# Baler pick-up cam followers



## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

Does anyone know an aftermarket source of quality pick-up cam followers? I seem to remember someone mentioning a source on Haytalk. New Holland thinks theirs are worth $30 a piece. That's $300 per baler to do them all.

Thanks!

Edit: current NH price is $38.25 PN84350126. Ouch.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

Probably Joe's Machinery.

http://lancasterfarming.com/www/joes_machinery_catalog_2013.pdf


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

I'll check them out. I see Shoup has them for $23.95. Anybody have any feedback on them?


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

Actually, looks like they don't. It might be Esch Hay Equipment instead.


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

Just for the record, Joe's does not have cam follower bearings. Lots of stuff for pull type New Holland choppers though.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

Gearclash said:


> Just for the record, Joe's does not have cam follower bearings. Lots of stuff for pull type New Holland choppers though.


See my post above . SOMEBODY in Lancaster makes them. Somebody.


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## ARD Farm (Jul 12, 2012)

Pribably like the gathering wheels. NH patented them, sucked up Marwin and that was that. Now, you pay NH 1500 clams for a set. I'm determined to beat them at their own game, I'm gonna make a set this winter in the fab shop, better than what NH offers for 1500 clams........

What is so special about cam follower bearings? Never had mine out, how about a picture?


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## mike10 (May 29, 2011)

NH has a different cam follower bearing for the round balers than what came in your baler. The new bearing appears to be a much better bearing than the original, but it does come at a cost. It might be worth your time to look at one of the new bearings before buying anything.


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

mike10, at what point did the newer bearing come available? I put all new follower bearings in my 780A in 2012 (I think), and they didn't look any different than the originals, don't seem to be lasting better than the originals either.

Now I need to put follower bearings in a 2009 7090, originals are completely trashed at 3500 bales. One bar even has the outer race missing on both ends. The 780A had about 10K on it before replacing follower bearings, and none of those had failed yet.


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## mike10 (May 29, 2011)

If they did not look any different then you did not get the latest bearing. I think they started with the new bearings in 2013. I would take a close look at the bar with the two bad bearings see if it is bent. It is unusual for both bearings on the same bar to fail at the same time. There is generally enough variation from one end of the pickup to the other that the bearings on one side will wear more than the other.

I have not seen any fail at the low bale count you have, but I start checking them close when the baler reaches 5000 bales and I replace when the bale count reaches 8000 bales. Our owners do not do large volumes of bales so these bale counts are for our area. If I was in an area where a owner would bale thousands of bales a year, I think the bale count could go higher. I think age plays a role in how long a bearing lasts and it takes a decade for some of our owners to reach the 8000 to 10000 bale count.


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

Oddly enough, the bars in my 780A were bent when I got it, and in spite of that and running my pickup about 15% over stock speed the cam followers still made 10,000 bales. I shall give the 7090 the hairy eyeball. That thing has been abused.


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## ARD Farm (Jul 12, 2012)

I went on NH's site and looked at them. Look like common skate wheel bearings to me, probably sourced from the lowest bidder. (China)

Bet a good set of SKF's would last forever, especially double sealed ones. Is the outer diameter

metal or is it polyurethane? If it's polyurethane or synthetic, there are a number of off the shelf replacements available.


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## mike10 (May 29, 2011)

Here are some photos of the new bearings. Yes, they come from China as you can see in one of the photos. I did not intentionally place the bearing so that China was visible, it just happened. There is no play in these bearings compared to the original style bearings and they appear to be sealed better. Time will tell.


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

I suspect the newer follower bearings are double row ball bearings, which would definitely improve their life. Even if they are made in China.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Give these guys a call.I've gotten a few hard to find bearings from them but its been yrs ago,Its in Sioux falls.

http://www.grainnet.com/companies/Malloy_Electric_Bearing_Supply.html


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## ARD Farm (Jul 12, 2012)

Probably a spare time thing but I'll pull one from th pickup on the 575 and hav a look-see. The pickup on the 450U is sealed with a knockuut plug, the 575 isn't. I'm wondering if a urethane wheel with a ball or roller bearing center would work??

The pickup on th 450 is very noisy, clicks constantly. Not sure what that is about.

Look at it this way, China surpassed the United States this month in terms of productivity. Probably not hard to do, they aren't mired down with a bunch of regulatoiry BS.


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## mike10 (May 29, 2011)

Before they came with these new bearings, the square balers, that used this bearing, and the round balers used the same bearing. Now there are two different bearings available. The round balers use this new bearing and all the other equipment use the original style bearing.

The urethane roller would probably work ok with the square baler cams, but the round baler cams are castings and being so the surface is not as smooth as stamped cams.

The clicking you hear is the bearing hitting the cam when the bearing and time bar abruptly change direction when they release the hay into the baler. Usually it more noticeable when there is no hay in the pickup and the tine bars cam bearings are more or less floating in the cam.


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

I bought some Shoup cam follwers for my 7090, and found out that they are identical to New Holland's new cam follower. Every last letter, number and dimension is the same. 14.30 ea. less than New Holland's price. As mike10 suggested, these look to be much better parts than the older style.


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## ARD Farm (Jul 12, 2012)

mike10 said:


> Before they came with these new bearings, the square balers, that used this bearing, and the round balers used the same bearing. Now there are two different bearings available. The round balers use this new bearing and all the other equipment use the original style bearing.
> 
> The urethane roller would probably work ok with the square baler cams, but the round baler cams are castings and being so the surface is not as smooth as stamped cams.
> 
> The clicking you hear is the bearing hitting the cam when the bearing and time bar abruptly change direction when they release the hay into the baler. Usually it more noticeable when there is no hay in the pickup and the tine bars cam bearings are more or less floating in the cam.


Obviously, nothing to be concerned about. I was curious bcecause my 575 makes no noise....and you are right, when there is hay on the pickup, it's silent. Just clicks empty.....

Never held Chinese bearings in very high regard. The Chinese have very poor to non-existent quality control.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

ARD Farm said:


> Obviously, nothing to be concerned about. I was curious bcecause my 575 makes no noise....and you are right, when there is hay on the pickup, it's silent. Just clicks empty.....
> 
> Never held Chinese bearings in very high regard. The Chinese have very poor to non-existent quality control.


In all fairness I would ber dollars to dimes that Chinese factories will have as much quality control as you would pay for. Americans do not buy from China because of quality. It is because of price. Few would pay more for a quality product from China.


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## ARD Farm (Jul 12, 2012)

deadmoose said:


> In all fairness I would ber dollars to dimes that Chinese factories will have as much quality control as you would pay for. Americans do not buy from China because of quality. It is because of price. Few would pay more for a quality product from China.


I'll take that bet with a condition and that is, if I can't buy domestic, as a last resort I'll buy offshore, for my business and for personal / farm use.

Mass produced bearing assmblies are way down on the pecking order compared to say the computer you are posting on........lol

That 25 dollar cam follower bearing probably cost 25 cents to make........ Maybe less. ... You see, supply chain economics come into play, also called markup.

Like New Holland's gathring wheel assemblies that cost 1500 bucks a set but have maybe, about 200 bucks worth of labor and materials in them. That really sticks in my craw and that will also provide the impetus for me to fabricate my own and make them even better. Been there, done that and patented the result.


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