Death by a thousand paper cuts - haybine woes

RANT alert

Pretty frustrated with a Gehl Haybine - need advice on when it is better to repair yet another issue or drop and move to another machine...

Last year, replaced reel fingers and some gearbox seals. Then mowed around 15 acres. on the last field, had a hydraulic hose leak start.

This year, have about 20 acres done, but every time I go out, I find another problem on the mower... so far, replaced the hose - $125 bucks, snapped the pto yoke (hidden stress crack), another $80 for new yoke and cross, Then lost the reel belt on a Sunday, local belt house opened up to sell me a new one - $60 (they made a profit).

Then I find a bearing mount that will be going out on the pitman arm - have not replaced it yet. Bearing slightly wobbling in a pillow block style mount. $130 plus shipping - Gehl only part.

Yesterday a tire blows - weather checked, cords give way - another $125. Socket on sickle will need to be replaced soon - have not checked on price.

This afternoon one of the reel bearing starts singing. Found a timken cross-ref but will cost $25. Booger to replace, badly rusted shaft. PO let lots of hay wrap around stuff...grrr.

If I add up all the nickels and dimes, I am approaching $675 plus whatever the cost of the socket.

When is enough enough?

I have a buddy that has a NH haybine that he reworked recently and then decided to buy a disc mower. Wants $1000. When is it a good idea to drop the machine that you kind of know about to move to a new unknown? So far there is no confidence that I am going to see the end of the breakdowns on this machine.

End of Rant

John

Only you would really know, but I believe at this point I would cut my losses. Buy the neighbors (if it is in as good of shape as he says), and sell yours to try to re-coup a little of the cost. Your budget would play a factor as well. Bob

Things do just eventually wear out, and a I suspect your Gehl is at that point.

New Holland has always had a better reputation, at least around here, and if you think he did a reasonable job of "reworking" it, guess I'd make the switch, keeping the old one as a spare.

I hope the NH won't be like a mower a friend of mine bought from a dealer. As he told it, "Dealer said it had been through the shop. Appears to me it must have hit a post or two on the way through."

No doubt in my mind I would grab the neighbors, patch yours up and sell it. If you are like me, you almost hate to sell to someone else knowing they will likely have problems, but in another respect, maybe you have ironed out the bugs, and they will be fine with it. Probably no way to lose on the $1000 haybine unless it completely falls apart on you right after you buy it, as you can likely resell for what you have in it or more if you don't like it. I bought a little Hesston 530 round baler a couple years ago, baled about 10 acres with it, and turned around and sold it for what I had in it. Hated that little baler after I used it and knew it would not work for me, even though it was fine mechanically.

Only a few more parts and you will have a good mower there.

Re-read your rant, and ask yourself how you could keep that thing - $1000 for a NH haybine that's been repaired sounds like a fantastic deal from where I'm standing.

Jay

Most of the parts you describe are in my mind "normal" wear items. Belts, tires and hoses wear out/go bad. Bearings from time to time also will need replacing. IN my mind, I'd buy the NH mower if it really is better than yours and fix your Gehl at your leisure. With these old machines, having a backup ready to go is a good thing. I routinely can put up to $1,000 per year on average into my old Hesston 1071, but my fields are rough and I'd rather spend that money on parts than buy a new machine and make a payment on it and still break stuff. That's just me though. Good luck either way you go!

Well, theoretically, you should sell the Gehl when its cost of operation exceeds that of another similar tool. Years ago, I sank thousands into an old truck only to find that it was still an old truck, with continuing issues. Bought a brand new truck, and have had minimal repair costs since. Yet, depreciation on the new truck has probably been my largest expense. All together, though, the new truck has a lower total operating cost than the old truck. Hindsight is of course 20/20.

Some really good advice here...

I guess the biggest aggravation is that every time I hit a new field I find a new problem. And I am the kind of guy that does not like to run with a known problem. So, I end up stopping the haying to address the issue. I then fail to get enough hay made before the next rain cycle. I have 50 acres of hay to do this year and want 3 cuttings. A more reliable mower would have gotten me almost done on 1st cutting last month. Because of downtime I only finished 1/2.

So I guess the best answer is to buy the NH haybine, fix the old one and have a ready backup. I am not ready to drop $3K-6K on a newer mower, just not enough haying for me to justify the cost at this point. Anyway, this Gehl does a fine job when it is running well...

A related question - the bearing on the reel. It is a sealed bearing that had hay rubbing against so the rubber seal is breached. Can I force some grease into the bearing to quiet it so that I can defer the fix till fall? Bearing feels tight. Not sure what type of grease and how to get it in there. I tried to squirt some chain lube in there but that stuff is pretty thin. If I can get some lube in ther that can make that work that would help. Removing the reel will be an all day exercise and I have hay to cut today.

John

I have a fitting for my grease gun that has a 4" long tube that narrows to a point that I use for that exact situation. I think I got it at Tractor Supply, I'd try something like that to start with.

Anytime I have one of those sealed shaft bearings that is old and dry that I'm worried about I take a small drill bit and drill the metal seal right in the middle and then use a needle greaser to grease them up. Makes them last and then you can always grease them. I did that on the conditioner on my 1014+2 because I didn't want to go through the trouble of replacing them since they sounded OK but maybe a little dry. No problems and now I can grease them. NAPA sells the needle greaser attachment for your grease gun, it just snaps on the end since it has a zerk on it. Don't get the one that is a real needle, get the other one that can be used to push in on the ball of a real zerk in a tight place.

Just have to add my thoughts on this. I just went through this on a Hesston 1014+2. I got this machine at an auction and it was pretty rough but I got it for $400. I do all my own repairs and metal work is no problem. I rebuilt all the bushing ends on the lift arms, went to a parts yard and got some sheet metal and sickle drive parts and other odds and ends, got some new gears and bearings and sickle guards and blades and went to work on it. All total I'll have around $2500 in this machine but everything that is a critical cutting, drive or conditioning part has been rebuilt or replaced. The machine will last a long time now and I know for sure what I have and what I may need to do in the future. Bottom line, I would rather rebuild what I have than go buy something that may or may not be better. Ask yourself this...if you put that $1000 into the machine you have what type of shape will it be in then? Why not have one good solid machine than two broken down ones. Talking yourself into "backup" machine tells me neither one will do the job and having two machines to work on will just kill more time you don't have when putting up hay. I know... did this and have done this with the two 320 balers I have. Better to have one good one than two so so ones. Like they say...your mileage may vary.