question for hay balers

[bbirder]

I have a person who makes hay on my property. I find that his round bales are not rolled tight. After sitting awhile they seem to get flat and fall apart. He has a new baler, altho I can't say right now what brand it is. What could he possibly be doing wrong. I've been told by others that he is not turning enough RPM's to roll it tight. Any thoughts from those of you that do this regularly.

 

[dun]

Lose belts, tension not set correctly, hay to wet when baled,...........................

 

[1982vett]

Light bales = more bales = more $

Lose belts, tension not set correctly, hay to wet when baled,...........................

Or poor baling technique.

 

[Angus Cowman]

Light bales = more bales = more $

Lose belts, tension not set correctly, hay to wet when baled,...........................

Or poor baling technique.

all of the above
Maybe not enough HP to run the baler properly
more than likely he doesn't have his tension set high enough

 

[Jogeephus]

Ditto everything said.

 

[upfrombottom]

Light bales = more bales = more $

Lose belts, tension not set correctly, hay to wet when baled,...........................

Or poor baling technique.

Belt tensioner not set right is first thought, technique is more of a possibility. He could be turning enough RPMs on the baler but running in to high a gear or feeding it to fast, depends on what he is baling as to whether he needs to slow down or adjust the tension. I've had some types of grasses where no matter how tight I baled them they would squat but they never fell apart, If they are falling apart he probably needs to tighten the string tensioner also.

 

[danbrady]

My roller is the 1st model New Holland came out with, I REALLY want a newer one, but I have to stay within my shoestring budget. I can make good rolls, but I find they keep a better shape when I use more string than it really takes. They also hold up better during a rough trip back to the barn. Hope this helps, some folks try to save a nickel on string, but I find it saves me in the long run to use more.

 

[bbirder]

Thanks for all the replies. Profit is not the answer as he doesn't charge me for the baling. I own the property and have a few head of cattle. He cuts and bales the property and I keep 15-20 bales for my own use . He gets about 200-300 round bales for his use. He runs about 150 cows. He bot a new baler last year and I have watched him baling. He definetely does not go too fast but maybe his tensioning or belts need adjusting. I hate to mention this to him as I am not affected except for having to handle loose bales. He has to handle many more. If i knew for sure what the problem was I would probably mention it to him. The grass is Bahia. Maybe I will suggest that he have the dealer that he bought from come out to the field and see what is happening. :???:

 

[Angus Cowman]

maybe mention to him that his new baler doesn't seem to be baling as solid of a bale as his old one and maybee the dealer needs tocome out and do some adjusting on it

what color is his baler

 

[novatech]

On some new balers they recomend baling loose until a break in period is done.

 

[bbirder]

maybe mention to him that his new baler doesn't seem to be baling as solid of a bale as his old one and maybee the dealer needs tocome out and do some adjusting on it

what color is his baler

Can't remember. He'll be out here in the next month. I seem to think it's a New Holland.

 

[Angus Cowman]

maybe mention to him that his new baler doesn't seem to be baling as solid of a bale as his old one and maybee the dealer needs tocome out and do some adjusting on it

what color is his baler

Can't remember. He'll be out here in the next month. I seem to think it's a New Holland.

If it is a NH I would say he doesn't have his hyd pressure on the baler for the bale tension set high enough
I run mine at no less than 1600psi on the gauge on the front of the baler and usually run around the 1800-2000psi mark

 

[kickinbull]

We have a 4 x 4 NH roller. Sometimes if we run ground speed real fast putting a lot of hay in quickly, the rolls are soft. Slowing the ground speed then seems to pack/hay better. We also use 2 times the recommended amount of twine. It makes them a lot tighter. But that's our situation, I'd be sure to tell him his roller is not doing a crappy job(ha ha , maybe put it differently)

 

[dun]

You could diplomaticly ask him why the bales are so soft

 

[IluvABbeef]

I wonder if it would matter if the baler is a hard core baler versus soft core?

 

[SRBeef]

A place to start is what size are the bales and what do they weigh?

I just finished picking up the last of my 5' x 6' dia bales for the winter. These weigh about 1600 lb and are so tight I can hardly get the wrapper spear in them unless I have a row of them behind to hold as I ram the nearest one.

On a 5x6 I would look for 1500 lb bales. "Soft" "loose" "tight" are subjective terms. Weight is not. jmho.

Jim

 

[johndeerefarmer]

John Deere had a problem a few years ago with the netwrap getting tore from the building up of loose hay in the back gate of the baler. They advised us to shift up a gear and slow down rpms to 1500-1800. First question I asked was, won't the bale be less dense? I was told "no" by three different JD folks and two were factory reps.
To me it just makes common sense that if you lower rpms, you lower hydraulic pressure so bales should be less dense. I guess I need to weigh some and find out (the baler doesn't have an adjustment for density ,it is fixed - 457 baler) The only way lowering rpms wouldn't matter would be if the baler has a pressure regulator which is set for a pressure equal to or less than what the tractor produces at 1500 rpm.

Oh, I forgot JD says that the density of the bale is mainly due to the sides of the bale rubbing against the sides of the baler. :shock:

 

[Angus Cowman]

John Deere had a problem a few years ago with the netwrap getting tore from the building up of loose hay in the back gate of the baler. They advised us to shift up a gear and slow down rpms to 1500-1800. First question I asked was, won't the bale be less dense? I was told "no" by three different JD folks and two were factory reps.
To me it just makes common sense that if you lower rpms, you lower hydraulic pressure so bales should be less dense. I guess I need to weigh some and find out (the baler doesn't have an adjustment for density ,it is fixed - 457 baler) The only way lowering rpms wouldn't matter would be if the baler has a pressure regulator which is set for a pressure equal to or less than what the tractor produces at 1500 rpm.

Oh, I forgot JD says that the density of the bale is mainly due to the sides of the bale rubbing against the sides of the baler. :shock:

thats a new one for me also

The NH balers have a hydraulic tension system where you set the pressure that you want and turn the valve off and it maintains that pressure

does your JD not have any springs to hold tension on the belts

I have never heard of a baler where you couldn't adjust the bale pressure or tension

 

[dun]

I have never heard of a baler where you couldn't adjust the bale pressure or tension

Here's what I learned from experience (frustrating and expensive) with JD balers and the belt tension. The belt tension has a setting but it can;t be set correctly if either of the tension cylinders or either of the gate cylinders leak. It will make a mushy soft bale that you can stick a fist half way through (further if you have longer arms)

 

[johndeerefarmer]

John Deere had a problem a few years ago with the netwrap getting tore from the building up of loose hay in the back gate of the baler. They advised us to shift up a gear and slow down rpms to 1500-1800. First question I asked was, won't the bale be less dense? I was told "no" by three different JD folks and two were factory reps.
To me it just makes common sense that if you lower rpms, you lower hydraulic pressure so bales should be less dense. I guess I need to weigh some and find out (the baler doesn't have an adjustment for density ,it is fixed - 457 baler) The only way lowering rpms wouldn't matter would be if the baler has a pressure regulator which is set for a pressure equal to or less than what the tractor produces at 1500 rpm.

Oh, I forgot JD says that the density of the bale is mainly due to the sides of the bale rubbing against the sides of the baler. :shock:

thats a new one for me also

The NH balers have a hydraulic tension system where you set the pressure that you want and turn the valve off and it maintains that pressure

does your JD not have any springs to hold tension on the belts

I have never heard of a baler where you couldn't adjust the bale pressure or tension

Both my previous JD 335 4x4' and my current 457 4x5 have both springs and cylinders. Both have a fixed pressure regulator. I could have paid extra for an adjustable regulator but saw no use for it as I don't want soft core bales.