# Clearing baler clogs



## SvdSinner (Nov 25, 2009)

Twice today, I was dumb enough to clog my large round baler. (Vermeer 605F) I spent nearly 2.5 hours between the two clogs in sweltering heat manually digging out ultra-compressed hay that was jamming the baler.

While I did my penance for my operator errors (both clogs were my fault), the thought kept popping into my head: "Surely, there must be a better way."

How do you guys clear compressed grass clogs? I'm hoping somebody has some good ideas to speed up the job without risking damaging the belts or any other expensive parts.

After this morning, I'm all ears.


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## bigdoug43 (Jun 23, 2011)

I'm not familiar with a Vermeer 605F but with my New Idea 4845 there are two things I have to watch out for: 1) making sure the hay is dry enough, and 2) making sure my rows aren't wider than the baler intake. Wide rows are the worst! The bogey wheels hold the hay down while the baler is trying to pull it in. If I don't notice, I'll get clogged like you wouldn't believe. Or maybe you would


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Never had one of my New Hollands plug that bad. One suggestion would be to check your slip clutches and make sure they are working properly.

I've not run a Vermeer but I had two tricks on my NH644. Usually it would only jam right after starting a bale, first thing I would do is to turn the adjusting screw on the tension cylinder all the way out to relieve tension on the belts, if that didn't clear the plug and it was still a small bale I'd just dump it out, start the baler with the gate open, then roll the bale out and rebale it.


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## bluefarmer (Oct 10, 2010)

farm show magazine showed a man made a big hook out of a piece of rebar and tied a short piece of rope in the eye, whenever the baler plugs he hooks the plug, places the rope under the back wheel and backes up, jerks it right out.


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## mulberrygrovefamilyfarm (Feb 11, 2009)

I second mlappin on the slip clutch. Many people don't do a spec check on their slip clutches as part of routine maintenance. Not sure about the Vermeer but my JD has 2 slip clutches. Pickup and driveline. When adjusted correctly if the hay can fit under my tractor without balling up under it, the baler will take it.


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## Greyhorse (Jun 22, 2009)

I've used a hook like you use to handle small squares with and a large pair of channel locks. The hook works the best most of the time, pliers and a box cutter if it's wrapped on a roller.


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## SvdSinner (Nov 25, 2009)

bigdoug43 said:


> to watch out for: 1) making sure the hay is dry enough, and 2) making sure my rows aren't wider than the baler intake. Wide rows are the worst! The bogey wheels hold the hay down while the baler is trying to pull it in. If I don't notice, I'll get clogged like you wouldn't believe. Or maybe you would


I guess, for the good of the group, I should outline my recent, stupid operator errors, so that you guys can laugh at me, er, I mean, learn from my mistakes.
1) Baled at too high moisture. (It was at about 23% an hour before, an I -thought- it'd be drier after I got the baler greased and hooked up. WRONG
2) Started a bale and went WAY too long with the windrow feeding the right side of the baler and starving the left. Bales started very crooked and caused a belt to twist and hay to jam
3) Thoughtlessly put the baler jack onto the jack holder crooked so that it held the baler-cage-thingie-that-rides-on-top-of-the-incoming-hay-above-the-pickup down so that it wouldn't let it freely ride up when the pickup started sucking in hay. That was a stupid insta-jam within 10 feet.
4) Thought to myself. "Hmm, I'm behind schedule, so maybe I should bale in a gear higher than normal to get back on schedule." Tried it, over fed the mouth BADLY without paying enough attention, big jamb. So stupid.


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## johndeerefarmer (Jun 22, 2009)

My old 4x4 JD baler was really bad about wrapping hay around the starter roll. No telling how many shear pins I broke. My 457 has a slip clutch and the high moisture kit. It has scrapers to scrape the damp hay off of the back of the belts so it is 10x better about not clogging than the old one.
However if it does clog about all you can do is pull it out by hand, or with a hay hook. Also just keep cutting thru it with a sharp knife. I also carry a 3/4 drive breaker bar, extension and a socket that fits the shaft on the main sprocket. This way I can turn the starter roller backwards and that helps a lot. (Oh, you also need about a 3' long "cheater pipe" to slide over the breaker bar to help turn it.)

Nothing like getting out of an ice cold cab and having to unclog a baler in 100 degrees, high humidity and getting bit my fire ants and stuck by sand burrs in the hay. Oh, also run into a live snake will cleaning out the baler once. Been scared ever since.


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## NEHerdsman (Sep 23, 2009)

Only problems I have with my Case are at start of the bale - once it start turning the bale, then nothing will clog it. But in some conditions if you feed it too fast the bale won't start turning before the feed slot jams. So I watch it closely when starting a bale when there's any moisture at all in the hay (like right after the sun sets), then I'm ok. Yes, when it clogs, it's a PIA...


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## jdhayboy (Aug 20, 2010)

A lot of times if its not to bad I can open the gate and bump the pto a few times and it will spit it out. Not turn it on but just get it to bump a few times. If that doesnt work i get a knife, cut, pull some out then bump it again.


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## haybaler101 (Nov 30, 2008)

I have had 3 new holland balers, 688, BR780, and a BR780A and have never plugged the bale chamber on any of them (close to 30,000 bales thru the 3 of them. I have had a few bad pick-up clogs but nothing that took more than 10 to 15 minutes to remove. The BR780 was the worse, the pickup would plug for no reason until you got a bale started. I have found the biggest culprit on the pick-up is the wind guard, that is why mine is in the junk pile. Take the wind guard off and new holland will flat eat anything that gets in front of it, wet, dry, or any type of hay.


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## wbstofer (Mar 13, 2010)

I've found the fastest way to unclog my JD is to kick the bale out and bump the pto like others have mentioned. Wide windrows and starting bales seem to be the times that clogs start for me. Good luck!


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

I've never removed the windguard from mine but I have cut the tines shorter then readjusted the stops so it can raise up higher without getting into a roller.


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

jdhayboy said:


> A lot of times if its not to bad I can open the gate and bump the pto a few times and it will spit it out. Not turn it on but just get it to bump a few times. If that doesnt work i get a knife, cut, pull some out then bump it again.


That's basically about the way we've done it but we've only had to unplug ours once in over 1000 bales.

Like haybaler101 said, " I have had a few bad pick-up clogs but nothing that took more than 10 to 15 minutes to remove." That's really all ours was, a pick-up clog, but there was 3 of us there in minutes, only took about 5-10 minutes.


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## barnrope (Mar 22, 2010)

Take it easy on strart ups is my best advice unless you want to spend some money. The newer 605 M and SM's just dont have plugging problems. I tried to plug last year after I got familiar with my new 605SM. Baled a 26' wide swath of 6' tall reed canary grass in C4 with a JD 4440 tractor just to see how far the baler could be pushed. I got it to start pushing hay, but as soon as I hit the clutch it caught up and took the rest in.


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## PennyTaylor (Jun 3, 2021)

wbstofer said:


> I've found the fastest way to unclog my JD is to kick the bale out and bump the pto like others have mentioned. Wide windrows and starting bales seem to be the times that clogs start for me. Good luck!


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## PennyTaylor (Jun 3, 2021)

My father-in-law loosened the string bar guide and it released tension for the hay to come out.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

My NH BR780A has a built in moisture sensor--anytime the moisture gets in the 20-25% range, it will clog on the right (passenger) side. That's my clue to stop and wait.

Easiest way to unclog is to remove the windguard. Putting it back on by yourself is a bit of a chore.

Ralph


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