Thanks JD. And now I'm mad!

Yesterday in a baler post JD Seller told me that my 435 baler had spindle settings that would help the geometry of the baler and make it start bales easier. Well, today while I was getting the planter out I happened to look. There they were! I complained about that baler to the dealer if came from back when it was a year old (and I give them LOTS of money each year) and no one ever mentioned these wheel spindle adjustments. I've never had a flat on it and never replaced the tires, so I've never had a reason to pull one off.

Why is it they don't seem to know what is going on? They are the same ones that told me a gasket was not longer available for the 4440 and you all got me the part number in minutes. I could just throttle them.

When I was about 19 years old IH would send me out to look at a baler. It was too hot for the good mechanics. I fixed them all with grease and prayers. I still know almost nothing about them. I guess dealers haven't gotten any better in 40 some years.

Balers are like a bad government employees. You aren't sure what's going to make them work or quit working and it usually gets resolved with several crossed fingers.

Make sure you go to the owner/managers of that dealership and tell them how poorly trained their employees are and they should pay to train them instead of you paying for their mistakes !

It probably says to read and understand the operators manual before use, and I bet the height adjustment is in there, soooo only one person to be mad at! LOL

The main problem is that dealership personal have no field experience with the equipment these days whatsoever. With larger farms how would they get it? It used to be that they grew up around machinery and that that experience behind them. Another problem is that they used toi provide service and profits would follow. Today dealerships are run by bean counters always counting the pennies. Every activity has to have fat margins are they do not bother. That worked during boom times, will remain to see if that continues to work.

I've been around a number of people over the years that claimed to be baler mechanics and in the end couldn't get the baler they were working on to work. That includes NH and JD balers. On the older stuff its just better to get a manual and make your self a baler mechanic. I don't know about the newer stuff - maybe you have to be a rocket scientist to fix those.

I can not help you with your dealer problem. I just have spend hundreds maybe thousands of HOURS around a JD round baler. I was in the shop when the JD 30 series balers came out. We finally had some thing that worked!!!!! Then the 35 series balers came out with mesh wrap. We sold them like hot cakes. I was running a Claus baler just because of wanting mesh wrap. The dealer I worked for sent me to all the service and sales meetings for the 35 series balers. When I got back from the product introduction I told him that he had better order all of them he could get his hands on as they were going to SELL!!! He ordered 10 JD 535 balers as sold units. Meaning he had to pay for them as soon as we got them. The sales guys had those ten sold before we got all of them and sold 15 more in the next two months. In the first full year we sold over 50 of the JD 535 balers. The main reason was you could go and demonstrate against any of the computation's balers an beat them hands down in speed and bale density. What really helped us out was that the dealership owned two balers that we did custom baling with. Two of us shop guys ran them and we got paid a bonus of $.50 a bale over our hourly rate for running the balers at anytime they where needed. That experience coupled with the bonus made both of us shop guys PUSH the heck out of those bales and play with setting them to MAKE them work in the crops we had.

So here goes some advice to you on our JD 435 baler. Get that throat opened up. That means raising it up until the pickup is almost clear down when your on flat ground. I know JD says to not run them quite that high but we found if you wanted them to really eat hay and corn stalks you wanted them UP. Set where we ran them you would actually leave a little hay if you crossed a real low spot as the pickup would be at the end of it down stroke. What setting the spindles like this does is opens the throat up as wide as it can go.

Now on the pickup itself. We went to the heavier teeth that they used on the later JD 566 balers. They just would hold up better. Even before the heavier teeth we installed the LONG pickup tooth kit and that did wonders in corn stalks.

In tall grass hay you wanted a full set of restrictor rods in the compression rack. This keeps the hay from wrapping the starter roll. In corn stalks we took the compression rack clear out as it would restrict dry shredded corn stalks from entering the baler.

When they came out with the HIGH moisture kits for the JD 566 balers we installed them on the JD 535 balers we ran. The most important thing was the spiral metal strips on the ends of the starter roll and the knife that ran close to them. That just about eliminated any wrapping issues you would have on the starter roll. These help even in regular dry hay as the hay can't start wrapping form the ends as the spiral and knife keep it from happening.

We also found out running a variable core valve and setting it helped start bales. In harder starting hay/stalks we would set it to where it ran lower belt pressure until the bale core as about a foot in diameter. Running this lower pressure at the start would allow the core to start easier especially in slick crops like oat straw. You still had a tight bale as you only had it set to make the first foot of the core softer. The kit was designed to make the entire center softer so damp hay could cure out better. We rarely set it to run that way.

Run good Diamond tread belts that are not worn much. We changed belts every year and sold the used ones to customers that did not bale as much. That extra grip makes the world of difference in starting hay/stalks in slick conditions. Also switch to the MATO style belt splices. They are twice as strong and wear many times longer. The steel cross pins are ten times as easy to replace than the factory cables. Do replace the splice pins regularly too. We did it every 1000 bales all of the time and more often in corn stalks. Some times that was once each week in corn stalks as the dirt in the stalks would wear the pins faster.

Keep your belts sized. They do stretch. We pulled them out at least twice each year and made sure they were within 3 inches of the factory recommended length. That is 525 inches on the short belts and 531 inches on the long belts. If you tear out a splice and the belt is too short DO NOT run that one belt short. Make a splice belt that is at least 4 foot long and put two splices in the belt to get it back to match the rest of the belts. running one short belt puts more stress on that belt and all of the rollers on the baler.

Also do not run worn drive chains and sprockets. Keep the chains in good shape and if the sprockets get worn replaced them, as they will just wear out chains faster. If your baling a lot of bales an automatic oiler will soon pay for itself. They were not offered for the factory until the JD 566 balers but there where several companies that sold them. Basically they give a squirt of oil on all the chains every time you cycle the end gate/door.

Keep an eye on the constant velocity joints in the PTO shaft. They are repairable IF you do not let them get completely worn out. If you let them get completely worn out they can cost over a $1000 to repair/replace. DO NOT try to run without them. Regular Ujoints will make the baler rattle in tight turns and will soon ruin the main gear case.

Last thing I can think of right now. BUY an inferred thermometer. Check the roller bearings for ones running warmer. Do this as your baling. Makes some bales and jump right out and quickly check the bearings. Any that run 25 degrees hotter should be replaced as soon as its convenient. Any running 50 degrees hotter should be replaced NOW as it is about to fail. Bearing are cheaper than a burnt baler.

I am sure I am forgetting things but these are most of the main things to do. Some guys say we are crazy for some of the things we did to the balers like the running height. All I can say is we pushed those balers in OUR conditions and crops. We consistently averaged 40 to 50 bales an hour in good running. That is making hay/stalks fast.

I guess I was 21 when I got sent out. Never worked on a baler in my life. Boss was along and I decided right then, I had better try to figure out how these things work as it looked to me like he was working on the wrong end and making excuses. Problem was that 30 years later, I still had to work on the darn things as no one else seemed to want to figure them out. Imagine, working on an injection pump in the quiet room of the shop and someone needs their baler looked at. Hot, dirty, even stacking the bales some times as I made the adjustments. Wonder why no one wants to be a baler mechanic. Dealers just push everything they can and complain that they have to spend too much on training, shop tools etc all the while telling everyone they have everything you need, parts and service.

I know the owner and chat with him each time I go in (or go to lunch if it's time). He's kind of a tough guy to work for I believe as he sees the business bottom line first. I hate to go tattling to him, because if he cans the person I'm known as "that farmer". Sure, the parts guy has a bad attitude, but you better believe I ask for him specifically if I break down and need a part I can only describe to him over the phone. If those folks are eliminated the store misses out on the knowledge that person had. He's not much on chances for folks and learning opportunities. I suppose that's good, but I have the phone numbers of lots of guys he canned that I trust with my machines and advice more than the putz that replaced them. Baler and combine men who have been around long enough to have learned everything are a little more valuable than he realizes.

JD dealer near me has a guy, semi retired, who handles problem balers for them. The guy is constantly on the road during haying season.

Rick

I'll add to what JD Seller stated that welding on the bars or rods on the metal starter roll be the old style with rectangular bars or newer style with round spiraling rods will help core starting and help eliminate hay running up front belts in drier grass hay. On my 467 I even welded a 14'' rod on each side in between each existing spiral rod. Baling in Coastal especially if grown on sandy soil wears the edge off the bars or rods

(quoted from post at 14:40:03 06/11/16) Yesterday in a baler post JD Seller told me that my 435 baler had spindle settings that would help the geometry of the baler and make it start bales easier. Well, today while I was getting the planter out I happened to look. There they were! I complained about that baler to the dealer if came from back when it was a year old (and I give them LOTS of money each year) and no one ever mentioned these wheel spindle adjustments. I've never had a flat on it and never replaced the tires, so I've never had a reason to pull one off.

Why is it they don't seem to know what is going on? They are the same ones that told me a gasket was not longer available for the 4440 and you all got me the part number in minutes. I could just throttle them.

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Good help is difficult to find it seems!

(quoted from post at 16:42:46 06/11/16) It probably says to read and understand the operators manual before use, and I bet the height adjustment is in there, soooo only one person to be mad at! LOL

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DITTO!!!!

most dealers around here did not care about the spindle height..they just put them together, once sold they would expect you to make it work and I set mine to make the baler as high as it would...I just wonder how many people running the 530 up knows that the tension get it's starting charge from tractor...