hesston 5540 round baler

I have a roller that doesn't turn, Does anyone know how to replace the bearings?

Matt,
We have 5530 which is I think, built similar but smaller. A lot depends on which roller has the problem. Some are easy to get out ( the ones on the tailgate) some harder. All of the bearings are usually replaceable without buying a new roller. Some of rollers require a 1/2 inch Allen wrench in a 1/2 inch drive socket to get the countersunk bolt out, usually with an impact wrench. Once the roller is out you can drive the retainer and then the bearing out with a long rod used as a punch. You have to let the tension off of the belts prior to getting the rollers out. Some rollers require removing the belts before you can get the rollers out of the baler body. You can look at a parts breakdown on the AGCO parts books website.

email if I can be of any useful help.

Garry

it is on a bar that attach to two spring. about middle of the baler. there are three roller on the bar and it is the center roller.

If it is a corner roller, you will have to take tension off the belts. You do this, by taking the 2 long pins, that hang on the top of the baler, at both sides, and insert these pins, into a hole that points parallel, to the ground line, about 5" off the ground, WHILE THE DOOR IS OPEN! Let the door down slowly onto the pins, and the tension will be released. The only bearings that use the allen bolts, are those near where the side of the door, swings near the frame. I would use an impact, to dismantle, if that does not work, then try the heat and beeswax trick. Parts to do 2 bearings, and 2 bearing holders, on mine, were around $175, this spring, IIRR.

(quoted from post at 15:54:27 07/29/12) I have a roller that doesn't turn, Does anyone know how to replace the bearings?

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To get to the bearing retaining bolts on that bar, the springs have to come off and the bar has to come out of the baler. To get the bar out of the baler I believe all of the belts have to come off and the whole bar/pivot assembly has to come out of the main frame of the baler. I think the 5540/540 is very much like the 5530/530, it just has a wider bale chamber.
The bearings can be bought aftermarket. I just put two bearings plus one of the retainers that hold the rollers in place and it seems like the price from hesston was about $125 for all three items. It was Friday night/Saturday job and the owner had hay down and hesston dealer had all parts in stock. He was baling by Sat. pm. This was one of the tailgate rollers though. Easy to get to.

Hi Garry,

I'm going to have to change the bearings on the lower tailgate roller on my 5530 - Just noticed yesterday that they are both heating up after a half doz bales, but not so hot you can't touch. Baler is in great shape - never even left out overnight while SIL's family had it, so hopefully they come out easily.

Did you take tension off the belts using the 2 L-pins provided?

How long a rod do you need? (I assume it has to be longer than the roll).

Email is open if you have any specific recommendations.

Thanks much.

Bob,
The first roller I take loose when working on the tailgate rollers is what I call the tracking roller. It is the one on the lower back with regular hex head bolts in it and has slots in the frame to adjust belt tracking I think. Once it is out if you need to take the others out the belts will be loose enough. You have to put the tension release pins in before starting any of this.

On the rollers with the countersunk hex head you will probably need an impact wrench with a 1/2 hex socket. I have also had to heat around the bolt with oxy/acetylene torch before some would loose, even with air impact.

The last one I did I used a long rod (about 3/4'' dia) from a roller on a new holland round baler. A length of rebar would even work. I just use the rod as a long punch and drive the bearing holder out and then the bearing. Having a helper for this part is good. The bearings are the type that are made to use with a locking collar, but the collar is not used in this application.

It is possible that the bearing and holder might come out together, if so just press them apart once they are both out. Hope this helps and is not too wordy.
Garry

Thanks for the info. Sounds like a major job. I have a few more fields to do and hopefully will be able to finish before they get too bad. Regardless, I'll keep the 532 nearby and ready to make squares if necessary.

It is not that major. If you have the parts you could do it in a hour if everything comes loose ok. Your roller will probably run a long time. On the one we just did for a friend, the balls were all gone in one end of the roller and it had worn into the bearing holder. My dad happened to see it when we were looking for another problem.