# Farmhand Bale Accumulator



## Green Fields (Jul 25, 2014)

I've been trying to get a Farmhand 8 bale accumulator (F-100D) working. One problem I am having is that the push off doesn't work unless the push off speed control is set higher. If it is slower then the bale pushover arm operates instead of the push off. In fact it seems that the longer I've been baling the faster I have to set the push off speed for it to work otherwise it doesn't override the push over. If anybody here has more experience with these and has any ideas as to what could be wrong I would greatly appreciate any help you can give.

thanks


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

Welcome to HayTalk.

I asked Jeff and the first thing that came to mind was the trip not working to cause it to unload. Push over shouldn't be working in unloading mode. Could be a lot of things, possibly o-ring failure.

Shelia


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Sound like a leaking valve. At higher temps oil thins and leak is worse.


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## Green Fields (Jul 25, 2014)

Thanks Shelia and slowzuki for your input. The trip mechanism seems to be working as far as I can tell. Maybe there is something wrong with the main valve. The owners manual doesn't show much of any parts for the main valve though so I'm not sure what to do about it if it is that. I was thinking maybe I should try some heavier oil? I used Traveller ISO 46. The book just says to use Farmhand hydraulic oil it doesn't say what viscosity it is though.


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## Hedge tree (Jul 18, 2008)

We still use the Farmhands out here in Kansas. You did not mention the baler it is attached to or whether it has the integrated pump/reservoir or the pump + the oil reservoir. Your explanation suggests the pump output is sufficient to push 2 over, but not to drag them off. Lots of things to check. Make sure you have both springs underneath the push over bar to quickly return it to home position. How are you driving the pump? PTO (not the best) or off the flywheel? The pulley size, driver to driven can make an output change. A large flywheel going 540 rpm driving to an 8" pulley or sproket will generally push more juice than a pump being driven directly from the PTO.

Check and adjust the linkage arm for the push down pad on the far side....often a bale sitting on it will not fully move the arm to cycle the valve completely. Could be the pump is weak...the can be rebuilt by a competent hydraulic shop. Most guys cuss the Farmhand, we bale thousands of bales a year behind NH 575's and BC 5070's without issues. Lots of adjustments can be made, even to the aluminum trip arm, moving it farther forward, etc. good luck. If you have any specific questions, fire away...I will try to help.


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## Green Fields (Jul 25, 2014)

Thanks for the suggestions Hedge tree. Mine didn't have any pump when I bought it, I think the pervious owner ran it off the tractor hydraulics. But I didn't think my tractor would run it that way so I bought a Cessna pump which is rated at 14.6 gpm at 1800 rpm. I built a bracket for it and am running it off my NH 570 flywheel and added a 12 gallon tank. I have a bunch of literature from Farmhand but I think the only thing that says what gpm the system is, is a sales brochure I have which says it's 13 gpm. The diameter of the pulley I got for the pump is 6.75 ". It will be a day or two before I can do some more experimenting to try and figure out what is causing the problem. I should have checked to see if the piston in the valve is in the right location when it's supposed to push off the bales but instead tries to push them over. The thing I don't get is if the pump is too weak why would it work better when I set the push off speed control valve higher?


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## Hedge tree (Jul 18, 2008)

If the previous owner used tractor hydraulics, both hoses most likely would have been the same size, such as 1/2". With the original pump set up, the return or low pressure hose was/ is about 1 to 1-1/2" in diameter. Low pressure, high volume apparently. If your current set up uses the smaller hoses, I think that is your problem. Your manual should tell you the size for the hoses, but it takes a big sucker to return the oil to the reservoir in the original configuration. Lots were adapted to tractor hydraulics so they could be shut off to avoid an inadvertent pack discharge while turning sharply. Open vs. closed center was a problem unless return oil was dumped directly instead of through an accessory port.

The "speed" control valve simply changes the flow to allow for faster/ slower drag off speed. I think your system is starved for oil volume coming back to the pump reservoir. If you have a large diameter return hose, then my idea is blowed. Still, trouble shooting these old babes to get them to work is worth the effort. Good luck with your troubleshooting.


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## Green Fields (Jul 25, 2014)

I used 1-1/4 inch suction hose from the tank to the pump and 1 inch return hose from the accumulator to the tank so I don't think that's the problem. Also didn't use any quick connect fittings as per the recommendation in the manuals. Also the bottom of my tank is about even with the top of the pump so I don't think I put the tank too high either. But I know the original baler driven pump was actually in the tank.

I'm not going to give up on it, I've put too much into it already and I think I'm close to having it working as it should. It was in really rough shape when I got it, I had to make the bale hold downs as they were mostly missing. Also it's missing the tailgate but I've seen many pictures of them and it seems most of them don't have the tail gate. I'll probably make one sometime anyway. I really like the way it moves with the baler, just as if it were part of it.


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

Agree with hedge tree about using the Farmhand. We sold ours when we built barn that could use bale wagon and for us that works better but the Farmhands are straight forward to work with and once you get it going just keeping minor adjustments made is all it takes.


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## Green Fields (Jul 25, 2014)

Just an update... I added a gallon of Lucas hydraulic oil booster and stop leak to the reservoir and it seemed to help a lot so I added another gallon after that. I am able to slow the push off way down without problems now and it's working good now. I only had the problem of it pushing over instead of off once after I added the first gallon before it got mixed good and it never happened since then.


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