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<p>I would imagine that Roto Balers aren't that hard to find...but
operable, or near-operable ones these days are probably quite
another matter. While most of the parts are pretty much 'out in
the open' they are awfully complex. Oddly, the one thing that you
might expect to be the most troublesome - the belts - was, in my
experience, one of the least problematic. I don't recall that we
ever broke a belt; once in a while the lacing at the splice would
start to come undone, but that wasn't a big deal as long as you
fixed it right away. Most, if not all of the bearings on the thing
were standard bearings that any supplier (at least, any of them
back in the 1970s) either kept in stock or could easily obtain. It
might be harder now...but in southern Indiana in the 1960s and
70s, any town of 10,000 or bigger had a decent industrial
supplier. If they didn't have what we needed, they could get it
from Indianapolis or Louisville in a day or two.<br>
</p>
<p>You're quite right that they are difficult to transport - the
side-by-side nature of the drawbar and the pickup makes the
machine very wide - dangerous on main highways and aggravating on
back roads through narrow stone culverts. Then there was the fun
we had working it through our woods to get to the hill field on
the northeast side of our farm - there were about 20 acres of
pasture/hay field that had two ways in, both of them involving
trails 'right through the trees' - more than once, the first trip
back there in the spring to mow involved using a chainsaw to clear
the road. When we planted most of the farm in trees around 20 - 25
years ago, that nearly-inaccessible field was one of the first to
be set...too remote from the house and too steep to raise crops on
it. <br>
</p>
<p>Back on subject...there was a 'short run' of Roto Balers built by
Allis sometime in the 1970s or maybe early 80s - they were built
to the original design, and I don't think there were more than a
few hundred made. If you could find one of those, it might be in
better shape than the 'original' run, which was 1950-something as
I recall.</p>
<p>Mark J<br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 5/29/2021 11:28 AM, Spencer Yost
wrote:<br>
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I always wanted a Roto Baler. I don’t have a single sane, logical
reason other than I just love to watch them in action. Since I
have small acreage I thought it would be interesting to try to use
one. Unfortunately they were never popular around here so I would
have to haul one in from afar and they are difficult to transport.
So I’ve never had the opportunity to buy one that was in good
enough shape to be worth the effort to transport.
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Plus it would take up a lot of my nonexistent shed space.
(-: I could not keep it out of the rain without erecting a
shed. The lumber would cost more than the rotobaler (-:
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Spencer<br>
<br>
<div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPhone</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
<blockquote type="cite">On May 29, 2021, at 10:57 AM, Mark
Johnson <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:markjohnson100@centurylink.net"><markjohnson100@centurylink.net></a> wrote:<br>
<br>
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<p>Herb & all: <br>
</p>
<p>I remember that we had two different JD A's and a 620
when I was growing up...the 'old' A definitely did not
have live PTO. The 'new' A (pressed steel frame instead
of cast iron) *might* have had live PTO; I just don't
recall. The 620 and everything later that we had, all
definitely had live PTO. We used the 620 and 730s to
power our AC roto baler. The IH 300 would have had
enough power, but lacked the live PTO, so it got
relegated to rake duty. My dad said this of the original
AC roto baler design: "I never baled with it without
something breaking during the day. But I also never
failed to finish baling what we had raked and ready."
Admittedly, ours was old, and had been extensively
rebuilt. Even at that, the latch plates that held the
upper and lower belt gangs in the 'roll a bale" position
had some wear, and would occasionally release without
being tripped - either while we were running twine, or
even before that. I always thought of it as the baler
"throwing up" on us.<br>
</p>
<p>If the bale hadn't been partially tied, we just carried
the hay back around to the pickup deck and ran it
through again :-). <br>
</p>
<p>For myself, I always thought of the AC Roto-Baler as
being an engineer's dream and a mechanic's nightmare.
Lots of manual operation (stopping to feed twine
manually, then tripping the release to eject the bale
every time. I heard some tales that there was a later
version, never produced or built only in small
quantities, that had a way to 'hold' hay while the twine
feed was running, so the operator didn't have to stop
for each bale. I can only imagine the mechanical
complexity of such a beast. Can anybody confirm or deny?<br>
</p>
<p>Mark J<br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 5/29/2021 9:34 AM, Cecil
Bearden wrote:<br>
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<p>I think the earliest live PTO was on the WD Allis
Chalmers. Built to power the AC roto baler. The hand
clutch stopped forward travel and left he PTO
running. I really liked running my old WD, just
hated the seat. I still have kinks in my back from
it...<br>
Cecil<br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 5/28/2021 9:05 PM,
HERBERT METZ wrote:<br>
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cite="mid:2065866001.580625.1622253920661@connect.xfinity.com">
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<div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family:
helvetica,arial,sans-serif;"> <span
style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">Dean,
I certainly agree and hope that purists pick up on
this by sharing their knowledge of history of
these two PTO systems. Herb(GA)</span> </div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family:
helvetica,arial,sans-serif;"> </div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div> On 05/28/2021 4:36 PM Dean VP <a
class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="mailto:deanvp@att.net"
moz-do-not-send="true"><deanvp@att.net></a>
wrote: </div>
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal">Herb,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In addition to your question
when did LIVE PTO arrive and what tractor
Manufacturer provided it. I do believe there is
a distinction needed to be made between
INDEPENDENT LIVE PTO and LIVE PTO for the
purists</p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dean VP</p>
</div>
<div>
<div style="border: none; border-top: solid
#E1E1E1 1.0pt; padding: 3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>From:</strong> AT
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="mailto:at-bounces@lists.antique-tractor.com"
moz-do-not-send="true"><at-bounces@lists.antique-tractor.com></a>
<strong>On Behalf Of </strong>HERBERT METZ<br>
<strong>Sent:</strong> Sunday, May 23, 2021
4:19 AM<br>
<strong>To:</strong> Antique Tractor Email
Discussion Group <a
class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="mailto:at@lists.antique-tractor.com"
moz-do-not-send="true"><at@lists.antique-tractor.com></a><br>
<strong>Subject:</strong> [AT] history of
PTO's on tractors</p>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:
12.0pt; font-family:
'Helvetica',sans-serif;">When did PTO's
first appear on tractors? I assume sickle
bar mowers was one of the first implements
that PTO's appeared on? </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:
12.0pt; font-family:
'Helvetica',sans-serif;">I use an Allis
Chalmers PTO powered four foot tiller
behind my AC720 large lawn tractor; sure is
a nice way to till our large vegetable
garden. </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:
12.0pt; font-family:
'Helvetica',sans-serif;">Herb(GA)</span></p>
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