# John Deere moisture/temp tester



## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Ok, so I know nobody wants to hear it, but last cutting was miserable because of too much rain, there I said it, too much rain after cut I should say. Cut on sat, rained everyday at least .25 for 5 straight days, 11:00, 2:00, 5:30, anytime you got the hay raked and cranked up the baler it would go to raining, anyway I beat the he'll out of it, raked grooves in the field, and ran fuel out of the tractor fighting this harvest. Been baled about 6 days now, decided to check moisture as I was a bit concerned that I had tedded enuf, despite the fact that I broke one tine and lost another, (must be in a bale cause it ain't in a tire). This was 2tpa so fairly thick, I borrowed a friends John Deere probe and to press the water drop button (moisture) when not in the bale it gives a reading of 14.5, in the bale pressing the button reveals avg of about 23% for the bales tested, temp was 81-92. Some of the bales, about 10-15% tested high at 40% but temp was still around 85. No instructions included with borrowed meter, is this normal operation, and am I operating the damned thing correctly? After temp another nmbr pops up, I'm guessing celcius? Didn't do the math but it was like 25. Coastal Bermuda, Alicia. Anybody use one of these testers? Just says John Deere hay tester, looks like a lot of the others. Thanks


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## farmer2 (Aug 6, 2010)

somedevildawg said:


> Ok, so I know nobody wants to hear it, but last cutting was miserable because of too much rain, there I said it, too much rain after cut I should say. Cut on sat, rained everyday at least .25 for 5 straight days, 11:00, 2:00, 5:30, anytime you got the hay raked and cranked up the baler it would go to raining, anyway I beat the he'll out of it, raked grooves in the field, and ran fuel out of the tractor fighting this harvest. Been baled about 6 days now, decided to check moisture as I was a bit concerned that I had tedded enuf, despite the fact that I broke one tine and lost another, (must be in a bale cause it ain't in a tire). This was 2tpa so fairly thick, I borrowed a friends John Deere probe and to press the water drop button (moisture) when not in the bale it gives a reading of 14.5, in the bale pressing the button reveals avg of about 23% for the bales tested, temp was 81-92. Some of the bales, about 10-15% tested high at 40% but temp was still around 85. No instructions included with borrowed meter, is this normal operation, and am I operating the damned thing correctly? After temp another nmbr pops up, I'm guessing celcius? Didn't do the math but it was like 25. Coastal Bermuda, Alicia. Anybody use one of these testers? Just says John Deere hay tester, looks like a lot of the others. Thanks


sounds like everything is working as designed. I have used the same meter for a couple years and have been pleased with its consistency. Make sure when checking temperature that you leave the probe in the bale for a couple minutes to get accurate temps. At the moisture levels you are quoting, I would expect more heat if the bales were just made. Temperatures above 100 usually lead to caramelizing.

Good luck

farmer2


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

You will find that the % of moisture will increase right after baling but like farmer2 said, I would expect the temp to be a little higher. I would not be concerned about the hay in the lower 20's but I would be really concerned about the 40's. When you push the on button, 14.5% will show up and then start blinking. Insert and push moisture button. It should give you a % in a couple seconds. Mike


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Ok so I didn't do that, wait for it to blink, then insert the probe...haven't been doin it exactly like that, I was kind of surprised that the temp wasn't higher with the moisture level being around 40 but I'm going to retest using the above procedure. All are sitting outside, none in the barn, thanks for the info


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## sooner (Sep 3, 2011)

I have a probe that works the same. The minimum moisture that the probe will register is 14.5. If moisture is below this, it will still register 14.5. Hay in the 20 are iffy, hay in the 30s will probably become dusty with mold and could be bad for horses, not sure about other animals. In the 40s, at my barn it would not go inside and I would probably not use it for my animals.


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## downtownjr (Apr 8, 2008)

Here is the manual if it will help...
http://www.agratroni...7120-manual.pdf

All the machinery dealers sell agratronix with their decal... http://www.balesupply.com sells them much cheaper if you decide you want one.

Drop a line if you have any meter questions, I have a line to the tech folks at the factories.

Also, here is some info on high moisture and concern of hay fire.

http://pubs.ext.vt.e...05/442-105.html

This is one of best extension sheets I have found on the subject. My thanks to Virginia Tech Extension for their fine publications.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I bought a Ag-tronix BHT-2 in-cab moisture reader from John Deere last month for $389.00 which is the same price as many other sources....but John Deere versions come with a 2 year warranty whereas the other versions come with a 1 year warranty. I mounted the sensors to my MF/Hesston 1839 inline baler. The instructions from ag-tronix had NO information on mounting to a inline baler. I called ag-tronix and spoke with tech support.....no help.....evidently they did not have enough forsight to think that someone might want to mount these on an inline baler. One of the sensors is marked specifically for the "cut " side of the bale...to combine with the moisture read for the opposite uncut side of the bale for supposedly a "more accurate" reading of moisture %. So, after much deliberation I mounted the sensors to the tension rails on the top and bottom of the bale chamber recently (inlines have the "cut-side" of the bale located on the bottom).....have not had the opportunity to test, but I believe it will work. Ag-tronix told me to go ahead and mount them on the sides like a conventional baler and it would be OK on not reading the cut side as promoted. I say B.S., if the system is designed to read the cut side, then that is what it should do....I know he was just trying to pass me off. I will take some photos and after I can confirm that the sensor placement is working correctly, I will send ag-tronix "proper" instruction for installation of the BHT-2 on inline balers for designed reading of the "cut side" of the bale. The product appears to work well and properly....ag-tronix tech support in this instance was totally unprofessional and uninformed.

Regards, Mike


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

somedevildawg said:


> Ok so I didn't do that, wait for it to blink, then insert the probe...haven't been doin it exactly like that, I was kind of surprised that the temp wasn't higher with the moisture level being around 40 but I'm going to retest using the above procedure. All are sitting outside, none in the barn, thanks for the info


I had a similar issue with my 1st cutting. I had bales reading as high as 28% and they never heated. I checked them every other day for about 4-5 weeks and finally gave up because nothing ever happened. Checked them again last week and they were the same as ambient. My probe has a little sticker on it that says "most accurate below 30%" so if it reads 40%, you're subject to error. However, if the same thing happened to me again, I'd stil be vigilant ad check them....the fire possibility is something you want no part of.
Anything that high should be really heavy and feel obviously like something's wrong with it. I'd stack it loose on pallets out in an open area until you know you've got it cooled down and cured.

The proble comes with a calibration tool you clip on to the tip of the probe. Did you calibrate it?


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

sooner said:


> I have a probe that works the same. The minimum moisture that the probe will register is 14.5. If moisture is below this, it will still register 14.5. Hay in the 20 are iffy, hay in the 30s will probably become dusty with mold and could be bad for horses, not sure about other animals. In the 40s, at my barn it would not go inside and I would probably not use it for my animals.


Mine goes down to 8%. It's a Deere model.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Yes it does have the sticker about the 30%... no calibration tool....he said it only went to 10 but I don't think he really knew, didn't sound real sure as he dusted it off....it displays 14.5 when outside the bale....gonna keep a ck on those bales. One thing I did notice is the Deere model seemed to have a nicer coiled cord and seemed to be of better quality than the one the local farm supply had in stock, looked almost the same....prolly reverse engineered like they are so famous for in ROC


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

yours is a different model than mine. Mine is a straight steel proble (looks like a target archery arrow). Mine has no cord. Might be a little different than yours.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

10 4 the display that you hold in your hand has a button with a water drop and a button with a thermometer, that's it, no more. The coiled cord runs to the probe what looks like the archery practice arrow.


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

Farmex built the New Holland that I have. They also make JD and others. Mine had a one year warranty. As soon as that was up, the arrow type tip pulled out in a bale leaving a probe with 2 wires hanging out. Called the company and they told me it cost $75 to fix. Got it fixed but in hindsight, I should have just put one on my round baler. My square balers have them but not the rounds.


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