# Stroke counter?



## Rodney R (Jun 11, 2008)

Anybody have a stroke counter on their small baler? Any ideas of where to get one? I have only seen one at Lehman Farms, wondering if there's any others?????

Rodney


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## Walcar (Nov 4, 2009)

Rodney,

This might be helpful: Industrial Stroke Counter


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## nwfarmer (Jun 16, 2009)

I was confused when I heard it referred to as a stroke counter. I'm thinking amount of ram strokes to the bale. Turn the stereo down and open the back window. Our local farm store carries the bale counter. Hmmm. Guess they are also called stroke counters. Just put a new one on my NH575 last year and don't think it was that pricey. It was better quality than the cheap one NH puts on the new balers.

I would ask for a bale counter at your local farm store. I bet they have them in stock.


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## lewbest (Dec 9, 2009)

nwfarmer said:


> I was confused when I heard it referred to as a stroke counter. I'm thinking amount of ram strokes to the bale. Our local farm store carries the bale counter. Just put a new one on my NH575 last year and don't think it was that pricey.


This has me confused too; which are you referring to? If it is strokes per bale what's the reason for wanting this info?

Lew (pretty much a newbie to making hay)


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## nwfarmer (Jun 16, 2009)

lewbest, good to know the amount of strokes to the bale also. You need a good number of strokes to get good bales.


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## lewbest (Dec 9, 2009)

ok thanks. I never thought about it that way.

Lew


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## SVFHAY (Dec 5, 2008)

Rodney,

GFC used to sell a counter. I think it was a couple hundred dollars. It was the same brand as was advertised in hay & forage grower and they also built some kind of remote dew measuring device. I can't remember the name and haven't seen it for a while. Call them and they may be able to help. 217-285-6487.

Maybe just use a 30 horse tractor on those NH balers and your operators will feel every plunge?


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## nwfarmer (Jun 16, 2009)

I paid about 6 bucks for my bale counter at the local farm store.


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## Rodney R (Jun 11, 2008)

Kelly - the 30hp tractor wold be alright, 'cept the lack of a cab for them..... I don't think we could get anybody to bale without a cab. No way any of the guys will drive with the radio turned down, and I'll chew them out for opening the back window. I'm getting tired of handling bales that are all different sizes, and if the stroke counter will help them to make better bales, then I'm all for it. I hate to spend a few hundred $$$ to find out that it won't be any improvement. The one that I saw would have been advertised in the hay and forage grower.... that's the same one that GFC used to sell?

nwfarmer - the ram strokes is what I was referring to.

The idea behind the stroke counter is that if you have a consistent number of plunger strokes per bale of hay, then the bales should be a consistent size. I think that it is recommended to have about 13-15 strokes (flakes) per small bale, and many times I'm seeing about 7-9. I'm hoping that if I can get about 11 or so it'll be a better bale, but I need a way for the guys to see it as they're baling. Anybody have any other suggestions? We're aiming for a 36 inch bale, normally about 45-55lbs.

Rodney


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

Count strokes now without thinking about it. 
Also watch when the bale rolls off the bale turner, as that tells me if the bales are long or short. Fall of about when it trips and it is close. Fall off early the bales are too long, Fall off a little later the bale is too short.

Can not stand a closed cab. Might change my mind if I ever had to bale with the wind,

Baling is easy, baler trips in 11 strokes go down a gear, Baling at 18 strokes go up a gear. Stay on the windrow, Watch the windrow and change gears before the baler chokes or starves. Watch for when the bale rolls off, keep an eye on the moisture tester. keep an eye on the humidity gage, listen to the engine, listen for the slip clutch. When in doubt get down and measure the bale length, check the weight and look at the bale counter while you are at it. Like a walk in the park. 
Also plan on how I want to pick up the hay with the stack wagon so any damp hay will end up on top of a stack. For the stack wagon it is nice to know roughly how many bales are in each row. Try not to have a half mile drive with a loaded wagon on hay ground.

An advantage is my fields are long and narrow, Humidity here seldom gives more than 3 hours between too damp to bale and too dry to hold the leaves. Usually only 2 hours. 
The stack wagon can sit 150 bales an hour in the barn, while the baler usually can drop 350 bales an hour on the ground.

A little secret is bermudagrass hay shatters more leaves than alfalfa. Thing is a bale of bermudagrass stems looks good while a bale of alfalfa stems looks like a bundle of green sticks. That is the reason conventional wisdom says bermudagrass hay is only about 7% CP, Same field baled right can bale 12% CP bermudagrass hay. The only difference is what the humidity was when the hay is baled. Bale it right and you will loose maybe 15% of total dry matter. Bale it otherwise and you can leave more than 50% of your hay scattered on the ground. Walk behind a baler when someone is baling and watch.


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## SVFHAY (Dec 5, 2008)

Rodney, definitely the same one you are thinking of. Big clunky cab box for all it did, wiring harness to baler, sensor and magnet deal mounted to plunger. I only talked to one guy who ran one and he liked it. I don't know if it is your answer or not. Harvestec's latest auto unit displays baling rate. Of course all of these require someone to look and care.

Maybe you could offer Mr. Wilson an all expense paid trip to beautiful eastern Pa. in June?


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## Lazy J (Jul 18, 2008)

We have an electronic bale stroke counter on our small square baler, we purchased it from Hay Tech but I think they are no longer in business.

I like having it as it help me control my bales and when my wife drives the baler she can change the gearing (over-under) to keep the strokes consistent throughout a field.

It is also nice to have the redundancy for counting bales by having both the bale counter on the knotter trip arm and the bale stroke counter.

Jim


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## haybaler101 (Nov 30, 2008)

I have been running a small square baler for 25 years and never heard of counting strokes until I got on this web site. All you have to do is know your equipment. Our 570 NH will only take so much through the pickup and the Hoelscher accumulator will take less. Baler has hydroformatic tension and if you drive it were the pickup flows good and Hoelscher works right, it makes really good bales and the strokes will be about right per bale. Big square baler has a stroke counter and an adjustable trip pressure on the prestuffer, but it works the same, know your machine and drive it to its recommended capacity.


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## Lazy J (Jul 18, 2008)

haybaler101 said:


> know your machine and drive it to its recommended capacity.


I agree completely! When I run the baler I can "feel" how it performs and can make subtle changes to improve performance. However, I am not blessed with self replication yet and must rely on others to operate the baler at times. It is nice to instruct the operator "keep it at 14 strokes per bale". This has helped my substitute drivers do a better job of baling, rather than simply driving they have actual control over how the baler works. It has helped with our product, but in reality we dont' make very many changes except in our worst fields where windrows can vary due to fertility differences.

Jim


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## Rodney R (Jun 11, 2008)

Lazy J - You are right on! We had one guy broke a knife arm in the knotter - didn't realize it till he made the turn at the end of the field and saw a bunch of open bales! We have 2 balers, and they run for like 2 months baling, and then for the rest of the season it's just a few hours at a shot. The only guys that we have been able to get are retired and want something to fill the extra hours in the summer. It works out good for us, we have people to just drive, and they want to do it. Take away the cab, the A/C, the radio, and what incentive do they have? None. My dad rakes, and I run the stackwagon, so it takes 2 guys to run the balers. They can handle the twine and the fuel and the acid, but not a thing more, and we couldn't afford to hire a couple guys for 2-3 months who cared about the bales they were making. I make the initial adjustments on the baler, there is a wrench and tape measure in each tractor, but I doubt they ever get used???

Hence the need/desire for a stroke counter. It is a 'Hay Tech' in the photo, and it does look like a big clunky box for what it does. I know a guy that had one, said it didn't work (you and I both know him Kelly), but he said the harvesttec rig didn't work either..... and now he has 2 of them. That was my reason for asking - to find out if anybody had anything positive to say about them. I think I'm going to be trying at least one.

Thanks,

Rodney


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## Lazy J (Jul 18, 2008)

Rodney R said:


> That was my reason for asking - to find out if anybody had anything positive to say about them. I think I'm going to be trying at least one.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Rodney


Rodney,

I used the Stroke Counter to catch a customer trying to cheat us out of almost 200 bales on their bill. I didn't realize it until we finished baling that he turned the bale mounted strok counter back after the first two wagons headed to the barn. When we sent to settle he claimed to lwe me $150 less, he didn't realize that not only was I counting loads but I also had the stroke counter on the tractor.

Jim


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