# New holland 68 feeder question



## kentuckyguy (Apr 13, 2015)

I was using my new holland 68 baler today when I heard a lot of strange noises and shut off the baler. I noticed that the end feeder tine that has the spring on it was bent and was hitting a piece of tubing that runs under it the complete width of the pickup on the baler. What I am needing to know is if that piece of tubing is supposed to be straight? Mine has a bend to it now and I wasn't sure if that was how it came from the factory of if I had bent it.

I plan to just replace it with a piece of pipe of conduit if it was straight from the factory.

Thanks for the help


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

Don't have my 68 baler in front of me, but I believe the bar has a slight arch to it. If the front of your feeder tine bar is hitting the bar that runs the length between feeder tines, then the only adjustment is to tighten the chain removing the slack and in doing so raising the feeder bar vertically so it doesn't hit.

BTW - there is a school of thought that the bar you are hitting should come out as sometimes the feeder tines, so I'm told, will jump that bar and cause all kinds of damage. One of the things on my 68 to do list is to remove that bar and see how it goes.

Good luck,
Bill


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## mike10 (May 29, 2011)

The pipe is straight. The bent pipe is the result of another problem and not the cause. Worn or missing time bar bearings along with a loose tine bar chain will wreck havik in the feeder area. there should be no sag in the feeder chain when the time bar mounting pin is on top of the driven sprocket.


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## SwingOak (May 19, 2014)

It should be straight. Mine crashed last summer and broke one of the cast aluminum feeder tines. I pulled everything apart, straightened everything out, and it works like a champ now. If I can get into Photobucket (the page is not loading) I'll post a few pics.


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## kentuckyguy (Apr 13, 2015)

Mine is bent pretty bad. My 68 gives me banana bales unless I keep it fed with a lot of hay. I am guess that was my problem yesterday. I was in a field where the hay had a little more moisture than I like but we had a rain coming so I baled it.

I am thinking of replacing that rod with a piece of conduit or something lighter that will bend instead of breaking feeder tines. The feeder tine on the end of the bar that has the spring on it got bent somehow and thats what caused it to hit the rod. I have to figure out how to get that feeder tine off too now.

And by the way I was able to bale the rest of the field with the bar removed. I am still not sure if it worked any better or not.

This was the first time out with this baler. I busted a few flywheel shear bolts trying to keep it full of hay. Seems there is a learning curve there. There is a fine line between keeping it full which it likes and over feeding it.

Thanks for the help


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

There use to be a fellow that posted in the YT forum, he was a New Holland mechanic and he said this about the tine bar,

"I don't want to open a can of worms here, but in response to my earlier comment about removing the center pipe (or bar) in New Holland baler feeders, I feel I should elaborate. Over the course of time, the pipe that the feeder tines (regardless of model) stradle has caused far more trouble, down time, and money then it is worth. Granted, the purpose of that pipe (or bar) is to keep hay from returning with the tines after the hay has been discharged into the bale chamber. However, I have never seen this happen even without the pipe. Well, can you guess what happens with time and wear on the feeder mechanism? I have seen far too many tines or (or forks) that had enough side play jump over that pipe and make a mess as bad as Osama Bin Laden. Even the "flat track" models such as 268,269,272, 273,275,and 310 are not immune to this problem. I have removed dozens of these pipes with nothing but good results. So, no matter how sloppy tolerances become on your feeder mechanism, without that wretched pipe, the baler just keeps on feeding hay until something else breaks. I can't stress to you enough just how much I dislike that pipe on older balers. If anyone has further questions about this, please post them. I will be happy to answer them if I can. Steve"

Not sure what ever happened to him, but he had great advice. I am going to remove the tine bar on my 68 based on his advice. I would advise to keep the feeder tine bar chain tight though.

The banana bale problem can be caused several things on a 68 (and other New Hollands that are similar)

1. Aluminum feeder tines are wore down. Should be around 13-3/4ish long if I recall correctly.

2. Missing or broken hay dogs and springs

3. Plunger to stationary knife clearance - should be 1/32 inch. Knife should be sharp too.

4. Missing wedges in the bale chamber

5. Mis-adjusted feeder tines. If you need more hay to the right side of the bale chamber, move the left and center tines to the left - opposite of what you'd think. Just a couple inches at a time.

Shear pin in the flywheel failure can be a dull knife, plunger knife to stationary clearance - IMHO, mostly caused by not running the baler at full or near full 540 rpms. The flywheel is your friend as it is stored energy that pounds the hay into a bale via the plunger. Faster the operation, the more energy is delivered and the tractor's pto doesn't have to intervene and shear the flywheel bolt. The other big thing about higher rpms is more strokes/flakes per bale. More flakes equals less thick flakes and less cutting the knife has to do and less work required by the flywheel/shear bolt.

However, before you crank up the rpms, you need to make sure your wood slides are intact and good shape.

The 68 is a fine old baler and can make bricks IMHO.

Good luck,
Bill


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## Will 400m (Aug 1, 2011)

When i first started out i had a horse lady who mowed the ten feet around the outside of the fields with a brush hog and pick the fallen branches and such. Well she missed one and i took a chunk of fire wood that ripped that bar out and wedged it in the top of the bale chamber so tight i couldn't budge it at all. Finally had to tie a chain to the truck and yank it out that way. Hasn't been a bar in there for 4 years now with no ill affects. Just my 2 pennies worth


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## kentuckyguy (Apr 13, 2015)

Can someone tell me the easiest way to remove the end feeder tine. The steel one with a spring on it needs to be replaced or bent back down either way I will have to remove it. Looks to me like there is not a easy way to remove it.


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

kentuckyguy said:


> Can someone tell me the easiest way to remove the end feeder tine. The steel one with a spring on it needs to be replaced or bent back down either way I will have to remove it. Looks to me like there is not a easy way to remove it.


Not much help here. I haven't had to remove the steel tine with spring, but FWIW, New Holland's parts website had some pretty good exploded views of the tine bar assy that might be of help.

A word of caution, the spring loaded piece at the othe end of the tine bar, I am to understand, can be somewhat dangerous if it lets go during assyy/disassembly.


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## mike10 (May 29, 2011)

You will need to remove the tine bar. Remove the two sets of tines to the left of the steel tine. Where the tine bar attaches to the chain, remove the nut or cotter pin, whichever it has, and pull the tine bar off the pin. Move the tine bar to the left and up until the bearings clear the tine bar bearing channels and then remove from baler.


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## SwingOak (May 19, 2014)

Thought I had more pictures than this, but apparently not. I was able to hammer mine straight again, worked it cold with a 2lb cross peen on the anvil. The support bracket you see in the pic painted bright NH red was bent pretty badly (that took some heat to get right), and I had to do a little re-welding too. I'll have to invest in a gas forge because apparently soft coal is unheard of in the upper Midwest.

If it gets whonked again the bar and bracket are coming out for good.


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## kentuckyguy (Apr 13, 2015)

SwingOak have you ever removed the steel feeder tine on the the end of the tine bar ? The one that has the spring on it. If so whats the easiest way to remove it ?

thanks


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## SwingOak (May 19, 2014)

kentuckyguy said:


> SwingOak have you ever removed the steel feeder tine on the the end of the tine bar ? The one that has the spring on it. If so whats the easiest way to remove it ?
> 
> thanks


I did have it apart but I don't remember how. I'll take a look tomorrow & let you know.


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## kentuckyguy (Apr 13, 2015)

Ok thanks


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## mike10 (May 29, 2011)

After you remove the time bar assy from the baler, as described in an earlier post, you will then need to remove one of the bearings on the cross shaft the steel time pivots on. Remove the set screw in the collar that attaches the bearing to the cross shaft and remove bearing. The cross shaft is held in the time bar by a set screw. Loosen the jam nut and remove the set screw. Drive the shaft out of the time bar and your time will be free. Later Balers use a bolt instead of the set screw to retain the cross shaft. Either way there is a notch in the cross shaft the set screw or bolt must align with when reassembling.

Your baler may have an access cover on the rear channel the time bar bearing runs in. It might be possible to remove the parts through the access hole without removing the time bar from the baler, but you are not going to save any time and will be a pain to get everything apart and back together.


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## kentuckyguy (Apr 13, 2015)

Thanks for the help I was able to get it apart and am working on trying to straighten the feeder tine now.


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## SwingOak (May 19, 2014)

Sorry got busy with other things on the farm and forgot to follow up on this. mike10 described it pretty well.


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