Do you have a baler now?

I have a JD 467 Mega Wide with Net Wrap. It has been a great baler. Make a nice bale and the only time it has broke is due to my stupidity.

So looking for a baler, your tractor might impact how big a baler you can get.

I run a 467 which can make a 4' by 6' bale. I run it at 4' by 65"

Netwrap is a must IMHO. Twine takes a while to wrap on and the bales keep better with the wrap.

Are you looking to buy new, used?

What kind of hay?

D.

glsweet said:

I know every machine has their strong points and weak points but I would be interest in your input.

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We had a 530, 567 mega wide, 466, and 468. All wrap except the 530. We still have the 466 edge to edge and 468 Cover edge. The 567 mega wide cover edge was a great baler and the 468 is a hay baling son of a gun, I haven't had anything to stop it. The 466 makes a beautiful roll but it is hell when it comes to the header clogging up/ not feeding. It sits most of the time now since we have the 468. The only difference between the 468 and 469s is the 469 have all American sprockets and chains. The only reason we sold the 567 was due to the width of the bales when hauling and the DOT frowned on it.

Wrap machine is a must, I prefer cover edge, and the bale kicker is a must

Don't you have to decide if you want to only do dry hay or also want to be able to do the silage kind wrapped in white plastic and put up not so dry?

Then you have to decide if you want to be able to stack two wide and stay under 8'6"? Small round vs big round as often called.

I will probably get slapped for this but I run a Vermeer 5400. I don't have the net wrap as I only put up 300-400 bales a year and I put them in my barns. Like others have said, net is a must if you are hauling or having them hauled. Mine is set for a 4x5' bale. I bought it as a two year old and it has treated me well so far. Last year it caught on fire due to buildup at the ends of the pick up rake. I suspect they have never been cleaned. I always blew it out but did not notice an area where the shields needed to come off to do it right. You can bet I will clean that area every year from now on. The opening is just big enough to collect fine debris but that builds up over time.

I ran New Holland balers prior to the Vermeer. I caught them on fire also. They were bearing failures. I now have a laser temp gauge to check all my bearings.

What temperature is good for the bearings?

D.

purplewg said:

I will probably get slapped for this but I run a Vermeer 5400. I don't have the net wrap as I only put up 300-400 bales a year and I put them in my barns. Like others have said, net is a must if you are hauling or having them hauled. Mine is set for a 4x5' bale. I bought it as a two year old and it has treated me well so far. Last year it caught on fire due to buildup at the ends of the pick up rake. I suspect they have never been cleaned. I always blew it out but did not notice an area where the shields needed to come off to do it right. You can bet I will clean that area every year from now on. The opening is just big enough to collect fine debris but that builds up over time.

I ran New Holland balers prior to the Vermeer. I caught them on fire also. They were bearing failures. I now have a laser temp gauge to check all my bearings.

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Couple things to think about. Most sealed bearings are using NLGI #2 grease. The grease fails at around 300 degree depending on the type. Some a little more, some a little less.
I think a good rule of thumb is 30 degrees above ambient temp for unloaded bearings (empty baler) and no more than 200 running in the field.
What I do is measure like bearings on both sides of the baler. BY this I mean for example the right an left side bearings on any moving roller shafts going all the way through the baler. I look to see if one is running much hotter than the other side.
If the bearing does not have a mate on the other side I use the 200 range as (watch this one closely). 225= change before it lets all of it's smoke out.
I hope that helps.

ddivinia said:

What temperature is good for the bearings?

D.

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My other response was based on the bearing specs. I have real field data now. I put up over 85 tons of hay last week. We were running two balers. A Vermeer 604 and a 5400. The 5400 had a bearing failure but fortunately no fire. I had to fix that by running to Tractor Supply and finding some flanges close and then modifying them. Got it done and back in the field. I checked bearings temps on the 604 and 5400 after about ten and then after 25 bales. Most all bearings in the 604 were running 105 or 106 degrees Fahrenheit. The 5400 was running 95-99 degrees. These are far away from the actual bearing specs. I have no idea what the temp of the one that burned up was. I had quit for the day and a friend happened to see a wisp of smoke out of the top of the baler after I had pulled out of the field and stopped. When I checked it, it had ate the flanges, broken the inner and outer races, and all the balls were gone.

Now that I know those temps for my balers I can better watch them.

ddivinia said:

What temperature is good for the bearings?

D.

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