# Tale of two balers



## longmeadow farm (Jun 26, 2009)

My neighbor and I each have John Deere Balers he has a 435 and I have a slightly newer 447(2002 model). We are both relatively small operations, baling between 700 - 800 bales per year each. His baler belts are worn on the inside..showing multiple wear marks and he has actually broken a belt..presumably at one of the wear points. In general his belts look awful, while mine look practically new. Both of us keep our balers undercover.. and mine has not seen a rain drop or dew since I bought it, in 2002. I maintain my belt tracking per the manual making sure no rubbing on metal surfaces is occurring... anywhere. However, I learned to use a big round baler with my Vermeer, many years ago ... and then with a Deere 410. Both required you to stop the PTO before discharging a bale...and I still do that with my 447... although I'm told I don't have to. Additionally I don't run my 447 at 540 PTO.. more like 420 - 440 on the average.. adjusting my ground speed to "pack" the bale properly. At 74 years of age and still farming I have learned how to pace my self and my equipment. My neighbor told me the other day he runs his baler at 540 and doesn't disengage the PTO before ejecting... compared to me he seems to go like hell... but then he makes some awful looking bales on occasion... I'd like to hear from folks regarding why his baler belts look like they went through the Iraq war and mine look rather pristine. I suppose I could guess..but it wouldn't be scientific... would it??


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## Farmerjoesask (Jun 30, 2015)

Not a 100 % sure but I know with our hardcore JD 535 I disengage the PTO when kicking the bale out and do not show any wear on our belts.

I have never had a crappy bale come out of the baler.

In my opinion it come down to your ground speed being reasonable and good weaving practices.

I always make sure that the baler is greased regularly and put chain lube on the chains at the end of the day when they are warm.

The other thing is I do not run it to full capacity. My thoughts are why fill the thing right to the hilt.

It is better to set it so that it ties before it reaches the full capacity.

With that setting the bales weigh in just over 1300 lbs.

My father in law once told me "that if you keep the edges full the center will look after itself."


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

It's been many yrs since I owned & operated a JD 435. I never turned off the pto to eject bale. Belts moving while closing gate help clean out loose hay. Excessive belt wear can be attributed to roller uneven wear and sprocket/chain wear causing drive rollers to turn at different rpm's increasing belt wear.


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## JMT (Aug 10, 2013)

A lot of variables contribute to belt wear. If leaving the pto on while dumping a bale was a major factor I think by now it would be well known. There are a lot of Deere balers that have put out a lot of bales with the pto on for a lot of years. The secret would be out by now.

I bet that crops baled, age/# of bales, and operator would be the culprit. But that is a guess. I do know I ruined a set of belts with a misguided attempt to bale corn stalks with a 535 once. Belts were old and worn some to begin with and had a lot of dirt and root balls in the windrows. It was a mess. And the cows thought it was a pretty stupid idea when I tried to feed them the stalk bales too.

Not saying that leaving the pto on doesn't work on the belts a little. The little squeak you hear when closing the gate and the belts engage is proof of that. I think that shutting the pto off for every bale is minor on the baler belts and could be hard on the tractor pto clutch.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

I can't understand why you'd disengage the pto on a baler that was designed to let it run. The amount of wear on the driveline has to be far greater than anything saved, not to mention the extra time.


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## Nitram (Apr 2, 2011)

8350HiTech said:


> I can't understand why you'd disengage the pto on a baler that was designed to let it run. The amount of wear on the driveline has to be far greater than anything saved, not to mention the extra time.


I originally thought that shuting down PTO would give bearings a short break/ cool down but now doubt it would be much difference in life expectancy.


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## Circle MC Farms LLC (Jul 22, 2011)

I would never even consider turning the PTO off before every bale. Belts are way cheaper than PTO assemblies and mine have almost 9K bales on them with only moderate wear. Not to mention the wasted time, there are some days where we bale 200+ rolls and I can't imagine how much longer it would take stopping the PTO like that.

As for the belt wear, I would bet that his baler has seen cornstalks, and probably is not as well cared for as yours is. Also, at some point there was an update in the type of material used to make the belts, making them much stronger and more durable. He may simply have the older type while you have the improved version.


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## Nitram (Apr 2, 2011)

So I am running a 605 SJ manual says to turn PTO off. Is there a reason for this on this baler?


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## JMT (Aug 10, 2013)

Follow what the manual says. Not familiar with that baler but the Deere balers have a arm/roller that quickly releases tension on the belts so that bale can be ejected.


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## PaulN (Mar 4, 2014)

Could it be that your neighbor didn't follow any break in procedure?
The New Holland operators manual really stresses the importance of new belt break in, calling it "The Prime factor to maximum belt longevity". Set the bale size to 12" below maximum, and the pressure setting at 1,000 psi(which is about half of normal). Fill the bale as evenly as possible to get even tension on each belt. Do this for the first 50 bales.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

Nitram said:


> So I am running a 605 SJ manual says to turn PTO off. Is there a reason for this on this baler?


On the newer balers the belts disengage when the gate is opened. I believe the feature is called "Dump and Go".

I ran a SI baler a few times for a friend and his manual also said to disengage.


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## Nitram (Apr 2, 2011)

Tim/South said:


> On the newer balers the belts disengage when the gate is opened. I believe the feature is called "Dump and Go".
> 
> I ran a SI baler a few times for a friend and his manual also said to disengage.


Makes sense. The belts rub the wrong direction so it wouldn't help send the bale out anyway


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