# How often do you have to sharpen a square baler's knives?



## jturbo10 (Feb 28, 2011)

I have a New Holland Twine small square baler (5060) that I bought new 3 years ago. I have baled over 10,000 bales of Bermuda hay without any problems but I was wondering when should I have the blades sharpened or replaced. I suspect I'm already behind the ball but the bales are very uniform and compact. I've looked at the manual to see what is entailed in sharpening them but it is not very clear when or how to do the job. Who ever writes NH's manuasl does make it easy for the rancher to do it himself. I'm sure it is not that hard once you do it but I reluctant to just start taking parts off without knowing what I'm doing. Dad and I always had John Deere's before and they weren't that hard. Anyone know what dealers charge for sharpening blades? Are the new blades throwaways or can they be sharpened. Any help would be appreciated.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

I pay a guy with a private sharpening shop something like $10. They're not hard to remove. Putting them back in can be slightly more annoying as you have to make sure the shims stay in place. I guess this is why tape was invented. When to do it? Probably when they either feel dull or when your cut edge starts to look less than flat.


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## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

I would sharpen them when the bale looks like it has a bad haircut, or you notice an uneven cut side. As to the replacement question, I have replaced blades after finding chunks missing from the blade. Sticks and other debris in fields can cause chips in the blades pretty easy. Just remember to replace the shims exactly as they were when you re-install the knives. Guessing where to place the shims can cause the knives to contact each other, breaking them both. Failing to put the shims in will leave the knives to far apart and will cause stripping of material rather than cutting of it.


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

If you rake up a little ground or sand it with your windrows they' dulll quickly .Which is why I do not think there is a, number of bales to how often you should sharpen


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

Made a sharpener out of a sharpener from an Fox 3000 silage chopper. Set the knife in the jig and away you go. I'm sure a machine shop would do it for $10-15.


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## cmd (Oct 26, 2012)

I've used 4 1/2 grinder with grinding wheel if really bad and finish with sanding disc. I can get a heck of a nice edge like that and even if your edge is a little off it won't matter the way they work.


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## weatherman (Dec 5, 2008)

cmd said:


> I've used 4 1/2 grinder with grinding wheel if really bad and finish with sanding disc. I can get a heck of a nice edge like that and even if your edge is a nlittle off it won't matter the way they work.


When I bought a used NH 316, I had a farm service tech thoroughly go over the baler to fix any issues. The knives needed sharpening which he used 4 1/2" grinder. The grinder did a great job just need to hold it a the correct angle. We removed the plunger to check the bearings so the knives were very accessible. Not sure if I'll take the plunger out just to sharpen the knives this year unless that is the best method.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

weatherman said:


> When I bought a used NH 316, I had a farm service tech thoroughly go over the baler to fix any issues. The knives needed sharpening which he used 4 1/2" grinder. The grinder did a great job just need to hold it a the correct angle. We removed the plunger to check the bearings so the knives were very accessible. Not sure if I'll take the plunger out just to sharpen the knives this year unless that is the best method.


Take the knives out. Not the plunger. Don't make yourself extra work.


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## FCF (Apr 23, 2010)

8350HiTech said:


> Take the knives out. Not the plunger. Don't make yourself extra work.


Guess I am dumb/stupid. My 570 manual says to remove the plunger to get the knife off it. Ain't gonna happen, would also need to remove the thrower too! Haven't figured out how to get to the top bolt on the plunger knife. Have used angle grinder on it but too old and portly (FAT) to get a good job in the machine. Had baler gone over by Messick's about 10 years ago before moving. They put new knives in without removing thrower but I haven't figured out the top bolt.

Any input?


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

FCF said:


> Guess I am dumb/stupid. My 570 manual says to remove the plunger to get the knife off it. Ain't gonna happen, would also need to remove the thrower too! Haven't figured out how to get to the top bolt on the plunger knife. Have used angle grinder on it but too old and portly (FAT) to get a good job in the machine. Had baler gone over by Messick's about 10 years ago before moving. They put new knives in without removing thrower but I haven't figured out the top bolt.
> 
> Any input?


Through the top of the chamber. You'll scratch your arm. It's not comfortable.
Of course, I'm 6' and 160 so my arms are pretty much designed for that kind of work.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

I'm guilty of just laying in the pickup with the grinder when they get dull. Have never taken them out to sharpen. Seems to work well but I wear insulated coveralls to do it as you will get poked with the teeth.


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## cmd (Oct 26, 2012)

Got to be careful putting sharp ones back in, one slip of the wrench and it's going to be nasty


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## DSLinc1017 (Sep 27, 2009)

What do you do if you have fairly sharp knives but some big chips?


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

DSLinc1017 said:


> What do you do if you have fairly sharp knives but some big chips?


Do you have ragged bales? If not, I'd sharpen the chipped areas too and keep them.


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## DSLinc1017 (Sep 27, 2009)

8350HiTech said:


> Do you have ragged bales? If not, I'd sharpen the chipped areas too and keep them.


They aren't to bad, but you can see the bottom 1/4 of the bale is a bit obviouse where the knives have the chips. I'm a bit of a perfectionest. I was thinking of climbing in with a grinder, but I also need to check the shims. So I'm sure it will turn into a project!


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

I sharpen the chips. We bales a few dozen fence posts the first year from all the garbage left in the fields. They have never seemed to affect the cut quality.


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## DSLinc1017 (Sep 27, 2009)

slowzuki said:


> I sharpen the chips. We bales a few dozen fence posts the first year from all the garbage left in the fields. They have never seemed to affect the cut quality.


Baled an old snap-on pry bar left in a field. The evident cause of my chips. Same field did a fence post too, only caught it when the barb wire was feeding in. I was surprised the hay bine, Tedder and rake didn't catch it first. 
Sorry wasn't trying to high jack the thread.


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## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

I am 6' 8" and closing in on 285 pounds. My vote is for removing the plunger and chamber knife. If it was a 3 X 3 baler I might be able to squeeze in there with a grinder. Of course I was able to coerce the youngest son into crawling in there with a grinder once to fix some damage behind the knife.
I just pulled the plunger out this past year from mine and it only took an hour total to pull it out, change the knive and throw it back in. That was with air tools though.
I am not sure on the new inline, I have one that needs the knives worked on and I am not really looking forward to that little treasure.
A gas ax works well on that pesky little top bolt. That is a cutting torch for those not familiar with the term.


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## Hayguy (Jun 4, 2008)

I think you can touch up the knives with a small grinder, but if the whole knife is done, you need to reshim to keep the clearance right. So, you might as we'll take the knives out and do it right.


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## mike10 (May 29, 2011)

As the person indicated, reach down through the opening around the tension rails.

Depending on the age of you 570 baler, it can be difficult to remove the top bolt. On the earlier production 500 series balers there is not enough room to slip a wrench onto the nut because of the narrow opening around the nut. You can take a die grinder and remove enough metal so you can get a wrench on the nut. Years ago I modified a 3/4" box end wrench to fit on the top bolts on other NH model balers where similar problems exist because the bolts were too long. Grind the wrench to narrow the width. Since your bolts on the 570 baler are metric you might want to use a 19mm, I just use my 3/4.

Sharpening your knives is only half the solution. You should also adjust the plunger bearings to remove the side play of the plunger so the knives are close when they cross and are not pushed apart when cutting the hay.

Always check that the stationary knife is not protruding into the bale chamber too far when installing shims behind the knife. I take a shim and run it along the edge of the knife pushing it towards the front of the baler. If the corner of the shim hits the corner of the side rail in the bale chamber then the knife is not protruding too far. Conversely, running the shim along the side rail back towards the knife should not contact the corner of the knife.


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## FCF (Apr 23, 2010)

8350- Thanks. I looked at doing that. Some people have said my arms look like tree trunks, have very large bones.

Mike 10- Thanks also! You hit the nail on the head about not being enough opening room for the wrench. Looks like I need to invest in a die grinder and/or another wrench to modify. Well aware of checking clearance and adjusting plunger bearings. Like your explaination of using a shim to check stationary knife.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

I must be very lucky (or have an oddball 3/4 wrench) because I've used it on both my 315 and mid production 570 without having to modify it.


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## Rodney R (Jun 11, 2008)

I have had the knives out of all of the 575's that we owned, and never had to use the gas axe for the top bolt, it's never been a problem. the big issue was a few years ago when I had to install new knives, rather than just sharpen the old ones, as I actually had to measure where the shims had to go, rather than just put them back how they were..... That being said, at 10K bales, there is about another 30k left in them before they need sharpening, unless you hit something hard. How often does anybody else sharpen them? We used to do 30-40k on each baler per year, and even then sharpening them seemed like it was sometimes a waste.


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## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

I have put probably 11k bales thru the (barley) used JD336 and never sharpened. Once in a while I'll have a couple bales that are 'tied' together with hay, but seems only if I'm in some *real *thick stuff that might not be real dry.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Ours is about every 10-20,000 mainly for nicks. Baler that came with the farm must have never been sharpened, it would break shear bolts like crazy as soon as the lightest dew set. When going over it the knives had about a 3/16 radius on the edge.


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