Ford 542 baler

[Southernspeed]

I’ve finally got this baler knotting and packing bales pretty tight but ….. no matter what I try the twine is never tight around the bale. So if you pick the bale up by the two twines, it really sags.
If I put more tension on the bale as it packs it, it breaks the twine. If I put more tension on the twine feed from the twine box, it breaks twine. I have the twine tension set pretty much as manual says.
It’s as if it’s packing the bale tightly but then ties it loosely so the bale then relaxes.
Any suggestions on adjustments or did these balers just make loose bales??

 

[Hay Dude]

How old is the twine. Is it the right break strength? Are the twin tensioners set correctly?

 

[Southernspeed]

It’s new sisal twine. I forget the weight but it was the same as what was in it. I researched it at the time and it was correct. I think I have some more at the house so I’ll check later.
I tried messing with the twine tension, tightening the clamps up to see if it would help but it didn’t seem to make any difference until the point where it snapped. Same deal with adjusting the bale compression screws ( probably wrong terminology!)

 

[zzvyb6]

The baler is probably WAY out of time. Your situation can/will come up if the plunger has long retracted from the bale case when the needles rise to make a tie. This means that the compaction of a newly formed bale has released when the tie is completed. The needle pressure can NOT replace the plunger's compression ability. Most operators don't realize that the needles actually pass thru the plunger head during a tie.

To check it, roll it over by hand (easiest with all hay removed), trip the knotter, and watch the needle rise sequence. The tips should just barely follow the plunger face. Pull the chain and reset it as your manual should describe it.

If the needles rise in front of the plunger head, you risk breaking them because a charge of hay will push against them and they won't be able to clear the knotter frame, hence they get smashed.

You might have to back off the compressors once this is done because now the bale being formed will remain compacted.

 

[Southernspeed]

The baler is probably WAY out of time. Your situation can/will come up if the plunger has long retracted from the bale case when the needles rise to make a tie. This means that the compaction of a newly formed bale has released when the tie is completed. The needle pressure can NOT replace the plunger's compression ability. Most operators don't realize that the needles actually pass thru the plunger head during a tie.

To check it, roll it over by hand (easiest with all hay removed), trip the knotter, and watch the needle rise sequence. The tips should just barely follow the plunger face. Pull the chain and reset it as your manual should describe it.

If the needles rise in front of the plunger head, you risk breaking them because a charge of hay will push against them and they won't be able to clear the knotter frame, hence they get smashed.

You might have to back off the compressors once this is done because now the bale being formed will remain compacted.

Thanks for the info. I thought I’d checked everything….. several times, but can’t actually remember checking that.

 

[Southernspeed]

How old is the twine. Is it the right break strength? Are the twin tensioners set correctly?

This is what I’m using.

 

[Hay Dude]

Has you checked the tensioners that feed the knotter?

Is the twine loose immediately after bale is made, or after bales sit a while?

Is there tied bales in the chamber for the baler to push the new bale against?

Do you have the chamber doors set correctly to create pressure?

 

[Southernspeed]

Has you checked the tensioners that feed the knotter?

Is the twine loose immediately after bale is made, or after bales sit a while?

Is there tied bales in the chamber for the baler to push the new bale against?

Do you have the chamber doors set correctly to create pressure?

Yes the twine tensioner after the twine box is what I kept increasing until twine broke/ pulled from disc.
Twine is loose immediately whether there is a bale ahead of it or not.
Not sure what you mean by chamber door. I’ll have to investigate that!

 

[Hay Dude]

You can increase the bale chamber pressure. Yours may be too loose causing soft bales. Are the bales all soft? Or are the bales tight, but strings are loose?

 

[5030]

All I can say is, I'm so glad I sold my NH575 on Tractor House. Got what I asked and it's not here anymore. 4x5 rounds in net are so much easier to make, handle and in my case sell.

 

[Southernspeed]

You can increase the bale chamber pressure. Yours may be too loose causing soft bales. Are the bales all soft? Or are the bales tight, but strings are loose?

I’ve tried increasing the bale chamber pressure to point of twine breaking. The one bale before the twine broke was tied a bit tighter but still not what I’d expect. I’m going to look into a possible timing issue tomorrow if I have time. I’ll have to pull it out of the barn to get good access to it. I’m in the middle of changing rear tires on one tractor and the other has the TR3 on at the moment.
Busy! But at least it’s not been raining today, unlike where you are I imagine if you’ve been on here so much today and not working?

 

[Hay Dude]

Torrential rains for close to a week now

 

[52wej]

Southernspeed, what type of hay are you baling. Often first cutting grass hay will be on the soft side if it does not have a lot of stems. We had the same baler and the first cutting hay was never as tight as later cuttings. But that was due to the nature of the hay and not the baler. I see the same thing on short leafy hay in our older JD round baler. But once you get some stems whether orchard grass, fescue, clover, etc. the hay bales would get tighter.

But as others have suggested, check the timing. One other thing to look for and it may've already been mentioned is to look for some wedge shaped metal pieces along the side of the bale chamber. If I remember correctly there were either two or four along the sides of the bale chamber. They helped hold the hay once the plunger compacted it and kept the bales tighter. The manual should show how they are set.

Mind you it has been 40 years since I worked with that baler, but it was a solid machine and we baled thousands of bales every year with it. I also live in central VA W. Jones

 

[Southernspeed]

Southernspeed, what type of hay are you baling. Often first cutting grass hay will be on the soft side if it does not have a lot of stems. We had the same baler and the first cutting hay was never as tight as later cuttings. But that was due to the nature of the hay and not the baler. I see the same thing on short leafy hay in our older JD round baler. But once you get some stems whether orchard grass, fescue, clover, etc. the hay bales would get tighter.

But as others have suggested, check the timing. One other thing to look for and it may've already been mentioned is to look for some wedge shaped metal pieces along the side of the bale chamber. If I remember correctly there were either two or four along the sides of the bale chamber. They helped hold the hay once the plunger compacted it and kept the bales tighter. The manual should show how they are set.

Mind you it has been 40 years since I worked with that baler, but it was a solid machine and we baled thousands of bales every year with it. I also live in central VA W. Jones

I was trying to square some second cut round bales. I do have those wedges in place and it does seem to pack it pretty tight but won’t pull the twine tight as it knots ( or so it seems)
The tied bales moving along from the chamber are firm but the twine is just hanging loose. If you pick the bale up, there’s 12-18 inches of daylight between your hand and the bale.

 

[5030]

Sounds to me like your twine discs aren't holding the twine securely, they do wear out after a while and primary tension has little do do with it. On the 575 NH I sold last year, they were adjustable via shim washers.

 

[zzvyb6]

Since you have knots, the needle lift, twine disks, bill hooks, and wipers are fine. Check the force for pulling twine out of the twine box. Should be 10 - 15 lbs minimum.

 

[52wej]

In thinking about the route the twine took between the twine box and the needles on the underside of the baler, I seem to remember some tubing guides and tension plates on the side of the baler. As ZZ points out if there is no tension coming from the twine box the twine could flop around and be very loose.

 

[Southernspeed]

Since you have knots, the needle lift, twine disks, bill hooks, and wipers are fine. Check the force for pulling twine out of the twine box. Should be 10 - 15 lbs minimum.

I checked that initially and then started increasing it to try to solve this issue but got to the point where it was breaking the twine so had to back it off.
Plenty of suggestions here to re-visit, hopefully I can get back on it in a few days, it's got a bit busy around here lately and the big storm the other night didn't help ..... chainsaw is earning it's keep right now!

 

[MHarryE]

I had your problem on my New Holland 315 baler before changing to a higher strength better quality twine.

 

[Hay Dude]

I have twine in my large square baler from last year and have had several broken strings this year. It definitely weakens over time.
I already made the switch over from 440lb to 550lb to help with this issue.