Replacing the bushing that drives the baler trip arm, hopefully this will fix our inconsistent bale length. Looks like we will also need to replace the trip arm though. Email - acmecountryacres@gmail.com
I've rebuilt these bailers for yrs now, inconsistent bales are due to the amount of hay going in the bailer, if it's packed the wheel turns good but if the hay is loose or inconsistent it will just push under it and not really spin the wheel to trip the knotters, you can weld tiny "fingers" on the points of your wheel or turn the bail tensioners to make a tighter bail.. my suggestion would be bigger rows although I'm not sure how big you are raking the hay into one row but if the rows are smaller then you need to go faster.. there should also be tiny lines on what I call the trip arm roller in between the outer discs to grab the trip arm, take a Dremel and cut new lines in it or clean it, it shouldn't be smooth.
It does seem to make very nice bales when I have a heavy windrow and keep the baler full of hay. Do to a few reasons I cut my 3rd cutting early this year and it was harder to get a heavy windrow and the bale length was more varied. Thank you for the information!
You can see that the teeth on the wheel point in one direction. I didn't pay any attention to this during installation. It is important to 'lift' the arm correctly.
You probably could have fixed this without spending any money. The trip arm is supposed to be smooth, no teeth marks. It is made out of very mild steel, while the wheel is a lot harder steel. As they wear generally it is the arm that wears. The teeth marks appear and if worn badly enough, a little lip will mushroom out on each side of the arm where the wheel runs. Usually if the teeth marks are filed or ground off along with any lip, the problem of the arm not dropping consistently is eliminated. I also noticed that trip arm does not have a return spring on it. Check the parts book to see if it ever had one. Look at a newer model to see where it goes. Makes a big difference in how consistent your bales are.
Very good info! The trip arm is definitely worn, I’ll get some video of it at some point. I’ll definitely check a parts drawing and see if there should be a spring. Thanks for the information.
I would check the billhooks and make sure they are operating properly and not worn. Also I can’t remember the name of the part but it “wipes” the twine off the billhooks, check to make sure it is not damaged/worn out. Messicks has an excellent video with a baler expert and they go through the knitters in depth. I’ll find it and post it.
