Anyone with Hesston 540 Baler Experience

GarryinNC

Well-known Member
I am working on a Hesston 540 round baler and had a few questions about the hydraulic bale tension system operation.
Mainly- the belts are getting loose when the lowering the tailgate. I mean loose enough the hang down between the tailgate and pickup. This is when raising and lowering the tailgate with no hay in the chamber. Have a pressure gauge on it and pressure goes to zero shortly after the gate is starting to raise. It will charge to the normal 2000 psi and tighten the belts when gate is shut and lever is held back until hydraulics bypass(normal). Seems to hold pressure okay also. The belts hanging down nearly 12 inches when closing the gate just doesn't seem right.

My experience is with the 530 type balers and NH 630 series.
Thanks,
Garry
 
Are you running the PTO??? I know on Vermeer and JD if your not running the PTO the belts will sag out the gate. Also your tractor SCV maybe leaking back and allowing the pressure to not build.
 
Did you take the pins out of each side that are there to take
tension off the belts when not in use? Looks like a draw pin on
each side near the gate cylinders.
 
On this model Hesston, you stop the PTO after you thread the twine and then dump the bale. Then you close the gate and hold the scv lever after the gate closes to recharge the tension cylinders, then start the PTO again. The tension cylinders bypass at 2000 psi, and a check valve in the bale tension valve block holds the pressure while the bale is being made. That check valve holds okay. The manual is not real clear on what the pressure is supposed to do when the gate is raised, and I do not know if it acts differently with or without a roll in the chamber. I am working on it for someone and have not had the chance to try it in the field. I do have some hay down and am going to try it later in the week.

The belts were crossed on it when I got it, and two of them were split from getting straddle the belt guides. I have put a new set of belts on it.
This model does not have the tension release pins like the smaller Hesston 5530/530 series, as it has hydraulic tension, and has a valve you open to put slack in the belts when you are done with it.

I am trying to study the hydraulic schematics from the operator manual to get in my head, what does what and when!

Thanks You so far,
Garry
 
have same problem with loose belts when open ,also starts a bale a third of the way the belts stop spinning,belt tension to loose
 
(quoted from post at 01:35:50 10/13/15) Are you running the PTO??? I know on Vermeer and JD if your not running the PTO the belts will sag out the gate.

JD Seller
Can you please explain about your statement of correlation of belt tension & pto operation on JD rd balers??

How does pto operating with no tension on belts(tension arm raises before tailgate) stop belts from sagging out the gate??

My knowledge of JD rd balers although not near as extensive as yours is that belt rotation & tension of belts are not related. I've opened/closed tailgate on my JD 467 several times with pto in off position with no ill affects.
Thanks,Jim
 
I finally did figure it out. There is an orifice in the hydraulic plumbing of the baler that is designed to cause enough back pressure in the 'gate close side' of the system, to keep most of the slack out of the belts. Two sizes of the orifice come with the baler, for use with tractors with large or smaller hydraulic system flow rates. The one with the smaller hole was not with the baler and is not available from AGCO. I made one on the lathe with a smaller hole and it solved the problem.

The one in the baler was supposed to have a .093" hole, and it had worn to about .097", I guess from repeated fluid flow over the years. When working right, the belts do not 'droop' as the gate comes down. When it latches, you hold the lever until the system bypasses to re-tension the belts.

Thanks to everyone who took time to give this any thought.

Garry
 
Does anybody know where I can get a flow restriction orifice for a Hesston 540 baler?

Paul

(quoted from post at 14:27:54 07/03/16) I finally did figure it out. There is an orifice in the hydraulic plumbing of the baler that is designed to cause enough back pressure in the 'gate close side' of the system, to keep most of the slack out of the belts. Two sizes of the orifice come with the baler, for use with tractors with large or smaller hydraulic system flow rates. The one with the smaller hole was not with the baler and is not available from AGCO. I made one on the lathe with a smaller hole and it solved the problem.

The one in the baler was supposed to have a .093" hole, and it had worn to about .097", I guess from repeated fluid flow over the years. When working right, the belts do not 'droop' as the gate comes down. When it latches, you hold the lever until the system bypasses to re-tension the belts.

Thanks to everyone who took time to give this any thought.

Garry
 
Is your baler missing the orifice, or do need one of a different size?
If I remember correctly, I made mine out of a 1/4" bolt head. Will help of I can. I think I have the old one (too large of a hole) here in a medicine bottle somewhere. Very easy to make. Do you have the sagging belt problem or something else?

Garry
 

Gary,

thanks for the response. It seems that my tensioner is not holding hydraulic pressure. Belts slow down as bale is being formed. so i thought the orifice may be the problem. I picked up a hydraulic pressure gage to check out the pressure levels. then my next step is to check out the orifice size. Looks like I will try to make my own also.

Thanks for your help.
 
It was 2015 when I worked on the 540, but if I remember right, the orifice has no effect on belt ( and therefore bale) tension. The orifice is there to keep the belts from 'drooping' when closing the tailgate after dumping a bale. The hydraulic gauge should help you with the diagnosis. As you know there is a test port in the baler hydraulic plumbing. It sounds like the check valve is leaking and not allowing the tension cylinders to hold hydraulic pressure.

Have you baled successfully with this baler in the past?

Garry
 
Have you successfully baled with this baler before, or is it new to you? When you close the tailgate, you have to hold the scv lever in the close position until you bump the hydraulic bypass. This makes sure that you have belt tension and pressure on the bale tension cylinders.
 
Hey Garry. are you available to answer some questions about a new to me 540? I am close by in Yadkin county. PM me if you are still online. Thanks!



(quoted from post at 18:59:08 10/12/15) I am working on a Hesston 540 round baler and had a few questions about the hydraulic bale tension system operation.
Mainly- the belts are getting loose when the lowering the tailgate. I mean loose enough the hang down between the tailgate and pickup. This is when raising and lowering the tailgate with no hay in the chamber. Have a pressure gauge on it and pressure goes to zero shortly after the gate is starting to raise. It will charge to the normal 2000 psi and tighten the belts when gate is shut and lever is held back until hydraulics bypass(normal). Seems to hold pressure okay also. The belts hanging down nearly 12 inches when closing the gate just doesn't seem right.

My experience is with the 530 type balers and NH 630 series.
Thanks,
Garry
 

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