Pro Quality Hay Basket set up

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
Just got it and have never used one before. Hooking to a NH 311. Anybody got any tips on getting started. I think that I need to get the baler hitch changed to be in the center of the chute? Where do you start with bale tension? All the way loose? Will be cutting short Orchard grass and Fescue blades. Thanks
 
You should start with low tension, basket needs to be close to baler - make gentle turns or at least don't feed material when turning tightish. They don't mind going fairly quick I find it helps level the basket so it doesn't pile up
 
Hitch needs to be centered, absolutely. I got a hitch with my basket. Mine is a Quality brand.

Alfalfa you can turn fairly good, smooth dry crops like straw you can't turn right very much at all, you will learn, it works out.

Loosen bale tension some, not as much as I thought, you will catch on to it quick.

Paul
 
Yes... you need the hitch centered on the bale chamber with the pin 5-7" behind the end of the chamber.
As for tension... you run a bit less. It helps to have someone climb up into the basket and check the weight on them as you go. I usually start with normal tension then back it down as bales advance up the chute. The weight of each extra bale in the chute compensates for the tension you remove from the chamber... Simply adjust the tension to achieve the desired bale weight. I run an accumulator but that aspect of it works the same as a basket..

Rod
 
Just to add to what's been said... NEVER start a load on a corner - always start straight or nearly straight.
 
Another helpful item is to hook the basket to the baler with the hitch pin upside down, and use a lynch pin to retain it. Then when you are ready to unhook a loaded basket, you can pull the pin down. Otherwise, the ramp on the basket will be in the way of pulling the pin up if there is a bale sitting on it.

Set the height of the ramp end to be a few inches below the bottom of the baler chute. I use a tie-down strap to hold the ramp up when transporting, just have to make sure to remember to drop it back down when you hook to the baler.

When you unhook from a loaded basket, you will have one or two bales that slide down out of the chute. You can put these on the beams under the basket to haul them back with the load. I usually can bale around 80 bales before I stop to level the load. Can usually get 95 to 100 in if I level it a few times (using ProQuality basket.)

When I get to a corner in the windrow, I stop for a few seconds to clear the baler, then make the turn, so it isn't pushing hay out while making the turn. Right turns at 90 degrees are usually no problem at all. Left turns when baling the outside windrow is when I've had problems.
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Yes, very important. Once there is back pressure from a full chute it turns much better.

I'm running forage king baskets and find they can hold 105-110 bales if you do some organizing. Usually tops out at 90 if you don't pop up to sort.
 
I bought 2 ez trails a week ago for my 311. Work great. I bought a hitch direct from ez trail. Can order them on line. They're nothing special but I ordered mine on a Monday am and got it Wednesday. Had to make the hole a little bigger where it hooks on to the existing hitch though. Had to loosen my tension up around 8 cranks. Was baling up a chute onto a wagon before. Shortened my bales up a little bit too. Thought it'd save on banana bales.
 
(quoted from post at 11:04:11 07/08/14) Just got it and have never used one before. Hooking to a NH 311. Anybody got any tips on getting started. I think that I need to get the baler hitch changed to be in the center of the chute? Where do you start with bale tension? All the way loose? Will be cutting short Orchard grass and Fescue blades. Thanks
We got a Forage King basket over 20 years ago so I have a little experience.There was a kit to relocate the hitch under the bale chute if you were using a New Holland baler.We had a 268 and later a 315 and the new hitch fit both.If you are going to unhook the basket alot you will want a "jaw" type hitch where you can pull a handle to open the hitch rather than trying to hammer the pin out under pressure every load.The only time we ever had much trouble turning was when baling straw but it can happen in hay as well.The weight of the bales in the chute adds to the resistance from the tension adjustment so definitely start off with less tension.I liked using short dense bales to minimize breakage.This might work well for you too.I remember stacking grassy hay on the wagon as a kid and the grass would sometimes be slippery enough that a string would pop off over the corner of a long bale.
 

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