I am involved in rebuilding (I use that word deliberately - the aim is to have a reliable and robust functioning machine, rather than attempting to recreate a 60 year old machine) a couple of New Holland 68 (and Super 68) balers and have been looking at a few examples being sold for parts (if the connecting rust holds out long enough!!) to act as donors since New Holland now relegate these machines to "Legacy" so very few parts available and a limited supply of pattern parts from other sources. It seems the tinwork and especially the pick up guards are very prone to rusting, in some cases completely disintegrating. I have managed to repair some of these, not pretty but functional, using sheet metal and bending the profiles and edges as required. I can source new replacements guards for GBP28 each, but a full set of 13 comes in fairly pricey!
Got me thinking back to my youth when we frequently built kayaks (canoes) from GRP and many vehicle, especially from the smaller manufacturers use GRP body parts, often with carbon fiber reinforcement. Strikes me that a pick up guard built from reinforced resin would be robust, but with enough spring to withstand debris being lifted by the pick up tines, totally rot proof and rust free and could be self coloured so stays looking good! My main concern would be how robust the outer gel coat layer would be since a season baling seems capable of stripping the paint of the metal ones with ease. With a bit of redesign (basically replacing the edge profile on the outside with two raised ribs on the inside to sit either side of the support brackets) it would be a pretty easy mould to make.
Anybody ever tried it? Thoughts? Or is this simply too unthinkable to mention in polite society? Actually I wonder why the manufacturers don't use materials like this more, but I guess they make good bucks from selling replacements for all the rusted parts!!!
Got me thinking back to my youth when we frequently built kayaks (canoes) from GRP and many vehicle, especially from the smaller manufacturers use GRP body parts, often with carbon fiber reinforcement. Strikes me that a pick up guard built from reinforced resin would be robust, but with enough spring to withstand debris being lifted by the pick up tines, totally rot proof and rust free and could be self coloured so stays looking good! My main concern would be how robust the outer gel coat layer would be since a season baling seems capable of stripping the paint of the metal ones with ease. With a bit of redesign (basically replacing the edge profile on the outside with two raised ribs on the inside to sit either side of the support brackets) it would be a pretty easy mould to make.
Anybody ever tried it? Thoughts? Or is this simply too unthinkable to mention in polite society? Actually I wonder why the manufacturers don't use materials like this more, but I guess they make good bucks from selling replacements for all the rusted parts!!!
