1033 Bale Wagon Hydraulic Conversion????

Hiawatha22 · Mar 1, 2012

I have been lurking here over the past month and just have to say this is a great site. I bought a 1033 bale wagon the other day, will be delivered this weekend. I have never owned one or ran one. The machine was in very good shape however I was not aware that the cylinders were controlled by the rods extending from the front of the unit above the hitch. This was a bit of a show stopper for me because I was planning to run this behind a jd 4450 (cab). I was thinking I could somehow modify the controls to fit to where I can reach them out the window although I would have to be careful with turning. But my bigger question is has anyone ever just tapped into the cylinders/lines and ran hyd hose right to the tractor???? Is there any harm in this? Anyone know someone who has done this I could get in contact with?
I don't necessarily want to swap out all of the lines but the cylinder that works the first load table is going to be a pain to have to try and reach that thing through a cab every few bales. I guess if I did reroute them all there would be no need for the pto then. Any suggestions other than picking up an older no cab tractor? Any help, advice or contact suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

whodat526 · Mar 1, 2012

the loading decks or controled automaticly just have to use the handles to unload it

Hiawatha22 · Mar 1, 2012

hmmm ok this was not the way it was explained to me by the owner unless I completely misunderstood him. My understanding was once the first load table was full (10 or so bales/not sure) I had to pull the load table lever to stand the stack up and move it to the large back table.

zzvyb6 · Mar 1, 2012

I have a 1012 (less capacity than yours, but the general operation is the same. The bales are loaded onto the first table coming out of the ground chute. When the first table is full, a sense lever trips this table riser to load the bales onto the second table, etc. When the second table is full, it rises up to push the second table contents into the bale storage compartment (third table). A rack on the third table retreats 1 layer at a time and is controlled by friction. Spikes on the top crossbar keep the vertical layer from falling back onto the second table. This goes on until it is full.

The rod levers activate the main stack elevation, when its time to dump the load, next is the second table raising in case you want to secure the whole load for transport over bumpy terrain (jostling the machine can sometimes cause some bales to fall back onto you). Next is the manual chute raising. This is not a good design on my machine, so I replaced this with a hydraulic cylinder that I can control from the cab. Sometimes a bale will stick in the chute and having the cylinder jiggle it frees it up. I leave the cylinder in float when in operation, so it can follow the ground terrain.

There are two things that you can do to make this go very smoothly. Add a caster wheel to the chute so it follows the ground terrain. Otherwise, sometimes the chute will dig in to the ground and possible bend the mechanism, and sometimes the chute will be too high off the ground to grab a bale.

Lastly, age or daydreaming causes me to loose track of when the machine is full. My tractor has grab handles on the fenders so I slipped some plastic rings over the handle on the left side. When the second table raises, I push a ring forward. When I'm out of rings, its full. There is a kit with a bell available that rings when its full, too. But you must be able to hear it.

Yes, its handy to pull the dump lever from the tractor so you may want to lengthen it so you can reach out the back window to pull it. However, You still need to dismount in order to advance the stack support bar back to the front and to check the machine for other situations that might come up.

zzvyb6 · Mar 1, 2012

I forgot to mention: Maybe the previous owner WAS having trouble because the second table trip was not adjusted correctly. There is a rod that's on the back corner of the second table that senses when its full. That should cause it to automatically raise up. If that's not the case, you can also manually raise the second table to load the stack onto the third table. All you need to do is adjust the trip rod for length and position.

BTW: You may have to make some adjustments on your baler to get bale lengths appropriate for first table filling. If they are too long to fit 3 bales (on the 1033), the end ones will get busticated when they are stuffed up onto the third table. It all works best when the bales are average or better weight, too. If they are light or loosly packed, they could be a problem.

Once I 'only' got 100 or so bales out of a field that I should have gotten many, many more. Turns out that they weight about 140 lbs. The machine could care less. Only the customer on the receiving end complained about them being too heavy to manage in their barn. Since I sell by the bale, your income may vary!

Hiawatha22 · Mar 1, 2012

Thanks for the help. I was under the impression once the loading table was full I had to manually lift it with those long levers. If that table lifts to the final table automaically then my worries are over (well on that issue). I am getting it home and goign to have it in the shop for a few weeks and go through it all. Might take it over to a welder/fabicator and have him beef up the chute as well as it is starting to wear bad at the bottom. A castor wheel might be a good idea as I was thinking about that also. Most of my land if pretty flat but if you were to be day dreaming and go on a side hill I could see how that chute could get dug in or be too high.

As for baler adjustments, not a problem yet as I have no baler. WWill be haying in about 3 years so I am buying in little bits now and over the next few years. Last time I used a neighbors nh not sure what model and made about 60-lb bales not overly big but packed tight.

Lonnie Haack · Mar 3, 2012

Hiawatha22 said:
I have been lurking here over the past month and just have to say this is a great site. I bought a 1033 bale wagon the other day, will be delivered this weekend. I have never owned one or ran one. The machine was in very good shape however I was not aware that the cylinders were controlled by the rods extending from the front of the unit above the hitch. This was a bit of a show stopper for me because I was planning to run this behind a jd 4450 (cab). I was thinking I could somehow modify the controls to fit to where I can reach them out the window although I would have to be careful with turning. But my bigger question is has anyone ever just tapped into the cylinders/lines and ran hyd hose right to the tractor???? Is there any harm in this? Anyone know someone who has done this I could get in contact with?
I don't necessarily want to swap out all of the lines but the cylinder that works the first load table is going to be a pain to have to try and reach that thing through a cab every few bales. I guess if I did reroute them all there would be no need for the pto then. Any suggestions other than picking up an older no cab tractor? Any help, advice or contact suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

The only control that you have to worry about is the control that operates the bale loader. The NH 1033 should have come with a remote cable with a lever that you mount on your fender inside the cab. That way you can operate the bale loader without having to reach out the cab window to operate the control rods. all the other controls are basicly automatic. when the first table get 3 bales on it will automaticly trip and place the bales to second table. when the second table is full it will automaticly trip and place the load to the load rack. The only time you will operate the control rods before unloading is activating the auto tie mechanism. When you are ready to unload the load you will then operate the control rods to operate the unloading functions. If you do not have the remote control lever I sell them as a kit for $250. Also I can provide a full remote kit that will operate all functions in your tractor cab. If you have any questions or need parts feel free to call me at 406-883-2118. I have been operating and rebuilding New Holland bale wagons since 1968. Sod Buster Sales Inc.- New Holland Used Bale Wagons

Hiawatha22 · Mar 4, 2012

It has that lever that mounts on the fender to adjust the speed of your pickup so I should be good there. I know this machine had the auto tie feature however I am not 100% sure on what exactly that is. The guy I bought it off of is looking for the manual but if he can't find it I will buy one online, that really is step one as I will probably answer most of my own questions.