oldproudvet
Well-known Member
Earlier this summer I posted a question about the Hyd hood lock. It was creeping open, the bale become elongated or oval, and if I didn't catch it with the tractor laboring more, it would bust the shear pins and I couldn't wrap the bale. I had rebuilt the unit, that helped for maybe 50 bales or so and then it would start again. It didn't matter which tractor I was using. The normal unit I use to turn the baler is a Case 1070. What I eventually found out was interesting, and because I had so many responses, also a lot of similar problems with guys, I thought I'd share. The drive shaft for the floor or apron chains is in the lower rear and chain driven. It feeds the grass and then reverses the chains to eject the bale. The bearing, on the left side behind the drive sprocket had failed. Big time, and apparently had been that way for a long time. The shaft was spinning on the outer race, with no internals. You can't really see the bearing housing because the sprocket is close to it, unless you really look. I'd felt a vibration back there with the pto engaged and the engine idling, while I was lubing the chains. Reving up a bit, it as quite noticeable, standing by the baler. That was the cause of the hyd lock not being able to hold the hood. Simple vibration, once the bearing was changed, it made over 500 bales this summer with no issue. So much of the time it's a very simple solution