Baler goes on the DL for 2022 Hay Season. That's it, all she wrote, nada, zilch............................ A 5000# paperweight in a matter of seconds.
Have to get a new roller rolled at the fab place, then make ends for it, and weld some expanded to the surface for traction. It's a Winter job.
Or..........get a used roller for around $900-$1500. Which in all likelihood, is just as ready to cave in.
Damn shame. Got the kinks out of the baling problems, and was cruisin' right along when it broke.
I looked at Krone balers. THEY USE CHAINS INSTEAD OF BELTS, AND DON'T HAVE THOUSANDS OF ROLLERS. Zee Germans have it goin' on!!!! They took a page from New Holland when they were in their heyday.
My old NH 846 was the most reliable baler on the planet. A CHAIN BALER. This belt BS is for the birds.
Doing the numbers, and it might just pay to get some new floor chains for the NH 846, and get it back in the field after all these years. About $800 worth of floor chains, and guides. I replaced all ALL of the bearings on the machine before one of the chains snapped on the floor. So, it's basically a rebuilt machine just sitting there gathering dust. Only thing it needs is a new apron chain, but I might be able to coax it through the last 80 acres.
Dump the belt baler for what I can get for it, and call it a day. Or keep it, fix it, and keep both balers as redundancy. There's nothing worse than stuff falling apart when hay is on the ground.
The 846 relies on simple sprocket gears for all drives. No rollers, just sprockets carrying the apron chain. A new apron chain is only about $1000
Can't get the sprockets anymore, but any monkey with a CNC mill can make a sprocket. Hell, I might even be able to do the cuts with a custom ground half forming tool. My little mill has too fast of a low speed range, and won't handle sprocket cutters. If you use a rotary table with some imagination, a regular end mill might suffice for the simple cuts.
A chain baler will bale ANYTHING. Dry hay that's so dry it shatters. Wet hay that would ball up any other baler except a "haylage" baler. The damn things just WORK
@farmersammm you have the worst luck I've ever seen.... worse than myself.
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All I can say.................I wish you better luck. You seem to be a decent sort. Anyways.........it is what it is I guess. K'kins, and I, did some noodling, and we think the old machine might be the way to go on this one...............then she took off for the casino She's had a lousy weekend, what with all this, and needs a break. I hope she has a decent run.
Sometimes it's best to just take off and do something for fun, whatever that may be.
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I agree. My greatest fear is losing her. If she needs a break, I'm all for it, and keep my mouth shut. I'm not a gambler(He says, while messing with stocks).
I've tried going to the casino with her, but wind up just sitting at the bar, not enjoying myself. It's just not my thing. But she sure loves it, and because of that, I love it from a distance. Ya know what I mean?
I agree. My greatest fear is losing her. If she needs a break, I'm all for it, and keep my mouth shut. I'm not a gambler(He says, while messing with stocks).
I've tried going to the casino with her, but wind up just sitting at the bar, not enjoying myself. It's just not my thing. But she sure loves it, and because of that, I love it from a distance. Ya know what I mean?
Surprised y’all have hay to cut. It better get to raining fast in North Georgia if I’m going to get the JD 435 out for a 2nd cutting this year. Not looking promising so far.
@farmersammm you have the worst luck I've ever seen.... worse than myself.
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LOL I don't reckon that's 100% accurate. The thing is, people only like to remember the highlights. Whether that be good or bad, I guess that might depend on the persons mindset at the time. Same deal with the forum. I might post a thing about something awesome I did the other day (don't go looking, I didn't ), but I'm sure as heck not going to waste my and y'all's time talking about the the boring stuff like taking out the trash. Ya know what I mean?
bad luck sam, guess you can get the old chain baler out of retirement though?
Over here no-one will touch an old chain baler. It's belts or rollers all the way. Used to be belts for straw/hay, rollers for silage, but the last decade of machines have been pretty good at both.
It wasn't even the belts that bust on your machine, and you're still blaming the belts! What?!
Murphy's Golden Rule: Whoever has the gold, makes the rules.
bad luck sam, guess you can get the old chain baler out of retirement though?
Over here no-one will touch an old chain baler. It's belts or rollers all the way. Used to be belts for straw/hay, rollers for silage, but the last decade of machines have been pretty good at both.
It wasn't even the belts that bust on your machine, and you're still blaming the belts! What?!
In our part of the country, you won’t find a chain baler. I guess all my neighbors must be lying about the reliability and production of their belt balers.
If old school is best, and taking care of things is old school, would taking care of things be best?
bad luck sam, guess you can get the old chain baler out of retirement though?
Over here no-one will touch an old chain baler. It's belts or rollers all the way. Used to be belts for straw/hay, rollers for silage, but the last decade of machines have been pretty good at both.
It wasn't even the belts that bust on your machine, and you're still blaming the belts! What?!
Not blaming the belts,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,blaming the extreme number of forming rollers that are required to start the bale, and form it. You don't have all those rollers on a chain baler.
I will concede that the old 846 won't make a particularly tight bale, and it runs slower................but it's reliable.
Had I known what to look for, I probably wouldn't have bought the belt baler. The rollers are all pinholed. It had never been stored inside, or tarped, I imagine. I really never noticed until I started working with the thing. It was a Craigslist fast buy to make it through that season. Should have sold it off after that season. That's on me.
In all fairness.......it makes beautiful bales, and can run in heavy windrows at around 6mph. The old 846 won't do that. I gotta admit I was really groovin' yesterday.......zippin' along, spittin' out nice bales every few minutes.
We put out a few feelers to get someone to roll the hay after I cut, and rake, it. They all want nearly as much as if they did the entire job. K'kins might know somebody who will be more reasonable. This is the land of get-rich-quick............folks are quick to take advantage. God forbid you ever have an auto accident here. They come after you with everything they can think of. People can be like that in a poor state.
Surprised y’all have hay to cut. It better get to raining fast in North Georgia if I’m going to get the JD 435 out for a 2nd cutting this year. Not looking promising so far.
Our weather patterns are changing here. Heavy rains in the very early Spring, then another round of heavy rains in late August. If the weather holds in the Fall, you can get another cutting of Johnson Grass clear up into October.
And..........we're not seeing the tornadoes that we used to. They've shifted further East into Arkansas, and Northeast into Missouri. We still get quite a few, but far less than we used to.
Buy the part, fix it. 2 broke bailers not as good as 1 that works.
Mine is old and slow but after I reman it which was a huge learning curve I store it inside, use it 1 day a year, spose something could break but it would be local. Whole thing not worn out.
Buy the part, fix it. 2 broke bailers not as good as 1 that works.
Mine is old and slow but after I reman it which was a huge learning curve I store it inside, use it 1 day a year, spose something could break but it would be local. Whole thing not worn out.
Been calling salvage yards across the country this morning. It's a no go The baler was built in the early 90's.
The fab buy can roll up to 10ga to a minimum diameter of 8". I took a look at the broken roller...........it's probably 14ga to 12ga max. Cheap as they could make it. The diameter is around 12". So, that's definitely a go. $85/hr + the cost of the steel. Pretty reasonable,, all things considered.
Roll it out to original diameter minus the thickness of small size expanded metal, and I gots me a new roller. The ends are solid caps with stub shafts that fit in the bearings............very doable on the lathe if they're cooked.
Gotta remember........... Aside from the rust damage, I'm not sure what made the roller break. There might be a seized bearing, or other problem somewhere in the drivetrain for the set of rollers(I believe the assembly has about 4-5 rollers)
Well... if you aren't happy with the belt baler, get the guy to roll you out the new metal, fix the roller, finish out the season, sell it and use the money to rebuild the old chain baler....
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Well... if you aren't happy with the belt baler, get the guy to roll you out the new metal, fix the roller, finish out the season, sell it and use the money to rebuild the old chain baler....
I want a Krone Fortima...............but I'd also like to be a handsome dood................ya kin see how that worked out
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Originally Posted by IAMsteelworker
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), but I'm sure as heck not going to waste my and y'all's time talking about the the boring stuff like taking out the trash. Ya know what I mean?
The baler was built in the early 90's.