# Hesston 5580



## goatfarmer (Feb 17, 2010)

I just bought a older baler Hesston 5580 .Was wondering if anyone had any experience with this baler. Pros and Cons ? Any problem areas I should be aware of . We only bale between 125-150 rolls a year . Hopefully this thing will work OK for us..


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## rosar (Sep 14, 2009)

I have a 5585 and use to have a 5580. I bale about the same amount as you do. It should do a fine job for you. Make sure to keep shape twine cutting blades on it, I usually replaced them at beginning of the season, they were cheap to buy. Keep the top pivot hinge pins greased. It will tell you when to stop baling in the evening ( it won't start a bale if the dew is coming or if it is real dry straw like hay.

Between the two balers, they changed how the twine hits the knife bar and they limited the intake throat with a limit chain and it made world of differnece in the 2 balers. I don't have to get off the tractor nearly as much to start or cut twine.

tim


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## Ridgerunner (Jul 10, 2009)

I am currently running a 5580. Like Rosar said, starting the twine and cutting the twine are my biggest problems. I sharpen my twine knives a couple of times each season. As long as the knives cut the twine well, the twine usually feeds into the next bale. You may have to play around with the twine tension some.

I like the 5580 because it is simple and easy to maintain, while still making a very nice bale.


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## InWyo (Mar 20, 2011)

I have owned and used a 5580 since mid 80's till a couple years ago when the frame broke. Real good baler.

Replace your twine knives each year if they are the little ones about 1.5 inches high held on with 2 screws. They don't cost that much. I tried a couple of times to sharpen but could never get a good edge. Sharp knifes are a must unless you want to stop and cut most every bale. Adjusting tension has less to do with twine cutting than just getting the twine to feed right. If too loose, twine will not cut, if too tight, twine will not start to feed.

A hand held infra-red temp reader to check temp on ends of rollers to see if bearings are drying out is really handy. I checked this start of season and every few hours. They will normally warm up a little, but not much. If they start getting hot, you will detect it. Lots of time you can hear the bearing start to rumble when it gets dry and it won't last long. You can also run the balers for a few minutes, shut it down, and then reach in and feel each of the roller ends. You will be able to detect a bad bearing pretty fast when you do this. You sometimes can also smell the bearing start to burn.

Don't bale the hay too wet. If you do, the clutch may turn and will burn out discs. Had the steel clutch disk break on mine and replace a couple of times. Another problem with too wet is it will pop the chamber open about half bale from being lop sided. If too dry, the hay doesn't like to start to form a bale and it also tends to just turn to dust. Keep an eye on the roller chains and lube every couple of hours. Keep pickup tines replaced if they break. Also, keep an eye on the little rollers on end of pick up tube. No problem replacing, but if you lose one, you loose the ability for the tines to work on that tube. Nice looking bales means everything is working good. Shaggy bales is lots of times caused by pickup tines missing or slick forming belts. Slick belts will also cause it not to start rolling the new bale.

I baled 4-500 bales on average each yr for 25 years, with most one year about 850. Little things go wrong but mostly a good baler. Mine did not have a forming belt tension release so had to use a chain to hold forming roller up to top roller to relax belts to change roller bearings or belts. I changed forming belts about 3 times while I used it. When changing roller bearings, lots of time, I had to heat the recessed Allen hex bolt with torch to break loose. Then I built a slide hammer to pop bearings out of rollers after removing those end bolts. Pays to replace both bearings on a roller if you lose one. The parts book is really needed so that if you are repairing, you can generally follow how it comes apart and back together.
Don't try to go too fast while baling. Ease into the hay, and plug along. Treat it right and it should take care of you. I got to running about 1000 rpm if I remember right.

Keep an eye on cross brace (pipe) between axles. It can crack and break out on either end. (Not too likely to happen) That is what happened to mine and broke frame. If it does crack and break, buy a new one and replace it. Welding does not hold. When the cross pipe broke on mine, the left side folded up about 8 inches above the spindle. To fix mine, it would take a lot of heating, beating, and welding.

I bought a new Vermeer 505C to replace it. Had hopes of repairing my old 5580, but the more I studied the break, the less if felt it would work. Sick about that. I could go on for many paragraphs.

Good luck, I think you will like the baler and if it is fairly good shape, will last you years.


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## Ridgerunner (Jul 10, 2009)

InWyo,

Did you always run the Mini-rough top belts or did you experiment with other designs?


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