# problems start a roll



## mnida (Jun 17, 2010)

I have a MF 1440 round baler and sometimes it fails to start a roll and clogs up. What can I do to correct this?


----------



## wbstofer (Mar 13, 2010)

Is it a variable chamber or a fixed chamber baler? Have had trouble with both kinds that I have owned, but I remember it was a lot harder to start with my old fixed chamber baler. I had to start feeding very slowly and shift gears once I was sure the core was turning.

-Bill


----------



## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

mnida said:


> I have a MF 1440 round baler and sometimes it fails to start a roll and clogs up. What can I do to correct this?


On the baler;

It could be that the pickup teeth are shot.On some balers the teeth help start the roll.If the tension is getting week in them you will have problems starting a roll.Some balers use a rougher belt to help start the bale turning and if belt has worn smooth you could have problems.Or it maybe the tension is wrong on the belts.

On the hay;

What kind of hay and how is it put in windrow?Long stemy hay?Crimped is better than not.Pick up hay so heads of hay go in baler first.Make sure all the hay is raked under windrow.Real dry slippery Hay?,bale when a little damp if possible.

Went to a custom job and he had a rope of a windrow of grass hay.To get it to start a bale I drove a few feet into windrow with baler off and pushed the hay across pickup to get it to work.By doing this the hay turned cross ways to baler and it started the bale easier.

On the windrow:;

Make it box shaped as wide as the baler if possible.Nothing worse than a rope of a windrow 1' tall and a 1' wide


----------



## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

swmnhay said:


> Make it box shaped as wide as the baler if possible.Nothing worse than a rope of a windrow 1' tall and a 1' wide


So you've met my cousin eh?

I roled some for em once, he raked too soon using a rolabar rake, used more shear bolts baling that twelve acres than I did the rest of the year.


----------



## nosliw (Feb 8, 2010)

i had troubles with my Vermeer 605G last year. what improved mine the most was having the belt length checked and having them re-sized. i pulled off a few belts, and checked the length myself. they were WAY too short, so I removed them all and had them re-sized. too short belts make for tight belts.


----------



## barnrope (Mar 22, 2010)

On the first Vermeers back int he early 70's you needed a supply of wooden fence posts the length of the pickup. To start each new bale you ran a post up and into the baler with the hay to form a core. This is what I am told anyway, correct me if I am wrong. Then you had a wood post in the center of each bale to deal with.


----------



## Blue Duck (Jun 4, 2009)

The early 70's Vermeer balers were not quite that bad about starting bales. Dad bought a new one in 73' or 74' and we used it up until 98'. The bales looked more like a loaf of bread then a round bale but starting the bales wasn't much of a problem if you had a decent windrow.


----------

