Hay Experts - Round Baler Performance

We have our grass hay custom cut, raked,and baled into large round bales at about 1350 lb each.. This year, the bales I have seem to be loose on the ouside part of the bale and really tight on the inside. I believe the bales are 5 x 5 and the baler was a 565 John Deere, I believe.

I use a bale spinner to feed and it seems that a quarter turn of the spinner drops about the first foot of the bale off because it so loose. When I get to about the three foot diameter point the hay is so tight I have to get off the tractor and peel it so it comes off. I've tried mounting it on the spear off center so that there is a bit of an unbalance to help get it off where the bale is tight and that helps some times. I also bought some alfalfa/grass hay that was put up by another operator into 1100 lb bales but again using a JD round baler. These bales have the same characteristics regarding tightness/loosness.

The year before, the guy that baled our hay used an older NH chain bailer and his bales were more uniform.
My question is: Is this half loose/half tight bale typical of the John Deere balers or has the operator done something incorrectly to cause this to happen? If he has, what's he doing to cause this?

Thanks in advance.

Don't own a JD baler, but the times I have dealt with JD bales they have been uniformly tight. I wonder if the operator was not using enough twine to keep the bale tight.

KEH

It sounds to me like he is losing RPMs or increasing ground speed as the bale fills out. My guess would be losing RPMs. I've got to boost my throttle at about 2/3 of a bale as the governor will not open the tractor up enough to maintain engine speed. It takes less fuel to just let it slow down but doesnt make as good a bale.

Sounds to me like he drives slow to get the bale started and drive the gears to it once the bale is rolling.
With the weather we had this past year or two, I can't say that I blame him... Any baling I did was constantly under threat of rain.

Rod

With the jd baler the core size is adjustable at least it was on the 567 i ran. they maybe running a larger core size hence the tight core. and they may have the pressure setting a little on the light side they could prolly be making a little smaller bale with more pressure to get the weight the same and not grind the hay. ive noticed with my new holland baler (br780) that the my ground speed makes a big difference on bale density. the slower i go the more hay it packs in there. so in the rougher ground my bales are heavier since they make a couple more revolutions in the chamber.

Jerry in MT,

I have a '05 JD 467 and to my knowledge I can't adjust core size or density. JD does offer a soft core attachment which I don't have on mine. Bale density can be adjusted by turning a knob and I run mine to maximum pressure. Windrow size and/or ground speed plus pto rpm's affect bale density. It's also possible on the JD 567 that baled the loose outer layers that one or both of the tension cylinders is leaking internally. There is a test in the tech manual to determine if this is a problem. A leaking tension control valve could also be the problem. When un-rolling a bale do you go opposite direction it was rolled? If I eject a bale that doesn't have net/twine on correctly,then I turn around and un-roll bale with frt tire of tractor and re-bale it correctly.

Yes, I unroll it like a roll of toilet paper! Because of the loose outer layer it's very hard to control the ammount I unroll and it falls of it huge chunks until I get to the tighter core.

The folks that did the baling have nearly brand new equipments so while it's possible for there to be some mechanical problem, I'm more inclined to believe it's technique and/or adjustment as most of the responses say.

I'm usually too busy to watch them bale but you can bet that I will this year. Hay's to valuable not to be put up right especially when you're paying someone to do it.

All the roll balers I rolled with the last foot is the hardest it pulls down the rpms. So I would say it could be doesn't have enough tractor, ground speed, type of hay,and even what time of day it is baled comes into play

I use a Vermeer 605H and have the same problem in short grass hay. Tall long grass is uniform all the way out. The short grass just won't hold together. Was your grass shorter this year? PK

No, it was chest high orchard gtrass.

Thanks for all your suggestions. I'll ride with the baler guy this year and see what happens.

The consensus here seems to be too low of tractor rpm as the outer part of the bale is being rolled due to the work required to roll that part of the bale increases and pulls the engine rpm down.

Thanks again everybody.