baler driver

[Spencer]

You can’t block it so it can’t be undone, until it breaks.

Maybe the newer ones are different but the older ones weren’t very strong, the VFS was the weak point of the baler.
Dad drove it, he paid the bills too and has been driving big square balers since the mid 80s, so plenty of experience.
The record to clear the VFS was 24hrs with pliers and air chisels, thats when a cam roller broke off a VFS arm. We’ve also had cam rollers out the tracks, broken duplex chains, bearings etc.

Krone’s big marketing spiel was ‘look we’ve made a cam less pickup so it’ll be more reliable. Then they got a cammed pickup, turned it inside out, made it more complicated, and put it inside the baler where you can’t get anywhere near it.

Its amazing what you can break with the amount of HP available these days.

You pays your monies and you take your chances..

 

[Oliveau]

It’s really not a fun experience if you block the stuffer up… took me nearly 2 hours last year to clear it when I was trying to get done before the rain and straw was getting a bit damp but farmer said get it baled.

Back along I helped a mate who ran a Hesston - I was the Merlo man towering the bales ready for the Stacker truck. I seem to remember that he'd got the local blacksmith to modify things so that in the case of a block up he could drop a whole section of the stuffer very easily instead of trying to clear things through the tiny Hesston access point.
Then a year later, driving for a complete tit I managed to bung the stuffer. Said tit came along chivvying me, prompting "Why don't you jump into Daddy's Range Rover and go and have a look at ......'s baler to see how to improve things ??"

 

[cousinjack]

Back along I helped a mate who ran a Hesston - I was the Merlo man towering the bales ready for the Stacker truck. I seem to remember that he'd got the local blacksmith to modify things so that in the case of a block up he could drop a whole section of the stuffer very easily instead of trying to clear things through the tiny Hesston access point.
Then a year later, driving for a complete tit I managed to bung the stuffer. Said tit came along chivvying me, prompting "Why don't you jump into Daddy's Range Rover and go and have a look at ......'s baler to see how to improve things ??"

Think I may know said ‘tit’ of which you speak

 

[Chae1]

Have had to remove bands to unblock stuffer with a fencing pick!

If clutches are set correctly it shouldn't get to stage where its blocked that badly?

I'd mine set one year to a stage where pickup blocked before stuffer. Normally unblocked pretty easily without getting off seat. Or got off and wound flywheel back.

 

[ollie989898]

I've helped unblock the stuffer on a heston before, I did wonder if removing the bands you could get a chainsaw in there but it would no doubt catch fire in seconds. As another post mentioned what it needs is a way to remove the bottom of the thing in one hit, either bolts or something or even hydraulically remove it.

Balers, I guess like many machines, look great fun to drive until something breaks or goes wrong.

 

[cousinjack]

Been operating a Claas 2200 for the past 20 odd years…

only seen the stuffer blocked once…. And that was when the combine had bulldozed up a heap of clay and the baler managed to pull it in in one lump…

we had it going again within the hour….

All this drama on here certainly puts me off the Krone !!

 

[Chae1]

Been operating a Claas 2200 for the past 20 odd years…

only seen the stuffer blocked once…. And that was when the combine had bulldozed up a heap of clay and the baler managed to pull it in in one lump…

we had it going again within the hour….

All this drama on here certainly puts me off the Krone !!

How many acres a year?

 

[mx110]

Bale size can make big difference to stuffing them, 4 stringers easier to block up, I completely stuffed my old 185 a few times, crop often to blame. I remember one field of horrible grass/hayledge type that had been rained on a couple of times and farmer had been in amongst it with everything tedding and rowing until it was like a rope in the row you could see the pickup reel pulling grass from infront of the tractor, arms were dropping off from winding the flywheel back. Has anyone been to NZ and driven a freeman? Hydraulic stuffer get out and use the remote cable.

 

[cousinjack]

How many acres a year?

We used to do 1500 -2000 contract baling in the eastern counties…

nowadays only 3-400 acres a year for ourselves and neighbours

still got the 2200 we had new in 05.

 

[euroliner]

I’m interested BUT why arnt you going back to where you got the six years experience, surely they must be missing you? Just asking that’s all..

There's zero big square baling contractors here in my part of Ireland... 100s of round balers

 

[pdagriservices]

There's zero big square baling contractors here in my part of Ireland... 100s of round balers

Did you get sorted out in the end?

 

[Secret Agronomist]

Why would you want to drive a square baler?

There are much better jobs out there! You'll regret it when underneath the baler on a hot day trying to rethread a needle with barley awns going down back of your neck and covered in dust!

Or when you pick up a wet/green lump of straw and have to start dismantling the baler to get it unblocked.

I always fancied a season in the south on a square baler. If I was doing it now I would insist on wheat straw only, well if the snowflakes can try demanding a 4 day week it would be worth a try.

 

[Chae1]

All the heroes you see on YouTube wearing shades, gelled hair fresh polo shirts on 900 series fendts look cool.

The reality is very different in my experience. I look like a scarecrow with a black oily boilersuit and straw in my hair, that hasn't been washed or combed for days. With the bloody phone going off every 15 minutes asking when you'll be here next.

 

[Secret Agronomist]

Big swath of damp rye straw straight behind the combine is a pain, according to the driver. But if its decent its not a problem. Quite fancy going back to a 24foot header for it or getting rid of the BB980 and getting something new.
Within 5 miles there are 3 of us running big squares for the carrot job, the sensible thing would be to get a monster Krone but then you need a big tractor and we all run 250hp as the max so sticking with an old BB980 each is ok for now. Might be different if labour difficulties get worse.

 

[Chae1]

Big swath of damp rye straw straight behind the combine is a pain, according to the driver. But if its decent its not a problem. Quite fancy going back to a 24foot header for it or getting rid of the BB980 and getting something new.
Within 5 miles there are 3 of us running big squares for the carrot job, the sensible thing would be to get a monster Krone but then you need a big tractor and we all run 250hp as the max so sticking with an old BB980 each is ok for now. Might be different if labour difficulties get worse.

Sean Smith's bought a new 4x4 krone, running it on a 7726.

 

[Andrew]

Big swath of damp rye straw straight behind the combine is a pain, according to the driver. But if its decent its not a problem. Quite fancy going back to a 24foot header for it or getting rid of the BB980 and getting something new.
Within 5 miles there are 3 of us running big squares for the carrot job, the sensible thing would be to get a monster Krone but then you need a big tractor and we all run 250hp as the max so sticking with an old BB980 each is ok for now. Might be different if labour difficulties get worse.

Replace the BB980 with an MF2290. So much better baler, 220hp manages it (obviously 300+ would be better) and just as capable as the Krone with the same tractor on the front.
Added advantage that any knotter spares you have are interchangeable.

 

[Chae1]

Replace the BB980 with an MF2290. So much better baler, 220hp manages it (obviously 300+ would be better) and just as capable as the Krone with the same tractor on the front.
Added advantage that any knotter spares you have are interchangeable.

The chap I mentioned above said the difference between the Krone and MF was the way it handled damp not fit straw.

He had both in same field and said the krone would march on at 10-12k in wet stuff where the MF was back to 7k.

He bales a lot for carrots so straw quality not vitally important.

He's a North agent for big bale North. So don't imagine it's went down too well. I get twine and parts from him.

 

[Andrew]

The chap I mentioned above said the difference between the Krone and MF was the way it handled damp not fit straw.

He had both in same field and said the krone would march on at 10-12k in wet stuff where the MF was back to 7k.

He bales a lot for carrots so straw quality not vitally important.

He's a North agent for big bale North. So don't imagine it's went down too well. I get twine and parts from him.

Could well be true, we hardly ever bale straw like that. But the MF XDs handle silage as well as the Krone HDPs.

 

[Secret Agronomist]

Could well be true, we hardly ever bale straw like that. But the MF XDs handle silage as well as the Krone HDPs.

90% is baled straight behind the combine here. Maybe explains why we burst a packer crank!