Wood Plunger Slide Bearings - New Holland 68

Bill VA · Feb 22, 2015

Ho ho ho....

Got my new plunger wood slide bearings - with a shinny Minwax coating. Almost hate to use them...... ;-)

Can Spring be far away!

Bill

rankrank1 · Feb 22, 2015

What kind of wood did you use to make em? Oak? Maple?

Not saying it would have been correct, but I think I would have skipped the minwax and simply submersed them in a bucket of old used motor oil for a couple weeks. Would have provided some self lubrication kinda like a bronze bushing does as it wears.

Jason S. · Feb 22, 2015

Bill I agree with Rank. I would sand the minwax off and soak them in motor oil for a couple of weeks. They look good though. I'm still waiting on my next set to be made. The boy that made those out of mahogony took three days. I told him I needed them to be made out of white oak or hickory and he said he couldn't do it. So I took one to another place and I'm still waiting. I'm thinking I would be better of to invest in some basic wood working equipment and cut them out and sell them. I'm sure I could beat the CNH price of $128.00 a piece to death.

Bill VA · Feb 22, 2015

They are made from maple.

I thought about soaking them in oil, but I feared swelling or softening of the wood. It turns out that the grain on the wood is so tight that it was difficult for the Minwax to dry into the wood. It pretty much laid on the surface and dried like a Carmel coating.

What I am thinking about doing is rigging up some kind of drip into the bale chamber to oil the slides when they are in use. However, not sure how necessary it would be. I should think the slides' surface would glaze up after some use.

Thanks,
Bill

Bill VA · Feb 22, 2015

It was a real struggle to get anyone to make these slides and
the New Holland price was crazy high. In the end, I wound up
buying some reproductions from Best Baler Parts. I think they
were about $40ish each. Next go round, I'll make them myself
- probably out of oak as we have some full cut 2 inch boards to
work from. I appreciate the pattern you sent.

What I like about the wood slides is that they are a very simple
bearing and not subject to seizing, causing damage to the bale
casing. They live in a very dusty environment, but no moving
parts like a normal ball or roller bearing. Now that I have done
half of the job - pulling out the plunger, I think it will be an easy
job changing out these slides - but it sounds like folks can get
20+ or more years out of a set.

Thanks!
Bill

rankrank1 · Feb 22, 2015

I believe the ones in my new to me S68 baler are original. That said, the baler was not used either for last 30 years or so.

I expect you will get many decades from your new glides at the acreage your are working.

As a price comparison: I just bought one roller bearing for the plunger on my little NH 65 baler and it was around $29. The little baler uses 10 of these special little roller bearings so if I replaced them all then I would be looking at some significant cash for sure. Worst part about the one that failed is that is destroyed the tapered expanding mounting stud that is a welded part of the plunger during its destruction. I am going to have to figure out a low cost way to repair it as I do not care to purchase a new or used plunger assy.

ss55 · Feb 22, 2015

The rollers might be stock "cam follower bearings" McGill CAMROL is one major brand with a lot of different style options.

Bret4207 · Feb 23, 2015

(quoted from post at 13:48:49 02/22/15) They are made from maple.

I thought about soaking them in oil, but I feared swelling or softening of the wood. It turns out that the grain on the wood is so tight that it was difficult for the Minwax to dry into the wood. It pretty much laid on the surface and dried like a Carmel coating.

What I am thinking about doing is rigging up some kind of drip into the bale chamber to oil the slides when they are in use. However, not sure how necessary it would be. I should think the slides' surface would glaze up after some use.

Thanks,
Bill

I would not try to rig up an oil drip set up. You'll be better off hitting the slides with oil or grease in the spring and going. An oil drip is going to make a mess beyond belief. Probably a wax on the slide surfaces would be best. Something that won't attract dust and dirt and will stay there. But in the end, the 2 surfaces wear and polish together and work fine. I'd imagine most of the damage comes from moisture and rust.

If you want to get oil soaked into those slides, heat it and soak. We've made lots of hard maple bearing blocks and used a hot plate and bucket to soak them. Works pretty good, but you're talking a couple days or more.

Leroy · Feb 24, 2015

You do need hard maple for bearings and soak then in that oil for days if not months before use to get fully soaked up and oak will not soak the oil in and that is why no machinery dealers used it.

Ron Lines · Sep 7, 2016

Hello Bill!
Very nice wood slides. Did you make these or have someone make them? Very nice. Any chance you did a detailed drawing of the dimensions, hole sizes/placement?

thanks!

showcrop · Sep 7, 2016

What am I missing here? My first baler was a twenty year old Ford 250. I replaced the wooden slides with ones I made myself from some well cured hard wood. They didn't appear to loosen up in the time I had it. I thought that they lasted twenty years or 200,000 bales. Do they need to be replaced every 2-3 years?

Wood Plunger Slide Bearings - New Holland 68

Bill VA

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rankrank1

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Jason S.

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Bill VA

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Bill VA

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rankrank1

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ss55

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Bret4207

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Leroy

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Ron Lines

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showcrop

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