Gehl Round Baler 2580 silage special - shearing "shear bolts" for the pickup head

[Rightsaidfred]

Hi Guys, my Gehl 2580 Round Baler ( Older baler) started breaking shear bolts today, the bolt is the shear for the pickup head.

First time it sheared because I clogged the intake on the right side, ie I over fed a large clump of hay and the right side auger jammed -- My fault, but it wasn't hard to pull it out and clear it at all.

Manual didnt say what grade shear bolt to use, but by fluke, I found the broken head of the shear bolt in the grass and it was a grade 5 (3 hash marks). so...I replaced it with another grade 5 bolt and lock nut and resumed baling.

Now...the hay (reed canary grass) was quite thick, but...im doing 1.5 - 2km /hour so no over feeding it

I blew the shear bolt 3 more times ! . (total of 4 times), one of those times I wasn't even picking up hay I was turning around preparing to pickup another wind row. One time it sheared just as I closed the baler gate and moved ahead to resume baling.

So...no rhyme or reason from a density or volume of hay in the pickup (aside from the first time)

After I got done for the afternoon (I nursed the baler through the rest - 3 hours to do 6 bales of hay FFS), I checked the following:

-All bearings seem ok, none are overly hot. (used a laser temp gun)
-Pickup head rotates freely by hand, isnt hard to turn, so its not that something is obviously binding there
-Nothing inside the bale chamber seems out of the ordinary

Something must have changed after the first clog I got, but what, I dont know. Is it possible the shear bolt should be a grade 10 or 12 ? and I just got lucky the past 2 seasons ive owned it? seems unlikely.

Ideas welcome, otherwise ill take it to the dealer on Monday for a once over look



UPDATE :: Im Blind it seems -- Found it in the manual Grade 8 for standard Pickup, Grade L9 for for wide pickup -- so that may explain it but not sure why the grade 5 that was in there for 2 years worked fine for so long.....Odd.

 

[Rightsaidfred]

Have to pick up some new L9 shear bolts tomorrow, but im still prepelxed as to why the "original" Grade 5 Never sheared sooner. It was a grade 5, 1/4 x 1 1/2 bolt. the one thats supposed to be in there is a 5/16x1 1/4 Grade L9 (what ever that is).

any ideas ?

 

[Hay Dude]

I’d like to be there to see what is going on, but some things I see possible.

Is today the first time that you baled reeds canary grass? I bale about 200 tons of it per year and if not allowed proper time to dry/cure, it will clog a baler easier than any other grass I bale. Since grade 5 bolts are too soft, you may have continued to break them easily. The reason the original grade 5 didnt break could be because previously you never baled any heavy grass like reeds canary before?

When you sheared the last bolt while turning, it may have already been weakened by baling minutes before. The act of turning may have put some stress on the pickup and finally was enough to break the shear bolt.

 

[Tx Jim]

If pickup has cam & cam follower brgs then I suggest to check for a failed cam follower brg or failed cam

 

[Rightsaidfred]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I did bale reed canary grass last year although no where near as thick as this year. I'm getting twice the yield of the previous year.

Ill check over the pickup cam bearings etc I did have one replaced at the start of last year.

 

[Rightsaidfred]

Dealer found the sprocket on the end of the pickup shaft had lost a set-bolt and was floating back and forth on the shaft.

Correct Grade 8 shear bolt installed instead of the grade 5

Baler is back home and we'll try her again Friday

 

[Hay Dude]

Dealer found the sprocket on the end of the pickup shaft had lost a set-bolt and was floating back and forth on the shaft.

Correct Grade 8 shear bolt installed instead of the grade 5

Baler is back home and we'll try her again Friday

Let’s hope that‘s all it was.
Nice to have you aboard and hope you’ll keep posting on your progress with hay.

 

[Rightsaidfred]

Let’s hope that‘s all it was.

Yea, me too. They said thats all they could see that was out of whack in any way so fingers crossed.

 

[Hay Dude]

These square balers I’m runnin, especially the Krone, are like pulling a factory on wheels. So many things to go wrong….