# Bearing failures on a 1365 hesston rotary swather



## bryce (Jul 10, 2012)

So, this is my first post here, anyway, I have a 1365 swather and the bearings on the helper roller right before the conditioner keep failing. The last one lasted about 15 hours worth of cutting, they aught to last about 7 years in my opinion. What could be causing the repeated failures? My guess is that the roll is out of balance and vibrates just a little bit to make it wear funny, but it doesn't appear very out of balance when looking at it while running. I'm thinking of trading in for a new holland 13 ft rotary in a year or two anyways because being 2 ft shorter, it will go down roads better, dry a little faster, and eliminate some of the stupid things on the hesston(no helper roller, no wierd three point hitch gear-box thing, skidshoes at the right angle for cutting, etc). I love hesston baler's, and i love the cutterbed on their swather but everything else around it just keeps breaking. So what do you think I should do as replacing the bearings every 15 hours is not ideal.


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## haystax (Jul 24, 2010)

Our neighbor has a 1345? I think - anyway new style with steel sides and extra roller. They lost that bearing in the first HOUR of using the machine when brand new. It is a typical Hesston design that they recyle what is basically a reel belt tensioner non-greasable pulley on a super high speed applictaion with a high torsional load to boot. I believe there is a factory update that you might be able to install that helps.

I can't say enough good things about the older mowers - ours are Case paint 8312s but the new "upgrades" don't really interest me.

If you want a the best new mower take a serious look at MacDon. Case/NH are pure junk now days


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## bryce (Jul 10, 2012)

I've decided I'm going to remove the roll and weld in some 10 guage or 3/16 sheet metal so it's kind of like the old ones, I don't see the point in putting in a "turbulence reduction roll," if your running a high performance cutting machine, you want it to handle thick stuff not worry about stuff a little wind can push over, I'm not sure it makes a big enough difference anyways.

I realize Case/NH are lower over-all quality, but they seem to solve every problem I have with the hesston. What specific problems do are you aware of on the new hollands? In my area there are 2 pull type rotary hesstons, 10 or so pull type rotary new hollands, and 10 or so self propelled sickle hesstons so they are quite popular.

I would love a mac don but there isn't really a dealer anywhere near here that sells mac don machines. My local New Holland dealer, which is superb, has parts for everything (deere, new holland, case, hesston, massey ferguson, mac don, etc.) but I would probably have to go to another state to get the machine.

The hesston also has a few other quirks which I intend to fix. The hydraulic lift cylinders are not calculated correctly so when it lifts, the master only goes up 3/4 as far as the slave, so I'm going to get another cylinder the same size as the current slave and put them on in parallel. The skid shoes are at the wrong angle to cut so you have to ride on their toes, so I welded 1/4 inch plate on the toes so they last more than a few years. The gear boxes at the tractor hookup leak, so I have to keep an eye on them and keep them filled up.

So, one more question, if I took off the roller, welded in the plate, and redid the hydraulic cylinder, how do you think it would affect it's trade in/resale value?


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## bryce (Jul 10, 2012)

I just found out why the Hydraulic cylinder's are the wrong size. When it was at the dealer before we bought it, they didn't want to wait for a seal kit to come in the mail to fix it so they took one off of a 1372 swather and stuck it on, I saw it in the work order from when we bought it three years ago. It's the wrong size cylinder so one end doesn't lift as high as the other. I'm going to go give them a piece of my mind, hopefully they'll do something about it.


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## haystax (Jul 24, 2010)

Sounds like you need to have a serious discussion with your dealer before you do any drastic mods to the mower. I can't help but think that you would pretty much kill any resale value if you take out the roller. Try to get an updated bearing and a new cylinder and see how you get along.

You might also have the high clearance skid shoes installed, ask about that while you are at it.


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## bryce (Jul 10, 2012)

If the new bearings are the new greaseable ones hesston came out with, we have them on right now, and they keep failing. I'm pretty sure the previous owner's just had a rock hit it good enough to bend it out of balance so it vibrates the bearings off. I'm sending Massey Ferguson an email about it, If they get enough grief for it, I'm sure they'll fix it on their next version of the swather.

The skid shoes are the normal(not high clearance) skid shoes, they're just the wrong angle against the ground to wear proper while cutting low enough. They just need to be high clearance type in the back half so they're angled proper. They're not a really bad problem, I go through one or two of the ten a year so they last about 7.5 years, but they could last quite a bit longer, probably twice that if hesston were a little better thinkers, or ran their own equipment to see that they need to be a different angle so they ride on the whole shoe and not just the front third. I'll put that in the email too.

For the plate I said I was going to weld in to replace the roller, I figured out a way to bolt it on, that way when I want to sell it, I can stick the roller back in if the person buying it wants it. I can weld the skid shoes thicker, and my dealership should fix the hydraulic cylinder issue, so I think i've got my problem's figured out so I can stay with the hesston. I do like them best minus those quirks.

Sorry I talk so much, and thanks for replying, where are you located haystax, my dad thinks he might have met you 15 years ago.


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## haystax (Jul 24, 2010)

Located in Diamond Valley, NV - definition of middle of nowhere.

Might have met, although I was pretty young 15 years ago...


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## bryce (Jul 10, 2012)

Hmm, maybe not, he used to manage a gas station in Winnemucca. He knew a farmer that did lots of hay. Then he moved to Utah and started farming.


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## Peter sask (Jul 12, 2021)

Did you remove the roller and put a plate in?


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