Add hydraulic cyl to balewagon

johnb01 · Nov 7, 2016

Hello all
1st time poster, long time looker.. wow lots of data here
anyway, just acquired a small balewagon, with a broken pulley to
lift and lower the balewagons feed head.. Was wondering if i could
mount a cylinder to raise and lower the feed head from my 5610 ford
tractors hyd controls..i attached a couple of pics..
I currently have to manually do it..getting to heavy after 1 season
thanks if you could help. not sure what to get .. looks like a 24 inch arch swing
can a cylinder make an arc ?
thanks
john

zzvyb6 · Nov 7, 2016

Not a problem. I added a 1 way cylinder to my 1012 and could not live without it. I run it with one of my loader outlets. I also put a caster wheel on the pickup chute so it floats with the ground instead of drop-hanging from the frame.

I'll get you a picture with parts spec tomorrow.

johnb01 · Nov 7, 2016

thanks zzvyb6
I like your idea of caster on the feed chute.. if you could show me a picture of were you
mounted and the type of caster also..
please show me,with a pic, were you mounted the cylinder for the feed chute.. type, bore, stroke..
dumb question does a 1 way go out and back with my tractor hyd..
thanks zzvy
john

zzvyb6 · Nov 8, 2016

johnb01 said:
thanks zzvyb6
I like your idea of caster on the feed chute.. if you could show me a picture of were you
mounted and the type of caster also..
please show me,with a pic, were you mounted the cylinder for the feed chute.. type, bore, stroke..
dumb question does a 1 way go out and back with my tractor hyd..
thanks zzvy
john

Heres my setup. Lust a plain old 2" cylinder. 1-way (pull). Gravity does the return, so you only need one outlet line.

The caster is also just a simple machinery part. Keep it large enough to keep from digging in and also to keep the chute at a working space off the ground.

johnb01 · Nov 8, 2016

thanks much zzvyb6
do you remember the stroke of that cyl.. do i order a 2 way and plug one outlet..my balewagon is the
1010.. real old, but works good.. on gravity do you put your tractor valve up or down and how fast is gravity
down to caster.. also is the caster on the front part of feed..
thanks
johnb

zzvyb6 · Nov 8, 2016

johnb01 said:
thanks much zzvyb6
do you remember the stroke of that cyl.. do i order a 2 way and plug one outlet..my balewagon is the
1010.. real old, but works good.. on gravity do you put your tractor valve up or down and how fast is gravity
down to caster.. also is the caster on the front part of feed..
thanks
johnb

I'll have to look to see what stroke the cylinder is. It was a garage sale special. Pressurize the retract side. Ad a breather to the unused opposite end (Don't plug it). I use the 'UP' loader circuit to raise the chute and leave the valve/joystck in float to let the chute ride the ground profile. Gravity is fast. The caster is mounted wherever you can get some structure to hold it. Mine is at the front of the chute just behide the gathering fence.

And words of caution: Don't raise it up and disconnect the cylinder. You will never get the connection back because of the pressure in the line. If you want to store it fully raised to clear gates or keep the cylinder retracted, used a ratchet strap to hold it up, then disconnect the line. Also, don't get caught with the chute up while the first table is cycling, you are gonna bend stuff and break the shear pin in the table lift gear (or worse).

The other use for this feature is to jostle those finicky bales that just don't want to ride the chain onto the first table. Give them a jolt and they free up, all without leaving your seat.

johnb01 · Nov 8, 2016

Thanks zzvyb6
I think i got it now .. wow thanks for all that wisdom on the operation. I would have learned the hard
way without your wisdom.. I will have to wait for spring, here in southern oregon, as i have my
bale wagon put away for the year
johnb01

johnb01 · Nov 13, 2016

couple last questions zzvyb6 if i may..
my neighbor ask me why i dont use a 2 way cylinder i said i would ask..
did you ever get the stroke measurement of your cylinder..not sure what to
what cylinder to order. did you fill your cylinder before use and do i hook
it up the first time on the extended length..just wondering
thanks johnb

zzvyb6 · Nov 13, 2016

johnb01 said:
couple last questions zzvyb6 if i may..
my neighbor ask me why i dont use a 2 way cylinder i said i would ask..
did you ever get the stroke measurement of your cylinder..not sure what to
what cylinder to order. did you fill your cylinder before use and do i hook
it up the first time on the extended length..just wondering
thanks johnb

The problem being solved only requires a 1 way cylinder: 1 hose, 1 coupling, 1 connection to make. Gravity does a pretty good job of providing drop force. With the valve in float position the caster lets the chute ride the terrain/furrows.

Looks like my cylinder is about 16", but has more travel than needed. The important element in this configuration is that the chute has enough drop so the cylinder doesn't limit bale loading. No need to fill the cylinder first, the air will be displaced past the seal by the oil pressure.

I just can't come up with any reason to push down on the bale chute because the drop force times the overhang is very large. I guess if I had a neighbor who claimed you need a 2-way cylinder, I'd make sure they always stayed on their side of our fence unless she was VERY good looking, had a pleasant personalities and knew how to stack hay in a mow without a cell phone nearby.