# Round Baler PTO Question



## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

Do you have to shut off the PTO when ejecting a round bale or no? If you have to disengage/disengage the PTO for every bale, is that hard on the PTO clutches? I realize the ground speed clutch is designed to be in/out as one frequently changes gears, but I would have thought the PTO clutch, live or independent, would be less robust in that once the PTO is on, one can run for hours before turning it off. Is PTO clutch replacement a frequent occurrence when making round bales?

Are there any 4x4 or 4x5 round balers that do not require turning off the the PTO when ejecting the round bale?

Thanks!
Bill


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## Troy Farmer (Jul 31, 2011)

You don't have to stop a NH.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

My old Hesston required turning pto off. New Vermeer keep pto on.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

Many of the older balers advised turning off the PTO to eject the roll.

The later model Vermeer and Deere balers do not. The belts disengage when dumping. They will tighten up and spin if the gate is all the way up. I have been told this is to run the belts a little to clean them off.


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

Hesston/MF 1700 series do not require turning the PTO off.


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## JMT (Aug 10, 2013)

Depends on the round baler. But I also know of some operators who have a baler that does not need to be shut off, and they do it anyway. Not sure if they just do it because of habit or some other reason. Maybe because they think it improves bale appearance or wrap/twine.

Anyone know of reasons to shut pto off to eject bale (when machine does not require)?

My JD 568 does not require shutting off the pto. Actually, the belts will often get pinched by the bottom of the gate when closing if the pto is not on.


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## ARD Farm (Jul 12, 2012)

Hmmmm Never heard of that, in fact, in the owners manual of my old NH638, it advised not to shut off the PTO when a bale was in the chamber.......

I would think if you did, you'd need an over running clutch. Most live/independent PTO's have a brake pack built in so an over running clutch would a good idea....

I don't see any benefit in doing that but maybe I'm dense.....


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

JMT said:


> My JD 568 does not require shutting off the pto. Actually, the belts will often get pinched by the bottom of the gate when closing if the pto is not on.


Tailgate roller should not pinch belts when closing gate on a JD rd baler whether the pto is on or off. What model tractor do you pull the 568 with?

I agree pto should remain on while ejecting bale on JD rd balers.


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## mike10 (May 29, 2011)

Some operators will shut the pto off on steep hills so as not to give the bale too much momentum when ejecting.

There is no need for an overrunning clutch since there is no flywheel effect coming from a baler under load. The force from the round baler pto shaft is in the opposite direction of the tractor pto so there would be no overrunning of a overrunning clutch when the pto is shut off on the tractor. In other words, if the pto shaft on the baler suddenly came disconnected the baler would stop immediately and not try to continue rotating.


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## JMT (Aug 10, 2013)

Tx Jim said:


> Tailgate roller should not pinch belts when closing gate on a JD rd baler whether the pto is on or off. What model tractor do you pull the 568 with?
> I agree pto should remain on while ejecting bale on JD rd balers.


Pull it with a Kubota M120 or a JD 6430. Belts will pinch when hooked to M120 not sure if they will with 6430.

First time they pinched was during setup with dealer. Tech was kind of surprised they got pinched but not concerned. Just advised to always have pto engaged when closing and to make sure gate was opened all the way before closing. Guess it is related to hydraulic flow.


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## Josh in WNY (Sep 7, 2010)

On my old Claas round baler, it's actually better to leave the PTO on, but we have to shut it off to cut the net wrap (something is broke with the automatic system, but we haven't figured it out yet). Sometimes a bale won't just role out when the gate was opened though, so I engage the PTO before I dump the bale.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

JMT said:


> Belts will pinch when hooked to M120 not sure if they will with 6430.
> . Guess it is related to hydraulic flow.


Yes pinching belts while closing gate is related to hyd flow but I'd think a Kubota M120 should have enough flow. I wonder if the male hyd tips are restricting the flow? My JD 4255(11,000 hrs on tach) has gotten lower flow after hyd oil reaches operating temp so I have to speed rpm's up to about 1500 when closing gate when checking for hot brgs to keep from pinching belts..


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## JMT (Aug 10, 2013)

Tx Jim said:


> Yes pinching belts while closing gate is related to hyd flow but I'd think a Kubota M120 should have enough flow. I wonder if the male hyd tips are restricting the flow?


I adjusted flow to keep the bed on the Hoelscher accumulator from slamming down, so I may have cut the flow down some.

Good news is the roller/arms that pop up to release belt tension when ejecting a bale, seem to operate properly. I think, when closing the baler gate, the roller/arms do not put tension back on quick enough. The weight of the gate in relation to the hydraulic flow causes gate to come down and pinch belts before tension is put back on.

It is also important, like I said before, to make sure the gate opens all the way before closing it. Doing this somehow lets the hydraulics to operate the tension roller before (or quicker) than the gate.

Does anyone know, is there something on the baler that restricts or directs flow to the tension roller before the gate cylinders? And is there an adjustment possible? Or is it just the way the lines are run? Thanks and sorry if I am hijacking a post.


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

It is also important, like I said before, to make sure the gate opens all the way before closing it. Doing this somehow lets the hydraulics to operate the tension roller before (or quicker) than the gate.
Does anyone know, is there something on the baler that restricts or directs flow to the tension roller before the gate cylinders? And is there an adjustment possible? Or is it just the way the lines are run? Thanks and sorry if I am hijacking a post.[/quote]I think the hydraulic cylinder that sets the tension on the bale is on its own circuit not using the same hydraulic from the tractor that operates the tailgate...Sorry I posted this with welders yesterday by mistake


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

JMT

So if II understand correctly you have a bale accumulator plumbed into baler hyd's?


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## foz682 (Jan 10, 2013)

Our Claas requires the pto to be running in order to eject the bale, if not running then the bale stays in the chamber.


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## JMT (Aug 10, 2013)

Tx Jim said:


> JMT
> So if II understand correctly you have a bale accumulator plumbed into baler hyd's?


No the accumulator is with a small square baler. I have adjusted the hydraulic flow of the tractor to operate the accumulator. I use the same tractor for round baling.

The only "accumulator" I have for the round baler is to dump the bales out so they roll down the hill and "accumulate" at the bottom.


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## JMT (Aug 10, 2013)

Tx Jim said:


> JMT
> So if II understand correctly you have a bale accumulator plumbed into baler hyd's?


No the accumulator is with a small square baler. I have adjusted the hydraulic flow of the tractor to operate the accumulator. I use the same tractor for round baling.

The only "accumulator" I have for the round baler is to dump the bales out so they roll down the hill and "accumulate" at the bottom.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

How do you adjust flow on your Kubota? If it's not difficult to change I'd suggest to turn flow up for rd baling. I'm unaware of a hyd flow adjustment on my M7040.


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## JMT (Aug 10, 2013)

Tx Jim said:


> How do you adjust flow on your Kubota? If it's not difficult to change I'd suggest to turn flow up for rd baling. I'm unaware of a hyd flow adjustment on my M7040.


It's not real easy. There is a set screw on the back side of hydraulic coupler stack. Need to loosen a nut then turn the set screw with a screwdriver, if I am remembering right. Kind of hard to reach and not easy to get set back consistently. Especially when I leave the pto running when ejecting a bale all the time anyway. Only when I am checking bearings or unwrapping stray net wrap from the rollers do I worry about pinching belts.

Plus I now use the JD 6430 to round bale most of the time. It pulls the baler up our hills much better than the M120.


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