Who’s getting hay equipment prepped?

[thepumpguysc]

I’ve been REALLY BUSY the last 2 weeks and so far, no end in sight..
Everyone went to start their machines after sitting all winter and they won’t start..
So my phone starts ringing..
I KNOW I’ve done at least 6, 4020 inj pumps and a handful of 950’s & more on the way..

 

[Hay Dude]

Some bearings are easy, others make you wonder what a designer/engineer was thinking when they designed it.

Oh don’t get me started on engineers.
I think one of the last sentences my dear old dad muttered before he died was “engineers should be forced to repair or replace everything they design”.
Probably be mine, too.

 

[WinterDeere]

Oh don’t get me started on engineers.
I think one of the last sentences my dear old dad muttered before he died was “engineers should be forced to repair or replace everything they design”.
Probably be mine, too.

This is going to sound xenophobic, because it is, but it's true. I have worked with engineers from maybe three dozen different countries, and have concluded that America has led the world in design and manufacturing since the inter-war period, because we grew up working on bicycles, farm equipment and hot rods.

I have worked with absolutely brilliant guys from China and India, way smarter than me in many ways, but most of them couldn't design their way out of a wet corrugated box with a sharp knife in one hand. Just as reading teaches you grammar and vocabulary, working on things designed by others and yourself teaches you the vocabulary of good design.

 

[CH4Ohio]

Lineman North Florida:
Some bearings are easy, others make you wonder what a designer/engineer was thinking when they designed it.



I spent about 6 hours changing the cutter drive belt on a haybine yesterday. First time I've changed one. Have to remove quite a bit of stuff including taking the gear box loose and sliding it out from the machine so you can slide the new belt in and around it. Not that bad really, but it seems like there would be an easier way to change a belt . . .
Now that I've done it, I could do another in about 2 hours. (By the time it's needed again, I'll probably forget what I learned and spend another half day on it.)

I have to shout out New Holland belts though. I noticed a big chunk missing on it last September on a final cutting of about 12 acres. Didn't have time to change it so crossed my fingers and ran it. It held together and was still working when I took it off yesterday.

Don't know how you guys are able to keep up with the maintenance on that big equipment! This old haybine and a small square baler are as much as I want to fool with anymore. Glad I'm not relying on hay to buy groceries -- we'd starve.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Lineman North Florida:
Some bearings are easy, others make you wonder what a designer/engineer was thinking when they designed it.



I spent about 6 hours changing the cutter drive belt on a haybine yesterday. First time I've changed one. Have to remove quite a bit of stuff including taking the gear box loose and sliding it out from the machine so you can slide the new belt in and around it. Not that bad really, but it seems like there would be an easier way to change a belt . . .
Now that I've done it, I could do another in about 2 hours. (By the time it's needed again, I'll probably forget what I learned and spend another half day on it.)

I have to shout out New Holland belts though. I noticed a big chunk missing on it last September on a final cutting of about 12 acres. Didn't have time to change it so crossed my fingers and ran it. It held together and was still working when I took it off yesterday.

Don't know how you guys are able to keep up with the maintenance on that big equipment! This old haybine and a small square baler are as much as I want to fool with anymore. Glad I'm not relying on hay to buy groceries -- we'd starve.

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Belts are one of those things that can surprise you as to how long they will last being all cracked and thread bearing, I remember when I first started seeing serpentine belts on early 90's Chevrolet trucks and upfront I thought it would be a terrible idea for everything to run off of one belt but I was wrong, they seem to last on and on and can be changed in a matter of minutes with only a pull handle to ease off the tensioner. P.S. nice clean shop area that you have to work in.

 

[CH4Ohio]

Belts are one of those things that can surprise you as to how long they will last being all cracked and thread bearing, I remember when I first started seeing serpentine belts on early 90's Chevrolet trucks and upfront I thought it would be a terrible idea for everything to run off of one belt but I was wrong, they seem to last on and on and can be changed in a matter of minutes with only a pull handle to ease off the tensioner. P.S. nice clean shop area that you have to work in.

You are right about belts. Sometimes they’ll hang on by a thread.

Thanks on the shop …. Not really organized yet but nice to be inside and dry.

 

[Hay Dude]

I prefer double & triple belts. One breaks, the others will get you home

 

[WinterDeere]

I prefer double & triple belts. One breaks, the others will get you home

As long as the broken one doesn't jam up the works and take out their partner(s)!

On belt-driven woodworking machinery, where belt lengths are shorter, we have to buy doubles and triples in matched sets. If you don't it's pretty common to find one belt is tight while the one next to it is loose and slipping.

What this means is that, on a triple-belted machine, you're usually stuck buying 3 new belts when one fails. Maybe that's less an issue on the longer belts used with ag equipment?

 

[CH4Ohio]

As long as the broken one doesn't jam up the works and take out their partner(s)!

On belt-driven woodworking machinery, where belt lengths are shorter, we have to buy doubles and triples in matched sets. If you don't it's pretty common to find one belt is tight while the one next to it is loose and slipping.

What this means is that, on a triple-belted machine, you're usually stuck buying 3 new belts when one fails. Maybe that's less an issue on the longer belts used with ag equipment?

Or do they have independent tensioners?? I don't know . . . interesting point . . .

 

[Hay Dude]

I had a have a Pottinger mower with a triple belt. One broke, then a few months later the second belt broke.
I limped through a couple hundred acres with just one belt. Had 3 new belts at the shop, just wanted to see how long it’d go on one lol

 

[WinterDeere]

How bad did it slip, as the number of drive belts reduced? At least in shop machinery, the reason for 3 belts has everything to do with power transfer (a given belt can only handle so much torque and horsepower), and very little to do with redundancy.

I'd guess on equipment used out in the field, redundancy may be more of a consideration in the minds of the designers, as you're not operating in the same room as a handy tool chest and spare belts.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

You are right about belts. Sometimes they’ll hang on by a thread.

Thanks on the shop …. Not really organized yet but nice to be inside and dry.

Seems like I always end up working on something right in the dirt LOL.

 

[CH4Ohio]

Seems like I always end up working on something right in the dirt LOL.

I can relate to that!

Been trying to be more aggressive with my preventive maintenance. Like the tires on that haybine -- both hold air and might run for another 10 years. BUT the sidewalls are cracked bad and while airing them up I was leaning way back, off to the side, and squinting at the gauge with my head turned . . . Normally I'd just run them till they give out, but yesterday I ordered a couple of tires online that should arrive Monday.

It's getting harder all the time to roll around in the dirt and gravel to fix breakdowns -- and to scramble for parts and repairs on weekends and late afternoons. Plus everything's just going to be more expensive later. Well worth it if it prevents one tire change out in the field!

 

[Hay Dude]

I don’t mess with bad tires. Probably because I’ve seen what happens when they blow out. Cracked sidewalls is a non starter for me as we are pulling equipment down the road.

 

[CliffordK]

Well, diving into the haying prep a little bit late.

Mom has had a neighbor cutting her hay for many years. And what he charges her is almost the entire value of the hay.

Anyway, the guy apparently decided to burn some old hay next to his barn last week and didn't manage to get the fire all the way out before he headed off to the next project, only to return to a pile of ashes where there once was a barn. He had his round bale equipment out in the field, but lost the square bale equipment. And the insurance company is claiming they insured the structure, and not the equipment. I don't know what will happen with that, but there will be a looming battle to get reimbursed. I think he has been wanting out of the square bale business for quite some time, I and decided to drop them.

I still don't know why he would be burning old hay but if they were round bales, it could have been quite a bit of burning.

So I now have about a week to go from not much to fully operational haying.

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

I think the core will be about 25 acres. I may pick up some odd jobs once I am comfortable. A new thread soon. The plan is to do it in 3 pretty much separate batches to not get too far ahead of myself.

 

[Hay Dude]

I am getting concerned my balers CV joint on the main driveshaft is starting to go. It’s wobbling a bit more than I like, despite regular greasing. This will be the 2nd or 3rd time.
I’m suspicious that the previous owner might have thrown a smaller/or the wrong CV joint on it just to sell it and I’ve been replacing the wrong CV joint. I only seem to get a few thousand bales off of it and it starts wobbling.
And no, I don’t do a lot of tight turning. At least it doesn’t seem like a lot….

 

[repete]

Equipment coming out today for cutting this weekend.

 

[5030]

Did that last fall prior to storing it for the winter. I opreate under the philosophy.. It don't break in the barn To insure of that, it all gets serviced prior to putting it.

Just hook up the hydraulics, plug in the computer, attach the PTO and go to work.

 

[5030]

I am getting concerned my balers CV joint on the main driveshaft is starting to go. It’s wobbling a bit more than I like, despite regular greasing. This will be the 2nd or 3rd time.
I’m suspicious that the previous owner might have thrown a smaller/or the wrong CV joint on it just to sell it and I’ve been replacing the wrong CV joint. I only seem to get a few thousand bales off of it and it starts wobbling.
And no, I don’t do a lot of tight turning. At least it doesn’t seem like a lot….

Learned long ago that buying used equipment is buying someone elses's problems most times... Especially complex equipment. Now you can make your usual disparaging comments...

 

[Tx Jim]

I think the difference between purchasing new or used equipment is the persons ability to repair or supervise repairs vs having to have dealer repair. IMHO New equipment built today is not near as reliable as equipment built several yrs ago. The metal doesn't seem tom be as good. I only purchased very few pieces of farm equipment in the 35yrs of custom farming. I've never purchased a new tractor. My main tractor is a '91 4255 I purchased used in Feb '93 with 2847 hrs on speed/hr meter & it now has 12,000 hrs on speed/hr meter. I wouldn't be afraid to put my 4255 in the field beside a new 120 hp tractor.