setting up bale weight

Mtjohnso

Member
I have an old Oliver Model 520 baler. After a number of years of learning about knotters I have this old baler tying knots which makes me very happy to see the bales coming out of the back of the baler in one piece with two good knots. However the bales are light and not very tight. Thus the need to crank down the two handles that sets the compression of the bale. I just had the baler sitting in front of the barn and took soft bales apart and started feeding the bales into the baler. First running the handles down 4 turns, then 3, then 4 then 2 then 3 then 4 more. The bales got heavier but still seem to be soft.
So my question to each of you is, of you just got a an old used baler that had the compression totally backed off, how would you go about setting up the compression to get the right weight and compactness on the bales. I hear the term "bricks" being used for the small bales when the balers is making good bales. Can I make bricks with this baler or at least a good solid bale?
 
Look in the chamber and see if it has wedges in it. You may need to add more or adjust what you have .Good Luck.
 
Forking in broken bales wont work.Got to go down a windrow.Just go down the windrow at normal baleing speed. Check every 3 or 4 bales. gradually increase pressure till bale wt is acceptable. As was said,check inside the chamber to see if the wedges/restrictors are all there. If they are not,the machine wont perform as it should...ie: soft bales
 
myjohnso,

I use a New Holland 273 baler. The size of the windrow and the amount of moisture in the grass also make a difference as to the density of the bale. My 273 likes a full windrow. My bale length is basically twice the width of the bale. I adjust my ground speed so that the baler takes 15 to 20 plunger cycles per bale.

Good luck with your Oliver.

Tom in TN
 
I agree that it is difficult to get a reading on your bale density feeding loose bales. Also the moisture of the hay makes a big difference too, as do wedges in the bale chamber.

To get the bale density up - crank the bale chamber springs down, it's that simple. I think more strokes per bale probably makes for a more dense bale too as the plunger doesn't have such a thick wad of hay to pack each time.

One of the things we have had to overcome is bale appearance vs density. First year out, we had banana bales and they were somewhat light and loose. This year, the bales were pretty much brick shaped, but IMHO still could be tightened down. The last batch of bales I did, I really cranked the bale tension down and really got some nice brick shaped/heavy bales - probably to heavy, but I wanted to see how tight I could go with the baler. Lots of lessons learned for the 2nd cutting.

Good luck,
Bill
 

What Delta Red said. Try preparing your bales in front of the baler so that you can get all of two bales thrown in in fifteen seconds. Your bales will be heavy.
 
Check your hay dogs also. I don't have an Oliver, but I would assume they're similar to New Holland in that regard.
When I first got my 316, I couldn't make a heavy bale to save my life - turns out two of the top three hay dogs were froze up. Freed them up and put new springs on them and it made a world of difference.
Pete
 
I'm new to baling,but, I did get a old derelict NH 269 up and runnin', only took me two years. I went thru that thing pretty through, didn't do anything to the pickups or the main gear box. I agree that with the others in Hay Dogs and wedges are important and doing a windrow for good testing. The other thing that I don't see mentioned is when cranking down on bale tensioners, that can affect the knotters in that the twine holder tensioners ,will the bill hooks hold the twine without slipping threw, might have to be adjusted as well. I found it to be a delicate balancing act to get bale tension and twine tension and knotting altogether to form the knot and then DON'T change crops ie. alfalfa to grass hay, if by chance every thing works. I do wish you well in your efforts. bjr
 

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