normal speed for 359 square baler

[pedro_lopes]

hi everybody?!

i have a 359 baler and i'm doubt about the best rpm for PTO of this baler.
it says 540 rpm, but my tractor usually works with less rpm than that. more or less it works with 450 rpm.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I am not familar with that model baler but if it calls for 540 pto rpm then that is what I would give it.

 

[Gaspasser]

The baler will work best at the rated RPM. It needs the speed to compact the hay in the bale chamber.

If you are "cleaning" a field at the end, you can drop the engine RPM to do this.

 

[VistanTN]

I have an old IH Model 46 and the manual says the baler should be cycling between 68 and 75 plunger cycles per minute ... with the midpoint of this being 540 rpm on the PTO. That suggests that, when new, it was best operating at 540 plus/minus 5%. On my hills and baling fairly uneven pasture grass I have to slow that down to more like 55 plunger cycles per minute (or about 430 rpm on the PTO) or I mistie too many bales. The slower speed doesn't hurt the baler, but I'm not getting optimal throughput. At the slower speed I'll only mistie 1 in 100 or so, but at rated speed, it is more like 1 in 25. Since I only have 25 acres to bale, I'll settle for the slower speed and throughput and avoid so many misties. Check your operator's manual to see if similar data is provided.
VistanTn

 

[barticus73]

That's similar to the rating on my NH S68. I actually think my old baler works best at about one stoke per second so I just set it by this rather than the rpm.