[AT] "Live" and "Independent" PTO's

[John Hall]

Spencer you'd love running a baler with an engine on it. You can rev the 
tractor up for thin spots and turning while leaving the baler at a 
steady pace. We would shove my little Super 66 so hard the belts would 
squeak with every plunger stoke. It was so slow that increasing ground 
speed during turning and thin spots was the only way to make decent 
time. In small fields, it wasn't really that bad. I still have it for 
back up.

John Hall


On 5/31/2021 5:26 PM, Spencer Yost wrote:
> Brian‘s comments about plunger strokes made me want to comment on one of the reasons I love baling hay. You sort of feel like a conductor at a symphony because there’s so many variables you’re trying to balance and juggle to get perfect bales for your animals and customers. I no longer sell any hay but my wife is a very picky customer :-)
>
> I like to get around 14 to 16 strokes per bale; to generate bales that are 40-50 pounds and stay between 32-36” long.  To get that I generally run the throttle about 20% slower than is required to get 540 PTO RPM and i travel in second gear.  Drop to first for thick spots and up to third briefly in thin spots
>
> Mainly because my windows are never that terribly thick that if I ran the throttle to generate 540 PTO RPMs I would be running in third gear as a general rule and have to go to fourth in thin spots.   Neither me nor my tractor are excited at the prospect of getting beat to death running a baler in fourth gear.
>
> Also the pick up head on the Baler starts losing efficiency when you start moving too fast.
>
> In essence:
>
>    Windrow size  X
> Ground speed   X
> Throttle              X
> Bale Length
> Adjustment        X
> Moisture             X
> Temperature      X
> ———————-
> 34”, 45 lb bale
> with 15 flakes.    =
>
>
>
> So it’s an equation with 4 variables and two inputs you are constantly trying to solve for and I kinda like the challenge.
>
>
> Spencer
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On May 31, 2021, at 12:52 PM, Brian <lesh at kci.net> wrote:
>>
>> Baled some with Dad's Super M and New Holland baler with PTO. To set the throttle I used my pocket watch with sec. hand to count the plunger.  Maybe 55 or 60 plunges/min.
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