Follow-up questions on JD24T shearing bolts

My 24 wire tie baler sheared a bolt, mostly because I think I overloaded it with hay. The baler makes some frequent banging and the fly wheel has a bit of a movement to it when you wiggle it with your hands.

There was some talk about the plunger. I'm waiting to get a 24 manual, but does anyone have a picture what I should be looking for. I'm sort of new to the hay game and any help would be appreciated.

Mark

I also have a Ford 350 (besides the JD 24T). It banged and clanged and stressed the overload mechanisms. That's the one I fixed.

The ram is like the piston in an engine: piston, rod, crank (with flywheel). The piston is square with a knife on the hay inlet side and rollers on the back, bottom, and maybe the top.

My rollers were completely worn out and when the moving knife attempted to squish the hay between it and the fixed knife, the piston would move away from the fixed knife like 3/8". This was enough to make a big mechanical mess and crummy looking bales.

Replacing the roller bearings solved the problems (along with nice sharp edges on the knives) Those knives should pass very close together; on the order of 10's of thousands of inches; like .03".

Undo the connecting rod at the crank (2 bolts) and push the ram out the back of the baler. If the sides of the baler has hay stops, take them off. Work past your tying mechanisms and out the back you go.

The bearings are called "Cam roller bearings" and I got mine from a local bearing supply store. They were standard items in his "Agricultural Bearings" catalog.....$35 ea at 6 per.

This is getting lengthy. Got more questions, ask,

Mark

My 24T has simple wear pads on the plunger, with a shim pack under them. The combination of shims under the wear pads, and the adjustment of the "crossheads" that push the pads against the LH side of the baler set the clearnce of the knife, on the RH side of the plunger.

Mark

Best,

Mark