# Baler moisture meter for small squares.



## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

I am sure this had been covered several times but i I am considering installing a agritronic moisture meter on my John deere 336 square baler and was wondering if it is worth going with the bht-2 vs bht-1. Also I will be baling midland99 bermuda horse hay so what would be the highest moisture % I could bale and stack bales in barn the same day? I have always tried to be bellow 16% but it does not always work out.


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## Idaho Hay (Oct 14, 2016)

I've had both, and both have worked well for me. I currently am running the BHT-2 on my NH 5070, and am very happy with it. The things that I like about it over the BHT-1 is that you can manually adjust the offset (they always seem to read a couple of percent lower than a handheld probe), it's supposedly more accurate (although I never noticed any accuracy issues with the BHT-1), and the display is a little more user friendly. The one thing that I liked better about the BHT-1 is that it only had one cable and sensor to deal with. I unhook and re-hook up my baler every day, and the extra cable just adds one more thing to hook up and try to keep out of the PTO shaft. All that to say that if I were to do it over again, I would still get the BHT-2, but the BHT-1 works perfectly fine. Either way, I strongly recommend owning a good handheld probe as well.


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

We only have experience with BHT-2 but have been well pleased with it. I've been shopping for another one if we add a baler. Rural King has best price, BestHarvestStore has the next -- need to see about shipping. Our first one was purchased during National Farm Machinery Show a few years back.

Our handheld and baler mounted will give slightly different readings. We know that on our BHT-2 15% is about the highest for our orchard grass and timothy and want it to be consistently lower than that. You'll learn what your "number" will be if you go by whatever your proven method is starting out.

Shelia


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

I have the BHT-2 on my JD348 and like it.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Idaho did an excellent job explaining the diff between the two and the importance of "trust but verify" I always verify with the handheld, both meter and extremities  
I bought my BHT-2 (John Deere) for cheaper than I could an agritronix and got the two year warranty, never needed it


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## paoutdoorsman (Apr 23, 2016)

The BHT-1 measures continuity on the surface of one side of a bale only. The BHT-2 measures continuity through the bale, as well as two opposing surfaces. If your hay is very evenly dry, there will likely not be much difference in accuracy between the two, but the BHT-2 is definitely more advanced and should provide a clearer more accurate picture of total bale moisture.


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

Found best price at MegaDepot. Just ordered BHT-2 for $328.80 using a $5 coupon for first order.

Shelia


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

Looks like I will go with the BHT-2. What is the max % moisture you guys that use it on small bermuda square bales and stack them in the barn the same day?


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Ranger518 said:


> Looks like I will go with the BHT-2. What is the max % moisture you guys that use it on small bermuda square bales and stack them in the barn the same day?


I like to see 14 consistently, 15...16...maybe if rain the next day and I got to get er done, but I don't like it....using a bandit accumulator so my numbers may be a bit skewed.


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## Idaho Hay (Oct 14, 2016)

I do mostly Timothy and Orchard grass, and I try to always keep it under 15 percent. Anything over that and you risk having damp clumps that will mold. When you sell mostly to horse customers, avoiding mold is a big deal.

Sorry, but I'm born and raised in the great Pacific northwest, so "Bermuda" to me is some place that the beach boys sang about.


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

Got me a BHT-2 ordered from MegaDepot today as they did have the best price. Anybody have any photos of how they installed it on there john deere small square baler? Thanks.


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

These are on our JD 348 (the 1st one; the one from MegaDepot hasn't made it out of the house yet  )

This one is looking down into the bale chamber - right side









This is the screws on the outside of bale chamber - left side









Shelia


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

Thank you that is what I was looking for.



RockyHill said:


> These are on our JD 348 (the 1st one; the one from MegaDepot hasn't made it out of the house yet  )
> This one is looking down into the bale chamber - right side
> 
> 
> ...


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

from the instruction manual









Jeff said we put ours a little further forward than the instructions called for because the side resistor doors were in the way. He said didn't think the 336 had them.

Shelia


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## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

Bumping this thread because it's not too old...I'd like to add this to my baler next year but my tractor is an open station with a canopy..how weather-resistant is the monitor? My tractor is always parked under roof when not in use but it's only a 3-sided shed so there is potential for rain or snow to blow in occassionally. Is there a cover for it? (or maybe I can just bungee a bucket over it when not in use).


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

I've never seen a cover but it would be real easy to make one.....don't know how water resistant it is but I would think its purty good out of the box.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

A bucket, one gallon baggie, etc. would probably be ok during the hay season but as soon as it was over I would remove the monitor and store it in the house.

Regards, Mike


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

I have my mounted to a ram mount and I just take it off when I am not using it and keep it in my shop.


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## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

Ranger518 said:


> I have my mounted to a ram mount and I just take it off when I am not using it and keep it in my shop.


Could you expand on this? What's a ram mount?


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Hayjosh said:


> Could you expand on this? What's a ram mount?


https://www.rammount.com


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

Here is what Jeff made for each of our open station tractors. The mounting bracket stays on the tractor and the unit is removed from the bracket and rests on top of the baler until next baling (but everything is stored inside around here). At the end of the season it gets brought to the house.

Can't speak from experience but my confidence in "weather resistant" is lacking.

















Shelia


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## Idaho Hay (Oct 14, 2016)

I agree with using a ram mount and storing it indoors in the off season. That's what I do. Just search "Ram Mount" on amazon. I have a 1.5" ram mount ball permanently mounted to the dash of my main tractor, and then I can mount different things to (GPS, moisture monitor, etc). It a pretty slick, universal system.


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

This is the one I have it is just the smaller one that I took off my boat when I upgraded fish finders.

https://www.cabelas.com/product/Micro-RAM-Sonar-GPS-Mounting-System/699671.uts?productVariantId=1187419&WT.tsrc=PPC&WT.mc_id=GoogleProductAds&WT.z_mc_id1=00001802&rid=20&ds_rl=1252079&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIls_j_6GO3QIVkMDACh3o8AcnEAQYASABEgKQbfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

Maybe I'm different, but my monitors/meters all get removed taken into my house after the season, from their in season location (inside the cab of my tractors). Perhaps they could stand the cold, I'm just don't want them to be shivering.  A long with improving visibility.





  








T5 115 Cab 01a




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r82230


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Jun 22, 2017








Larry


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## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

RockyHill said:


> Here is what Jeff made for each of our open station tractors. The mounting bracket stays on the tractor and the unit is removed from the bracket and rests on top of the baler until next baling (but everything is stored inside around here). At the end of the season it gets brought to the house.
> 
> Can't speak from experience but my confidence in "weather resistant" is lacking.
> 
> ...


This is perfect. I have a little stand on my tractor in the same location where the loader controller sits, but I take it off when I remove the loader. I could easily fabricate something to make it work similar to this.


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## Wethay (Jul 17, 2015)

I've though I would like a in baler meter to supplement my hand held but always was leery because I run an open station tractor. I wasn't sure how it would hold up in the dust and thought it would be difficult to see the screen in the sunlight.


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

Hayjosh said:


> This is perfect. I have a little stand on my tractor in the same location where the loader controller sits, but I take it off when I remove the loader. I could easily fabricate something to make it work similar to this.


This works well because the bracket holds it in place and it isn't in the way of anything else.

Shelia


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

Wethay said:


> I've though I would like a in baler meter to supplement my hand held but always was leery because I run an open station tractor. I wasn't sure how it would hold up in the dust and thought it would be difficult to see the screen in the sunlight.


So far ours had held up well for a few years. It is only outside when we are actually baling but it is exposed to the dust in the barn until the end of the season. The screen has sort of a matte finish and is recessed just a little bit. With it mounted in the bracket it can be tilted but seldom do we make any adjustments. Sometimes do need to swipe the dust off if really dusty conditions. I guess your location could affect the sunlight on the screen but we haven't had that problem.

Shelia


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## skyrydr2 (Oct 25, 2015)

Can these moisture meters control a sprayer system too?


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

skyrydr2 said:


> Can these moisture meters control a sprayer system too?


Kind of backwards in my situation, the sprayer system has a moisture meter built in. I have an 'automatic' system, that varies the volume of applied material, based on moisture of hay. I still run a separate moisture meter also on my RB (mainly because it was installed before applicator), so I use it for comparison purposes now.

Larry


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## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

Depending on how much of a PITA it is, I'm considering only having it installed for baling and removing all other times.


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