along using the Alligator splicing tool?

I have a belt that I pulled the ends off last fall and need to repair. I still remember the raping I got having JD repair the last belt I broke.
 
How do you get along using the Alligator splicing tool?

I have a belt that I pulled the ends off last fall and need to repair. I still remember the raping I got having JD repair the last belt I broke.
It's a 'must have' tool. It's easy to use. I don't take the belt out of the baler to repair, just open the tailgate and slack the belts off. Unthread the belt off the tailgate rollers to give enough to work with. The splices are expensive, so if your belts are getting rotten it's better to just replace.
 
It's a 'must have' tool. It's easy to use. I don't take the belt out of the baler to repair, just open the tailgate and slack the belts off. Unthread the belt off the tailgate rollers to give enough to work with. The splices are expensive, so if your belts are getting rotten it's better to just replace.
I agree they are expensive as they will work on any belt 7" or less unless you have the real wide tool. I take a center punch and hit each rivet to make sure they are sunk good and braded on the other end good. THe first one I put in I put back on the tool and used the punch and gave it a little more lick. I keep a piece of extra belt and a couple splicing ends to fix one if in a bind.

To repair a belt it takes about $50 in parts not including the extra piece of belt. About every 2000 bales I change the pins out also ( probably sooner would be better). They get bent/broken/worn and are a pain to get out and can damage the lace if not in good shape.

Here is a splice


Here is the tool with a splice.

 
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Get a NH with endless belts and forget about splicing belts and changing pins. 20k bales thru the last NH endless belt baler and 6k thru this one and have yet to touch a belt.

I have a spare belt and an alligator splicer tool around here buts it's been so long since I've seen it I forgot what it looks like. Lol
 
It's a 'must have' tool. It's easy to use. I don't take the belt out of the baler to repair, just open the tailgate and slack the belts off. Unthread the belt off the tailgate rollers to give enough to work with. The splices are expensive, so if your belts are getting rotten it's better to just replace.
I was baling hay that hadn't dried on the bottom from in places from a rain and it was pulling hard at times is what I think broke it, It was roll it or let the hay get wet again.
 
It's a 'must have' tool. It's easy to use. I don't take the belt out of the baler to repair, just open the tailgate and slack the belts off. Unthread the belt off the tailgate rollers to give enough to work with. The splices are expensive, so if your belts are getting rotten it's better to just replace.
I bought a full set of belts for the old JD 535 last year at Peavy Mart. Exact same diamond pattern belt as JD uses. They cost $320 and $340 each for short and long.
 
I bought a full set of belts for the old JD 535 last year at Peavy Mart. Exact same diamond pattern belt as JD uses. They cost $320 and $340 each for short and long.
Did they sell them by the belt? I've run into it with Westward Parts that I can get cheaper replacement belts but they'll sell a complete set only. We have a Peavy Mart a couple hrs away though.
 
Did they sell them by the belt? I've run into it with Westward Parts that I can get cheaper replacement belts but they'll sell a complete set only. We have a Peavy Mart a couple hrs away though.
Yes, they did sell indivisually.
 
I'm leaning towards one more year out of my baler. End of last season a piece of tpost cost me three belts. I replaced all belts the winter before.
When I ordered the belts the salesman acted like it was a suicide mission to just replace 3. What say you CT . Do I need to pull the other 4 and check measurement s.... cause I'd rather not..lol
When purchasing less than a set of belts you need to know the length of the belts you are not replacing. Take for instance JD535 baler factory specs are 7 x 525 & 7 x 531. If only one of the either the short or long belts are 3' different that the factory specs and you put on a factory spec belt either Alligator or MATO lacing you risk damaging the new belt(s) because they will be lose and could contact the starter roller, turning in the opposite direction of the belts, and it will catch the lacing and take all or part of the lacing off the end of the belt. Belts work together as a set. In this case the best choice is to add a section in the short belt taking it to the factor spec. 1-2" is the tolerance on all vertical chambers.
The baler would work with all belts 10" short but all belts need to be 10" short from the factory specs. Also it not a good idea to bale a full bale if your belts are more shorter than 4" factory. Belts get shorter with age. If a belt length has stretcher in a relaxed state, its internal construction has been compromised and it will not track properly. Belts will not stretch uniformly.
 
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Did they sell them by the belt? I've run into it with Westward Parts that I can get cheaper replacement belts but they'll sell a complete set only. We have a Peavy Mart a couple hrs away though.
Not trying to make this look like a baler belt advertisement but usbalerbelts.com will sell you 1 or a 100 or anything in between from the OEM factory supplier.
 
I agree they are expensive as they will work on any belt 7" or less unless you have the real wide tool. I take a center punch and hit each rivet to make sure they are sunk good and braded on the other end good. THe first one I put in I put back on the tool and used the punch and gave it a little more lick. I keep a piece of extra belt and a couple splicing ends to fix one if in a bind.

To repair a belt it takes about $50 in parts not including the extra piece of belt. About every 2000 bales I change the pins out also ( probably sooner would be better). They get bent/broken/worn and are a pain to get out and can damage the lace if not in good shape.

Here is a splice


Here is the tool with a splice.

I have a lacer and laces on hand now, Thanks everyone for their advice. I'll have to get the belt repaired, we'll probably being putting hay up the end of the month.
 

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