# Replacement round baler belts



## Mf5612 (Apr 29, 2018)

Thinking of replacing my nh 7060 endless belts this winter.endless belts cost $750:00 can each.just wondered where you fellas south of the border get yours.ive talked to America’s belting ,anyone have any ideas,thanks


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## TJ Hendren (May 12, 2017)

Unless you just have to have endless, I replaced my NH 650 with JD style will alligators from Stewarts in Sherman TX. Replaced all 6 for 1100.00. They made a entirely new animal of it. The also have NH MRT wither they have endless IDK. balerbelts.com Might be worth a call.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

I also purchased belts for my JD 467 from Stewart's in Sherman several yrs back. I've baled over 6000 bales with the new belts with 650 being Corn stalks with zero problems. I'd be danged if I'd loosen all the rollers in a baler to install endless belts. I can't imagine the ""FUN(frustration) involved in installing endless belts"" in a variable chamber rd baler.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

You’re really only supposed to use clipper or Mato in a NH. Shoup is one of many options for belts.


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

Tx Jim said:


> I also purchased belts for my JD 467 from Stewart's in Sherman several yrs back. I've baled over 6000 bales with the new belts with 650 being Corn stalks with zero problems. I'd be danged if I'd loosen all the rollers in a baler to install endless belts. I can't imagine the ""FUN(frustration) involved in installing endless belts"" in a variable chamber rd baler.


7 rollers need to be removed to replace endless belts if I remember correctly. Biggest thing is the drive roll is one of them. That part doesn't bother me so much as the exorbitant cost of replacement endless belts. They (endless belts) sure are nice though.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Gearclash

May I ask what makes endless belts any nicer that Mato laced belts? Granted I don't bale high moisture hay but I've baled 20000+ bales with Mato laced belts without needing a belt relaced.

Thanks,Jim


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

Tx Jim said:


> Gearclash
> 
> May I ask what makes endless belts any nicer that Mato laced belts? Granted I don't bale high moisture hay but I've baled 20000+ bales with Mato laced belts without needing a belt relaced.
> 
> Thanks,Jim


 Cornstalks are hard on splices. They wear out faster.


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

We tore a endless belt on our BR7060 silage special at just 350 bales. We purchased a New Holland OEM spliced belt,9k bales later lots of wet hay and fodder,no problems with the splice


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Gearclash said:


> Cornstalks are hard on splices. They wear out faster.


How many cornstalk bale creations?(formation) does it take to wear out Mato splices?


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

Tx Jim said:


> How many cornstalk bale creations?(formation) does it take to wear out Mato splices?


I have no idea. I don't work with them. I run Clippers which are the OEM for the BR series New Holland. In cornstalks they really should have the pins replaced at least every 1500 bales, 750 bales is better. 750 bales might be 2-3 days of baling. The lacings will make maybe 7500 bales, then they will need to be replaced as one set of the two will be worn at least halfway through. I'm not dead set against running laced belts but it sure is nice having no laces to worry about. One thing I will mention, I am aware that Clippers are not as durable as Mato and Alligator laces; I bale some crops that have a significant risk of flipping belts and a lacing with a cable pin will tolerate that a lot better. I have yet to wreck a lacing because a belt flipped. If the time comes for me to replace the endless belts in my balers, I will likely consider all the options out there.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

My earlier rd balers utilized Clipper lacings. There is night & day difference is the durability of the 2 style of lacings. I would not want to go back to Clipper style lacings. IMHO changing Mato lacing pins every 1000 -1500 bales would be a lot easier/faster that removing rollers to replace a complete set endless belts. YMMV


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

Tx Jim said:


> My earlier rd balers utilized Clipper lacings. There is night & day difference is the durability of the 2 style of lacings. I would not want to go back to Clipper style lacings. IMHO changing Mato lacing pins every 1000 -1500 bales would be a lot easier/faster that removing rollers to replace a complete set endless belts. YMMV


Taking a few hours every 3 days to replace lacings while trying to bale cornstalks would make me want endless belts. Precious hours wasted, especially this year!


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## mike10 (May 29, 2011)

I have mixed feelings on endless belts. At this point I prefer the endless belts but that has not always been the case. The weakest point of a laced belt is the lacing and the end of the belt where the lace is placed. Lacing does weaken the end of the belt and many of the lacing failures I see is the belt itself being torn where the lacing penetrates the belt.

All lacings are subject to damage from foreign material including rocks. Of the three common lacings, the mato lacing is probably the best over all but I have seen the mato lacings damaged also. The clipper lacing is more forgiving when belts twist as long as a cable style pin is being used. If all the balers were 4ft wide balers, twinsting probably would not be an issue. With the 5ft wide balers a careless operator will flip a belt in no time since the operators do not drive to place hay under all belts when starting the bale. That causes belts to become loose when the takeup arm moves. A loose belt will move and twist. Wet hay can be a nightmare if the operator does not drive properly. Dry short hay and probably cornstalks have their own causes for belt twisting. These crops tend to break apart while rotating which will allow belts to walk.

I find it harder to work on a baler with endless belts when doing work to the rolls. Removing rolls to install the endless belts is not that big of a deal. Most of the rolls will come out without removing the outer bearings. The other rolls with internal bearings will just slide out by removing the bolts.

Up until the roll belt balers came out in 2014, endless belt life was less than a laced belt. High production balers benefitted the most with endless belts. Low use balers would find age deteriation of the splice where the belt was put togehter. The new belts supposedly does not have this splice and are truely endless.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

I seriously doubt while baling Cornstalks one would need to replace Mato lacings every 3 days. I baled 650 cornstalk bales last yr plus over 1500 grass bales this yr with belts that have original Mato lacings with over 6000 total bale count.


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

Tx Jim said:


> I seriously doubt while baling Cornstalks one would need to replace Mato lacings every 3 days. I baled 650 cornstalk bales last yr plus over 1500 grass bales this yr with belts that have original Mato lacings with over 6000 total bale count.


Do the pins have 6000 bales on them?

You do realize that a person does not have to replace endless belts with endless belts? If the original endless belts are junk a person can simply cut them out and replace them with spliced belts. For cost reasons that is probably what I would do. Meanwhile, I sure like the endless belts . . .


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Gearclash

I try to remember to replace my belt lacing pins every 1000-1500 bales. Yes I'm aware laced belts could be substituted for endless belts hence the reason for my reply to this thread


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## mike10 (May 29, 2011)

Why is it recommended to replace the Mato pins at 1000 to 1500 bales? I do not have a lot of experience with the Mato lacings, but I have not seen any wear to the pins on balers with 3000 to 5000 bales or the lacings. I do change them when they come in and I am sure there are balers with more bales that have not been replaced.


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

Tx Jim said:


> Gearclash
> 
> I try to remember to replace my belt lacing pins every 1000-1500 bales. Yes I'm aware laced belts could be substituted for endless belts hence the reason for my reply to this thread


1000-1500 bales only?? That's no better than Clipper pins. And for me that still means taking an hour or two to replace pins every 2 or 3 hard working days per baler. Remember I would have to replace 8 pins per baler on 2 balers. If thats all the better Mato pins hold up I would think real hard about going back with endless belts. We need to get around 3000 bales per baler in about 6 weeks time, sometimes less than that. Minimizing time consuming maintenance is critical for us.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

mike10 said:


> Why is it recommended to replace the Mato pins at 1000 to 1500 bales? I do not have a lot of experience with the Mato lacings, but I have not seen any wear to the pins on balers with 3000 to 5000 bales or the lacings. I do change them when they come in and I am sure there are balers with more bales that have not been replaced.


Its a common practice to replace pins when baling cornstalks here every 1000-1500 bales so you can get them out.Run them to long and they will actually break.Replace at a 1000 bales and it's a fairly easy job,run to long and a nightmare getting pieces of broken pin out of the lacings.Easiest way to get a pin out that's not broke is put a cordless drill on end of pin and spin it and pull out.A few minutes per pin and you are done.here We bale ALOT of cornstalks and some balers all they see is cornstalks so it's a totally different ball game then baling mainly grass hay.

A lot of dirt and dust baling stalks compared to hay.Very abrasive!


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Gearclash

If you think the extra cost of endless beIts is worth it then that's your choice. I agree with swmnhay. Pins that don't have deep grooves worn in them or "aren't broken" are much easier to replace. I'm disabled so I need an assistant to replace pins. I operate tractor/baler to access lacing location to frt of baler,control hyd pressure with gate locked closed & I'd guess 6 pins on 4 ft wide baler can be changed in 15 to 20 minutes or less time. I've never timed pin replacement but it doesn't take very long for an experienced pin replacer.


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

I would have to think Mato pins are faster to replace than Clipper pins unless the Mato pins break in which case they would be a real pain and probably worse than a Clipper pin. Aren't Mato pins a hard steel pin? What retains them in the splice? Something like the crimp on ferrules on Clipper pins?


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Mato pins have slight grooves/notches that once installed remain in place. After baling nearly 60,000 bales with Mato pins I've never had a pin try to come out of lace. The pins are definitely HARD.


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## mike10 (May 29, 2011)

I just pulled a set of belts with Mato lacings, a real PIA getting the pins out. The pins were straight but had a rusty appearance to them. To be fair that is not always the case. Most of the time, the clipper cables are faster to remove, but I have had a lot of practice and know how to use the belt to an advantage. Broken pins or cables are both difficult to remove. Usually the lacing is also damaged so I take a die grinder and disc and slice the lacing in those cases.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

IMHO Mato pins can be a pain to remove especially the more bales they've made the deeper the grooves get. I've found turning pin 90° & pushing both ends of belts together a little helps pin removal


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

Tx Jim said:


> IMHO Mato pins can be a pain to remove especially the more bales they've made the deeper the grooves get. I've found turning pin 90° & pushing both ends of belts together a little helps pin removal


I have been following this and finding some tips along the way. Jim, are Mato the oem splicing on the JD balers. I ask that cause manual does say to turn them to remove and also to turn them after installation, I can tell the difference if they are not turned as the joint is tight. I use a small punch to knock them out part way then clamp with vise grips and tap them out rest of the way. I try to do every couple thousand bales cause they are a pain after they break.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

As the pins wear the grooves get deeper therefore turning pins to a side where groove is not as deep aids in removal. Due to the fact that Mato is mentioned in JD parts catalog for lacing I presume the pins are also Mato.

I cautioned my neighbor yr before last & last yr to change the pins on his 467 baler belts. He called me the other day stating he decided to change the pins that are now broken. He had tried unsuccessfully for 2 hrs to get 1(one) broken pin out. I told him sorry Charlie but I warned you!!


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## TJ Hendren (May 12, 2017)

The people at Stewarts told me to rotate the pins at 1500 and replace at 3000. Of course at my volume this only takes place every two years.


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