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bison 08-06-2012 22:06:13 69.168.144.137 Report to Moderator	So what makes meadow brome so finnicky to bale? I baled up 50 acre(2 round bale/acre,average 14 % moisture) last saturday without any problems. Had another 50 acre to do today,..i could not make a single bale :roll: Baler keeps plugging up,same hay moisture level as the first batch. I have no problem starting the bale but the baler can start spitting out hay up front right were the belts come out above the pickup and up and can start plugging anytime from 1/3 of a bale up to when i stop to put twine on. I had the same problem last year in this meadow brome,.could not bale at all. I have zero problems in longstemmed crops like alfalfa and/or grass mix or straw.I baled up over 600 bales this yr without missing a beat(alfalfa/grass mix) The baler is a heavely modefied Vermeer 605 D including a megawide pickup. And i cut my swaths 5.5' wide and don't rake or combine 2 swaths I can hit a heavy swath at 9ml an hr and it never ever fails to start a bale. PS, the baler is in good shape and there is no bearing gone or other mechanical issue(i went over it with a tooth comb) What do you say? [Reply]   [No Email]
bg/mo 08-08-2012 17:54:20 32.178.110.255 Report to Moderator	Re: meadow brome hard to bale in reply to bison, 08-06-2012 22:06:13   9ml? 9 mile n hour? around here brome is real slick when dry, have you tried when a little tougher? [Reply]  [No Email]
Tx Jim 08-08-2012 09:31:40 67.142.163.25 Report to Moderator	Re: meadow brome hard to bale in reply to NEBeef, 08-06-2012 22:06:13   Bison I think I didn't imply that you stated the JD balers were NEW. All I stated which is true is that I hadn't witnessed the failures you referred to. [Reply]  [No Email]
Tx Jim 08-08-2012 03:36:47 67.142.163.22 Report to Moderator	Re: meadow brome hard to bale in reply to rankrank1, 08-06-2012 22:06:13   bison said: (quoted from post at 22:35:46 08/07/12) i repaired many a belt idle roller who split and broke at the bearings. i had 2 of them that were wore clean trough the side sheets on the end gate so the whole bottom roller fell out. pickups that were bend or crushed cause they broke from their moorings.broken axle stubs,gear boxes,broken drive roller hex shafts ,....you name it,i seen it. :shock: There's your reason i stick with the old vermeer :wink: Biso I've been around/serviced/baled with JD rd balers ever seen they were introduced and have never seen or heard of the major failures you're referring to. Yes I seen JD rd balers with holes worn in the side sheets but that requires many,many 1000's of bales. Yes I've seen pick-up bars bent but not from baling hay but from hitting obstructions in the field. Yes I seen some brg failures. I'm glad you like your Vermeer baler but one sees very few Vermeer's baling around where I live. This post was edited by Tx Jim at 04:48:41 08/08/12 2 times. [Reply]  [No Email]
bison 08-08-2012 08:45:39 69.168.144.137 Report to Moderator	Re: meadow brome hard to bale in reply to Tx Jim, 08-08-2012 03:36:47   Quoting Removed, click Modern View to seeI never said the ones i fixed were new...did i?, maybe here they get used harder or maybe canucks don't know how to operate them. :wink: As far as i know I am the only one running a vermeer in my area,nearest dealer is 600ml south. It is 90% green around me [Reply]  [No Email]
Diydave 08-07-2012 15:38:52 96.244.160.31 Report to Moderator	Re: meadow brome hard to bale in reply to bison, 08-06-2012 22:06:13   Have you tried reversing the feed direction (stem end in first vs seed head first)? [Reply]  [No Email]
bison 08-07-2012 16:00:11 69.168.144.141 Report to Moderator	Re: meadow brome hard to bale in reply to Diydave, 08-07-2012 15:38:52   I never gave that any thought.I'll give that a try. The baler picks up equally well in both directions,but going against the flow tends to leave a wee bit behind so i usually bale in the same directions as cut. Gonna try in a bit :wink: [Reply]  [No Email]
Old Iron 08-07-2012 01:04:30 24.225.2.33 Report to Moderator	Re: meadow brome hard to bale in reply to bison, 08-06-2012 22:06:13   Quoting Removed, click Modern View to see I agree with 4020deereboy,.... slow your PTO down and shift to a higher gear. At least that is what I have to do when my JD 535 acts a lot like you describe. [Reply]  [No Email]
bison 08-07-2012 07:39:55 69.168.144.141 Report to Moderator	Re: meadow brome hard to bale in reply to Old Iron, 08-07-2012 01:04:30   Thanks for the suggestions guys,it's worth trying. I forgot to mention,the spitting and plugging start always in one of the corners. By the time it spits,..it's to late to do anything about it,it'll plug up solid in a split sec and all i can do is to kick the bale out. Takes half hr at least to freeup the baler again. It gets old fast [Reply]  [No Email]
Old Iron 08-07-2012 15:57:39 24.225.2.70 Report to Moderator	Re: meadow brome hard to bale in reply to bison, 08-07-2012 07:39:55   Quoting Removed, click Modern View to see I guess that is the beauty of a JD 535,... if/when it plugs, just open the gate, dump the bale, and push the "plug" out the front with your foot. Takes just a couple of minutes,... except for the time it takes to unroll the bale and re-bale it. [Reply]  [No Email]
bison 08-07-2012 16:07:40 69.168.144.141 Report to Moderator	Re: meadow brome hard to bale in reply to Old Iron, 08-07-2012 15:57:39   Quoting Removed, click Modern View to seeMy neighbor has a 535,..he don't seem to share your entouchasme,i can hear him cuss 2 ml away over the roar of his tractor :lol: unrolling and rebale is sheer entertainment,..after the unplugging :x [Reply]  [No Email]
Old Iron 08-07-2012 16:31:14 24.225.2.70 Report to Moderator	Re: meadow brome hard to bale in reply to bison, 08-07-2012 16:07:40   There might be sumpthin wrong with your neighbor's 535. I've baled a LOT of bales with my 535, and I really don't have anything bad to say about it. I hope you can get your grass baled without anymore problems. I wish I could be of more help,... but I know next to nothing about Vermeer balers. [Reply]  [No Email]
bison 08-07-2012 19:35:46 69.168.144.141 Report to Moderator	Re: meadow brome hard to bale in reply to Old Iron, 08-07-2012 16:31:14   Quoting Removed, click Modern View to seeThere must be sumptin wrong with all my neighbors 535's then, cause i had all of them plenty in my shop to get fixed. i repaired many a belt idle roller who split and broke at the bearings. i had 2 of them that were wore clean trough the side sheets on the end gate so the whole bottom roller fell out. pickups that were bend or crushed cause they broke from their moorings.broken axle stubs,gear boxes,broken drive roller hex shafts ,....you name it,i seen it. :shock: There's your reason i stick with the old vermeer :wink: On the grass baling,.i made 40 bales tonight without plugging ,so whatever it was,... i don't know. Most likely hay conditions are better today although the hay is now so dry it wont register on the moisture probe. [Reply]  [No Email]
bison 08-07-2012 22:17:21 69.168.144.141 Report to Moderator	Re: meadow brome hard to bale in reply to bison, 08-07-2012 19:35:46   With the dew coming in i went back to the field and baled some more. Last bale i made was 20% moisture :shock: ...time to stop. Baler never missed a beat,...you go figure. And then they say ..can't bale with these vermeers when to wet or to dry ,..i could've kept going :wink: This post was edited by bison at 22:18:50 08/07/12. [Reply]  [No Email]
4020deereboy 08-07-2012 00:25:00 205.185.95.11 Report to Moderator	Re: meadow brome hard to bale in reply to bison, 08-06-2012 22:06:13   I baled some sanfoin that was doing the same thing ended up slowing down Pto speed and going a gear faster I was runing the engine rpm between a thousand and 1200 rpm was the only way to keep it from spitting it out the front and plugging [Reply]  [No Email]