Hesston 5500 Rounder Clogs and Stops Spinning Bales

I have spent a tremendous amount of time unclogging this baler and driving in circles trying to get it to start a bale. Then, the bales will spin and sometimes stop and will not start spinning again.

Are the belts too loose or the tension springs too loose? This is very frustrating. Possibly, there may be some adjustments that will improve this. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks

My 5500 is the only round baler I've ever used. I wish it was net wrap, lighter, needed less HP and made a little tighter bale for storage reasons. But for $1200.00, with new belts to boot!, I got a great machine. I run mine with either a Cockshutt 30 (too small really) or an 800 Ford. If I ever get my 811B Case done (gad sleeves are high!) I'll have a better rig.

I know what you mean about the short hay that gets lodged between the belts. I have been pulling it out. Have to pull a lot of short hay off the front near the scraper. It seems to drop through there heavily.

Yesterday, I ground some angled hash marks into the fluted roller in the chamber. I primed it and then painted it with some rubberized thick paint. Nice and dry today. I tested it out in the field and it spun the bale instantly. I hit the windrow in 3rd gear with low engine speed. That may have helped, but I think the main thing was the roller now has a surface that provides friction to spin the core. I stopped the bale and restarted with no problems. It seems to be spinning real nice.

The real test will be when I get more hay cut which will be soon. Chance for isolated thunderstorms today and tomorrow, so I have been holding off for now. Thanks for the input.

I talked to the guy who used to own it. He said start out in higher gear --3rd or 4th with very lower rpms, maybe 1500. Then hit the windrow and begin weaving. He said it will spin it. He said that once it is spinning, you can gear it down and go whatever speed you want. I have been starting in first thinking it needed time to spin. Seems like starting it in 3rd or 4th would plug it up to me, but I"ll try it. What"s one more plug up.

I adjusted the drive chains-tightened them and adjusted the front stops at the top to put more tension on the belts. Tried to bale some and still couldn"t get a spin going--just a rectangular block compiled until the slip clutch began slipping.

Got to thinking about the fluted roller that is for making the initial core spin within the chamber. It is polished shiney and smooth from hay, but looks like it was painted when new. I think I will hit the wings or angle iron on it with some rubberized paint to provide some friction to grab the hay for the initial spin. Right now, it slides right past the block that builds in the hopper.

I was talking to my neighbor and he said he has had combines with rubberized rollers for friction to spin/move the material. I think the flutted roller, as is now, just has no gripping ability to even begin to spin the hay as it enters the chamber. I plan to paint the tips or wings with the rubberized paint. I have used that stuff on rollers before to create grip/friction. No doubt, the factory paint on the fluted roller originally probably provided some traction.

The upward movement of the belts at the back of the chamber is the other part of the spin. It is to pull the material upward and then it falls forward and hits the spinning fluted roller. The ribbing on the belts is fairly good. I think I"ll mess with the fluted roller first which is blunt and smooth. Maybe that will be enough to get it going.

Thanks for the input. I definitely need to replace the missing teeth and bend the guards out to match the others.

I did notice that my flutter (fluted?) roller is spinning, but the chain to it is somewhat loose. All of the chains are somewhat loose. I may tighten them up some-take some slack out. It will rumble some once the hopper has hay in it and I can see the roller spinning, but it just doesn"t seem to roll. Once it decides not to spin a bale--that"s it. It ususally doesn"t change its mind and start up later. On the other hand, it will start spinning and then later stop--very hard to get it rolling again.

I noticed that the flutter roller doesn"t have much as far as wings or fins on it for spinning or fliping the hay. It has some shallow or short angular ridges--very short. I wondered if there was a way to add angle iron or something to it to help with the spin the material. Does yours have angle iron added to the original ridges? If so, what width angle iron was welded on? Was it added over the top of the existing ridges?

Can any sprays or adhesives be added to the belts or flutted roller to improve the gripping for spinning? I wonder if I painted the ridges on the flutted roller with some heavey insulating paint, if that would help . The roller is polished extremely smooth right now.

Thanks for your help.

It probably does need some new pickup teeth. The ground is fairly smooth, but some are probably bent. I made the belt deflection adjustment and tested it. I proceeded to plug it up the tightest I have yet. Just cleaned it out a little bit ago.

The hay just doesn"t flip and roll. It sits in there, compiles some for awhile and, pretty soon, the pick up is clogged. Frustrating!