18 replies to this topic

[hay wilson in TX]

an extension on my NH bale chamber. Makes nicer bales but there are two bales in the chamber to clean out when something goes wrong.

Is there an advantage of the extension, beyond using extra wedges?
The NH 315 that I use came with two wedges, but when the hay is thin I use four wedges.
Most of the time I have one wedge on the knife side, and two wedges on the uncut side.

I could probably use up to 6 wedges, if there was any advantage.

Any comments or findings?

[Iowa haymaker]

It sounds like your trying to fix a feeding problem by applying uneven density control.. From my experience you never want an uneven number of wedges in your chamber. If the windrow is consistently lighter and bales are banana shaped you should either drive faster or adjust your packer so that it doesn't push the hay as far into the chamber.

[Production Acres]

the extensions are used mainly on extremely dry fluffy crops like wheat straw where you need to really clamp down on the bales to get a good tight bale. For example you want to ship 50-60lb wheat straw bales that are 36" long. Typical baler with typical settings will only get about 30-35lb wheat straw bales. I think Krone has built an extension on one of their 3x4 balers just for baling wheat straw bales such that they can get them "UP to 1000lbs each"
I would not think you would need the extension in a dense crop like bermuda or alfalfa

[sedurbin]

Glad you asked. I installed a chamber extension on my old NH 273, this year, and it made a big difference in the bale shape. By bale shape, I mean the ends of the bale are now nice and square and fully filled out. Before, the ends would be rounded and did not look like I wanted them to look. I attribute this to the fact that with the extension, there is always a finished bale sandwiched between the bale that is being formed and the bale that is going out the back end. You reduce the compression on the main bale adjustment and add tension to the side flaps that are on the sides of the Chamber Extension. This acts a little different than wedges, in that it puts drag on the last bale and not the one that is being made. I believe that, this is what causes the ends to be squared. They cost about $300 from NH.

I do some stationary re-baling with a JD 336 and I am going to try the extension, on it, as soon as I have time to drill the holes. Maybe I can take some before and after pictures and post them.

I hope I explained this okay, if not, let me know and I will try it a different way.

[OneManShow]

I have had trouble getting our NH 575 to make a real nice tight square bale. Wedges helped some but not to the extent we needed-still have everything tightened down as far as it will go. Bales are still a bit too loose to pick up nice with a bale wagon. I spoke to the main baler mechanic at our NH dealership-he told me flat out-"The baler will not make a tight square bale without the bale chamber extension because that extra bale provides the additional resistance necessary to form a nice bale." I seldom see a 575 without the extension-hadn't really paid attention before. I've read that a Bale Ski liner will allow the 575 to make a good tight square bale without the chamber extension-however, the bale ski was more expensive than the extension when I checked last year.

[okhillbilly]

I run a NH 570 without any extension. I also have a Farmhand acummulator directly behind the baler. It has side panels about half a bale high that hold some tension on the bale leaving the baler. I usually make a nice square bale of praire hay around 60#. The bale chamber itself is about 6 to 8 inches longer than the 560 I had before and seems to make a better bale, But the 570 is also twice the machine as the 560 imo.

[Rodney R]

I think the chamber extension is nearly a waste of time. We had one on a 575, and had a set of baleskiis in another, and nearly everybody here agreed that the baleskii baler made nicer bales. So, off came the extension, and in went a baleskii. I see that they now have baleskiis that also fit the extension. And I also saw a baler that had hydraulic tension on the siderails, and an extended chamber. Not as long as the balecase extension, but longer than the normal balecase. That baler was wearing CIH decals, but it was a new one this summer, and might be available wearing NH decals.

The baleskiis ran over $400, and I think the extension was about $260 (at the time). I think the extension would allow 2-3 more sets of wedges, and they have an extra set of side doors.

The big problem that I see with our bales is that the guys want to drive too fast, the flakes become too big, and it seems that the bale is moving through the chamber too fast, and the bale seems to be looser. I think that if a guy would drive the same speed as the Heston, or a jd forces you to drive, a NH would make just as nice bales. That all relates back to the number of flakes. Right now we have 2 BC5070 balers and they are both hooked to a JD7400. I think that a lot of times the guys like to drive in B1, so they can shift up on the headlands, but they should really be in A3 or A4. That seems to be the big downfall of the NH baler - you can simply drive too fast - they have more capacity to inhale the hay, than they do to form the hay into nice bales. I could easily make 90lb bricks out of everything, and I bet they'd make nice bales, but then I wouldn't have any sale for them. The problem has always been that the guys that we can get to run balers are 70-80+ in age, and the only way they'll get out of the cab is if it catches on fire. Things need to be semi trouble free - A monster bale can be handled every so often, but I can't afford a guy unplugging a baler that's clogged while theres a storm coming, or the day is getting to the end.

Rodney

[hay wilson in TX]

I found the information on the insert interesting. Still I would probably go to 6 sedges before I tried an insert or an extension. Never too old to learn.

I got a chuckle on this one:
[COLOR="Red"]the guys that we can get to run balers are 70-80+ in age, and the only way they'll get out of the cab is if it catches on fire.[/COLOR]

We have a few of those here. Still am in that age group and have no problem climbing down to measure the bale length and check the weight.
My standard bale is 34 inches long and 55 lbs. That makes for a good solid bale that works well with the NH 1003 stack wagon.
I set the RPM's so the plunger is at the top of the book's strokes per minute. (90 strokes per minute) When I get to 11 strokes per bale I drop down a gear. When I get 18 strokes per bale I go up a gear. I pull a 1980's NH 315 with an AC 6060 open station tractor.
No big deal, just stay on the windrow, count strokes per tie, watch the timing of the bale falling off the bale turner, keep an eye on the moisture tester, and get a drink of water from time to time. I have a tape measure on my belt and when the bale length is in doubt, get down and check the length. (Used to jump down and run back, but not lately!)
Should be able to keep doing this till I am 95. That is when I will take up some academic pursuit.

[SidecarFlip]

Academic pursuit is telling the help what to do without your spouse's input.

[nwfarmer]

Careful Wilson, I''m 71. . I carry a moisture meter and a scale in my tractor. I run my bales out at 36 inches weighing 62 to 65 pounds so I get 32 to the ton. I bale at 2 mph. One of the things I noticed with the NH 575 is the bale chamber blade needs to be adjusted. It came with .070 tolerance. I re-adjusted to about .025 and it makes nice square bales that look good. However, all of that said, once in a while the baler starts thinking for itself and will throw out a 2 ft bale. Maybe about every 5 or 6 hundred bales. The knurl nut and bale adjustment arm has good teeth and everything is tight. I just think I am hitting a corrugation in the field at the wrong time of the cycle.

I tighten my forward side panels 1 turn tighter than the rear side panels. I use the hydraulic top adjustment for minor weight changes, but normally start out at 2.5

[okhillbilly]

(nwfarmer) Both the NH balers I've had do that. "Kick out 1 bale 4ft and then a 2ft" I don't know if the lift arm hangs every once in a while or what. "Just normal operation"

[rank]

I can't believe you old farts even have computers

[chief-fan]

I run a Super 69 and pull it with a Farmall 400. When I get fuzzy bale ends it is usually the windrow is to big or ground speed is to fast or both. I usually run in second gear torqued at 1200 rpm. Normally this combination will keep the baler pulling hay from the windrow. The uneven bale length is usually caused by horizontal bounce of the metering wheel from the plunger. To stop this move the metering wheel back 6" and extend the trip arm the exact same amount. Reset you clearance and that should take care of it, unless you feed a heavy load of hay about the time it is ready to tie. Due to a very wet spring we had two cutting in one this spring. I cut with a 9' bar mower, then raked with a 10' 5 bar rake and took ½ a swath per windrow. Even at that the windrows were a little to large at times. Do what you have to do but don't over feed the baler if you want good bales.

[nwfarmer]

I can't believe you old farts even have computers

Yup, have 2 computers. Brand new tractors, brand new baler, brand new PU. I just struggle along with my used NH2550. Best of all everything is paid for . In the winter I make wine and beer . . Did I mention my wine & beer room has all new commercial equipment?
If you ever visit Yellowstone park stop in for some great beer on tap.

Our family has been in the hay business for years in Michigan and California.

[swmnhay]

So is that a open invitation for a beer?Was to Yellowstone last March snowmobiling.May go again this winter,we stay in West Yellowstone.We take I 90 from here to Bozeman,Mt than south.

[nwfarmer]

We're on the east entrance north of Cody

[nwfarmer]

Hey, if you drop in we'll have some elk burgers to go along with that home made beer on tap.

[HALLSHAY]

Elkburgers and homebrew!!! I'm on my way. I am eating tag soup this year for elk. Archery hunting we were 3 bulls out of 4, unfortunately I was #4 because I can't judge yardage very well.

[nwfarmer]

I'm at 5000 ft. Mountain directly to the west is up about 7000. The elk come down to eat in the alfalfa fields and then go back up. You can get a cow elk tag and get your elk within an hour. Bull horns and trophies are nice but you can't beat cow elk meat. Lemon wheat beer is brewing, Octoberfest is next.