The bale was netwrapped.
The second bale was not completely netwrapped. I trusted the netwrap cycle had worked. I will have to re-do that bale. But later as I wanted to bale the rest of the windrows before our predicted rain started later today.
I upped the netwrap 'count' from 2.6 to 3. Bales 3 through 8 were netwrapped fine.
Bale 9. When the console was in the netwrap mode it stopped with a "stop" sign indicating a problem. The bale didn't look netwrapped. I manually initiated the netwrap. It stopped again. I tried a few more time. Each was a failure. No idea why.
The baler has an actuator. When the netwrap starts the actuator extends. This tightens the V belt which causes a second roller to turn. This roller then feeds netwrap into the large belt cycle and then wraps the bale. Is the actuator not working?
By now it was noon and the RDO John Deere service department was on their lunch break. I called RDO service department headquarters in North Dakota as it was after 1 pm there. He also thought it could be an actuator problem. He told me how to check the actuator but I don't have electrical knowledge. But my neighbor Curtis does.
I talked with Curtis. I convinced him to come over. He also had welded the temporary corral panel with a small gate for me and wanted to bring it back to my place with his pickup as this panel was heavy and awkward to carry. But then we discovered that his pickup's battery was dead. I had to wait a while for him to charge his pickup. We then brought my panel over and then he checked the actuator as I operated it from inside the tractor.
The actuator had power. When I tried to extend or retract the actuator it didn't move. We tried this or that. Then I tried to manually start the netwrap. The actuator moved. I tried the manual start again so Curtis could go to the other side of the baler to see if the V belt tightened. It did. But the rollers didn't turn.
I then checked the roller with netwrap around it and I could turn it by hand. So the problem was with the other roller. The roller inside the baler. Why wouldn't that roller turn? I then went out to the hayfield and unloaded the bale. Later I will have to unroll the bale and then re-bale it after I get the baler fixed.
Now we could open the baler and look inside. Initially I thought the roller's bearings were bad and they froze or locked the roller. But no. When I looked at the roller I seen the roller had broken in two pieces. This is a large metal roller. How could it have broken into two pieces? Who knows.
I called the RDO John Deere parts department to ask if they had a roller in stock. Which roller? So I took photos of the baler and roller and drove to the parts department so I could show them and see their diagram on their computer.
They are ordering a new roller for me and it should be here Friday morning. $820 for the roller and extra for quick shipping.
Rather than relying on John Deere to fix the baler - who knows when they could - Curtis said he would help me take the roller off and install a new roller. We'll see how that goes.
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| The actuator. |
The arrow shows where the roller is. The belt is the V belt the actuator tightens.
The arrow shows the break in the metal roller.
I have to take this extra stuff apart in order to take the roller off the baler.
9 bales were made. Nowhere close to what I need to bale. I only got a few windrows baled. So far the rain predicted for today/Wednesday did not happen other than a few very brief sprinkles. I'll see what tomorrow brings. Hopefully that rain forecast doesn't happen.
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