Do you keep pouring money in something you shouldn't?

Jason S.

Well-known Member
After reading the post on how do you deal with it, made me want to ask. Do you have an implement or tractor that you keep pouring money into even though you shouldn"t? For example a piece of equipment that seems to be jinxed. I"ve got a vermeer round baler that is that way. In one year I have put 6 bearings, 3 chains, 10 teeth, 1 yoke, and 1 u joint in it. I"m to the point now of just hauling it to scrap and finding another. Anybody else have an implement or tractor jinxed like that?
 
You replaced most of the things that wear out, not uncommon for equipment that is used. You can replace the machine but unless you buy new who knows what parts are ready to wear out. You are familiar with this machine and what attention it needs. On a different machine what do you watch. Buying new will give you peace of mind but you'll have less in you pocket. It is only your call which pain you want to endure.
 
If you don't know it or the previous owner used equipment is a pig in a poke. When you buy a used piece of equipment unless you're buying from a dealer and getting a guarantee/warranty expect to spend some money fixing it back up. It's only human nature that if you know you're going to trade up on equipment to maybe not deal with small issues on the stuff you're going to trade. Sometimes folks even let the old stuff slide to help justify trading up. If it's someone that ran into money troubles and are selling out again think if they were strapped for cash what was their maintenance program like? And then the classic is even though they might take care of their equipment if they know a big repair bill is looming on the horizon they might trade out of it, to dodge the repair bill or just simply it's a good time to upgrade or upsize. So budget some money for repairs when you buy used. Might want to check with folks on this board on a specific model or brand, they might tell you the ups and downs of it and if it's something you want to invest time and money in.
 
My nephew had a 4WD JD articulated tractor that had major breakdowns 3 years in a row. He finally said: "That's enough of that" when the clutch went out and the dealer wanted more to replace the clutch than the tractor was worth.

Nephew bought my retired brother's Verasatile 4WD, with more HP, better fuel economy and easier to repair. (One man can replace the clutch in a half day without pulling the transmission or splitting the tractor) He's very happy with the Versatile; doesn't want any more JD tractors.
 
Yes I understand bearings and such wear out but continuously? The most bales I have ever baled with out something breaking is 20. I did buy it from a dealer...it just seems like no matter what I do...it doesn"t want to be fixed. The teeth I put in wasn"t because of use...one of the bars on the reel just came loose one day and took the teeth with it. I"m just asking if you"ve ever owned anything that just seems like it doesn"t want to be fixed. I"ve seen it in cars before...I guess I believe old tractors and equipment have personalities like everything else
 
Yep a Vermeer roll baler and a Dodge truck. I am sure there are others that I should give up on but they are the ones I remember the most.
 
The same bearings or different bearings? Pickup teeth are maintenance items...
Chain... could be related to said bad bearings or it could just be JUNK china chain. If you're having problems with Diamond or Drives chain then I'd wonder what's wrong with the machine that it's tearing the chain up...
I generally look at all of those things as maintenance items anyway. Eventually they wear out. You replace them and go again for a while. Price a new one and you might change your mind.

Rod
 
The other part of the question yes, some equipment seems to be jinxed and will need more attention than other of the same make/model. I worked aircraft maintenance in the Air Force some birds flew good some made up for it. One particular tail number we had seemed to give us fits, 1st year it was on station it ran off the runway, took most of the maintenance community working around the clock for about a week to get it back on the runway, it got back from depot just in time for the fall season. We were supposed to fly all the bombers equally, first winter back this bomber was being difficult, they massaged the flying schedule so it'd set alert as much as it could when we had snow, that worked for one winter. 1st sortie we had it fly in the spring after alert it took a lightning strike and blew a 4'x5' hole in the vertical stabilizer, yes it got back from depot just in time for the snow. IIRC it didn't make it through the winter before it had a goose strike on the nose so it has to go back to depot for a new radome. When I was in Saudi Arabia for Desert Shield I had two HUMMVEES, well they tell me I had two, never so one of them for the 4 months I was there, no sooner than the motor pool would fix one thing another would bite us, although some of that was maintenance induced, meaning we weren't the ones that filled the diesel tank with unleaded gasoline, we weren't the ones that left the shop rag in the intake for the engine to ingest on start-up and after they installed a new short block the engine revved up until rods poked out the oil pan, I think they hooked the throttle linkage up wrong. Never did figure out why the transmission let go. As for your baler ask here it might of not been one of the better balers in the history of balers OR you might be able to find some bearings and belts that'll last a little longer or it might be wore out and unless you do some major off season maintenance it won't be reliable. This gets back to my first post, with the current economic situation you might look around for another baler, ask the folks here about makes or models that have a good reputation and start shopping, don't get in a hurry and you might find a good deal on a newer machine with the potential for more reliability.
 
Our Claas Rollant 46 round baler is constantly needing to be fix or adjusted its a freaking lemon grandpa wont buy another one though so im guess im stuck using it till i can buy my own
-Nick
 
All of the chain is diamond brand and the bearings are fafnir... I always try to buy the best parts I can...but I"m to the point now if it"s gonna keep tearing up...I might as well buy cheap parts...lol
 
It sounds that there might be something that you are missing when you are doing your repair or some how the frame of the machine is out of spec.. Most equipment manuals suggest going over the machine prior to use and checking for loose bolts, worn belts, chains and all lube points. I had a friend that never used a torque wrench and was always drilling out broken bolt and he could never figure out why.
 
I thought I did until I found the issue. MF1440 same as a Vermeer 504f. Main bearing on the main roller kept going out. Was using TSC bearings and went to Timkin. Timkin lasted 50% longer but still went out. Got mad and pulled the roller out, took it to the machine shop. Gross Machine shop in Westphalia Mi. They found the shaft was wore enough to shuck the bearing and wear it out. They resurfaced the shaft and ran the rest of this season.
 
Guy I know has 2 or 3 Vermeers. One is, in his opinion, as close to a perfect machine as possible. The other 2 are different models and are, in his opinion, junk. Maybe it's just the luck of the draw.
 
I bought a used Case-IH 444 I think was the model #, square baler, and I could not keep the pickup fingers in it. I don't care how careful I was to keep them out of the dirt and all, every time I would bale a couple hundred bales, I'd have to replace 15 or so.

Finally got tired of it and sold it. I never had that kind of a problem with JD equipment, square or round balers.

Mark
 
Yes!

I'm restoring old implements as a hobby. I do have a big garden so they do get used. It's real easy to put more $ in them that they will ever bring.

I have a 72 GMC C20 work truck that I've repaired again and again. Every time I think I should just replace it the replacement cost is far more that the repair. Then I have way more in it than what it's worth so I feel the need to work it some more.
 
You must have a really "bad" baler there because in The UK Claas equipment has a reputation for reliability. Their combines are certainly far more popular here than say John Deere or Massey, for that reason.
 
A JD #2 pan kicker was used on the 24T balers and was shaft driven. Those things would hammer themselves into pieces. I bought 3 used ones for parts.
 

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