[AT] Tractor talk, Baling hay

[Cecil Bearden]

teeth for the pickup are available at Shoup parts.  The bearings can be 
matched up.  I found a Case 330 yesterday that still has the paint on 
the pickup.  Probably not had 1000 bales through it.  It has a circular 
type of feeder.  Does not look like you would want to clean it out if 
plugged.
  Cecil in OKla

Bill Bruer wrote:
> Cecil, I have been running an IH 440 baler for about 10 years now.  It will 
> tie all day long and never miss a knot *if* I keep the plunger speed down to 
> 70 strokes/minute or slightly less.  You might want to remind your hired 
> hand that the rated plunger speed is 75 strokes/minute, which is a lot 
> slower than 540 pto rpm's.  If I try to push it just a little too fast it 
> will start missing knots on the right knotter.  Ground speed is not as 
> touchy.  I've been told that pickup parts are no longer available so you 
> might want to watch that.  A pickup wheel would help but I don't have one.
> 
> Bill Bruer
> Murfreesboro, TN
> bill_bru at bellsouth.net
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Cecil Bearden" <crbearden at copper.net>
> To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> Sent: Friday, November 27, 2009 7:13 AM
> Subject: Re: [AT] Tractor talk, Baling hay
> 
> 
> We have almost finished Baling Hay around here.  I never have baled so
> late in the year in my 50 year of farming.  We had a cold front pass
> through and it dried things out a bit, so we did not have to work in the
> window of 1 to 5 pm for dry times.  The dew in the mornings had been
> like a rain!!!  We baled 7.5 acres of Bluestem prairie hay yesterday
> with a IH440 baler, and got 235 bales off of it.  The bales weighed
> about 45lbs.  No one seems to gripe about the light bales, So I am not
> squeezing down the baler.  At $4 a bale we might just break even this
> year.  We have about 500 bales of bermuda on the ground also.  I bought
> a NH 1330 Bale wagon to get it out of the field, as soon as it gets
> light I am going to see how many problems it has!!  The tractor I wanted
> to pull it with decided to have a flat last week, and yesterday after
> airing up the tire, the batteries went belly up...
> 
> The bale wagon is set up with controls you reach behind and operate.  I
> do not know how that is going to work with a cab tractor, but will find
> out...
> 
> We have used the Belarus 825 baling, and the 8345 raking and mowing hay.
>   There is a problem with the Belarus tractor transmission design.  It
> has a gap in ground speed at pto drive speed.  Both tractors use the
> same transmission, as do most all of the Belarus line.  There is a gap
> in the speed from 4.2 to 6.9 mph.  This caused us to drop our mowing
> production  from a little over 4 acres per hour to 3 acres per hour.  It
> appears that this added 2 days of mowing to our production.  We need to
> be able to travel about 5.25 mph for optimum use..  Raking causes the
> same problems.  Baling is not as critical, it is slow on the Bermuda as
> it was light, and we used the new 10 wheel v rake that has some
> issues...  On the bluestem it was ok as the rows had some heavy spots
> that would plug the baler if you went too fast.  My new hired hand
> learned how to go slow and steady after digging out the baler pickup 3
> times....
> 
> It looks like I am going to go and get my JX85 Case/IH that I was going
> to sell.  If I put new belts on it and keep the radiator blown out each
> day, it may be able to run the disc mower without overheating.  It was
> better baling as it had 5 speeds in the 3 to 5 mph range.  Years ago, I
> had some factory literature on the Allis Chalmers tractors and they made
> a lot of noise about the fact that their tractors had more gears in the
> 3 to 5 mph range.  It sure makes sense now!!!  Allis also had a
> conservative HP estimate so you had a little cushion when running with
> an Air conditioned cab.
> The wind here is so bad that you have to wait to rake after about 4pm
> which means you will be working until 11pm.  I just bought 12 work
> lights from Atwoods yesterday to mount on the tractors. At 250,000
> Candlepower, maybe I won't have such a hard time finding the windrow.
> 
> Working so late at night makes those cabs really nice even though the
> heaters are not working.  When I think back of working open tractors in
> the weather, I don't remember us running in the dark this late in the
> year.  Of course it was in a different part of the state where the wind
> is not always blowing, and we did not have these late rainfalls.  The
> climate is sure different from  my youth.  The wind is just the problem
> with my location.  This is one of the areas of the highest sustained
> wind.  East of Oklahoma City it changes, and for about 50 miles west of
> here it is less.
> 
> I never baled hay on Thanksgiving day before, but at $4 a bale, who
> cares!!!  It is light out, so I guess I will see how well I can move
> bales with the new bale wagon before it rains again on Sunday..
> 
> Y'all have fun now Ya' Hear..
> 
> Cecil in OKla
> 
> 
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