John Deere 510 baler

Today I started to bale my hay.  In the morning I got the baler from Wyatt.  He bought it in April at the Creston auction to fix up as he knew I wanted a round baler and he didn't want one.  He replaced some of the bearings and tightened up the belts. I bought the fixed baler from him.

I came with baling twine and we figured out:

1. how the twine worked to wrap the bale,
2.  how to thread the twine on the machine,
3. how to cut the twine.

In the previous photo you can see the twine going down to the white holder.   The twine goes underneath the PTO and hitch into another white holder (unseen).  A short distance from that holder the twine enters a long narrow tube.  The twine comes out of the tube.   It is a major pain to thread the twine through the tube as the entrance is under the hitch and protected by a guard - especially as I am left handed and this seems to favor a right handed person.

Here is another view of the threading. 

Below, you see where I tied the twine to the grill. The first half dozen bales I left the twine hanging an inch or so from the end of the tube until I was ready to wrap the bale.  However then the next bale the twine had slipped out of the tube and unseen holder and fell into the hay and then got sucked up into the bale.  I didn't notice until I was ready to wrap the bale.  I won't know how much twine was sucked into the bale until the cattle eat the bale.

Below is my fix to solve the "sucked into bale" problem.  I tie the end of the twine to the grill until I am ready to wrap a bale.  That means after I wrap a bale and cut the twine I have to get out of the tractor to tie the twine.  A few times after cutting the twine it would shrink back into the tube.  Argh!   Eventually I carried a long wire to poke the twine back to the end of the tube.

Once I forgot to tie the twine and again it got sucked into the bale.  Argh!!!   I didn't forget to tie it after the second time.

Another twine problem is that initially I had a thick twine.  That didn't suck through the fittings and tube well.  A few times it would get a kink and the twine would stop then break off before the bale was wrapped.  I switched to a smaller twine and found the thinner twine is recommended for round balers.   Live and learn.  Apparently the thicker twine is used to tie small bales.


How do I know when a bale is ready to wrap?  A sign tells me.  The bale pushes the sign up until I can read "Stop".

How do I start wrapping twine around the bale?  I wrap the end of the twine around a little hay and place it on the tines. 

I get in the tractor and then run the PTO and suck the hay and twine into the bale.  I also drive forward a little bit to suck more hay to help get the end of the twin "stuck."  I am not sure I have to do this... perhaps the multiple wraps would overlay the twine to anchor it.

Then I use a lever to move the tube from one end of the bale to the other end, then back to the beginning and the bale is wrapped in twine.

I am still experimenting with how fast to move the tube and how many times to go around the bale.

Also I find the twine is not wrapped tight against the bale.  I thought it was in something I was doing but I have read on the Internet the 510 baler is known for not wrapping twine tightly around bales.


Once the twine is done wrapping it is time to cut the twine.   In a previous photo showing how I tied the end of the twine to the grill one can see the "cutter".   Moving the tube all the way to the left should trigger a lever which moves another piece called the "anvil".  That cuts the twine.  Or should cut the twine.   The baler came with a rope attached to the lever.  Pushing the tube against the lever doesn't always cut the twine so the previous owner attached a rope that would reach to the tractor seat.  Pulling the rope hard usually cuts the twine.

Once the twine is cut another lever controls the hydraulics that opens the back gate.  The belts are attached to the gate and move as the gate opens and pushes the bale out the back.  I then drive forward a little bit so I can close the gate.

I get out of the tractor again to tie the twine to the grill.   The 510 model is a very old model and the new models eliminate getting out of the tractor seat.


The 12th bale was a problem.   I had it partially wrapped and was going to move the tube some more when I pushed the lever opening the back gate.  The bale started to come out when I realized my error.  I stopped and tried to close the gate and continue wrapping the bale with twine.  Too late.  The bale would not turn.  I had to open the gate and let the partially wrapped bale out.  Since I don't have to move the bale far I think I can move the bale without it falling apart.

When I went to start another bale I discovered all but one of the belts were loose and the drum would not spin.  Not good.

I looked in the back and inside the machine and I couldn't figure it out.  I had to get Wyatt who was camping in his woods over the weekend with his family and friends.  He found the problem.  The tight belt was overly wrapped around a cylinder in the front top.  Using a crescent wrench he turned a bar backwards until the overly wrapped belt unwound completely.  That allowed other cylinders in the machine to move and the loose belts were tightened up.  I was very close to breaking the one belt.


I had hopes of making 15 to 20 bales.  I have made several dozen so far and have enough hay left to bale that I may get another half dozen.  Great!  The grass was thick this year.  Watering the hay field last Fall certainly helped.

I found that to push out a bale I need to be on level ground or going up hill.  Once when I was going downhill the bale wouldn't roll out the back.

The second to last bale of the night was on an uphill. Before getting out to tie the twine to the grill I briefly started another bale.  I moved the baler enough to be on level ground.  That way the baler and tractor wouldn't roll as I tied the twine to the grill.  When I got out to tie the twine to the grill I found the twine had gone in and around the rollers as the bale had barely started.   Instead of slipping back out of the tube, somehow the cut end of the twine continued out the front of the tube and got caught in the hay being sucked into the machine.  Really?!!! What are the chances?!!!

I cut the twine using a knife as I lost my box cutter earlier.  Probably when I had trouble threading the twine into the bale before I got a wire.

I cut the twine and tied it to the grill.  I also cut the twine in the two places were it went around the rollers.  Then I was able to make another bale.

When I went to open the back after I tied up the bale the back would not open.  I had forgotten about the earlier twine roller wrap.  I checked the book.  Nothing under trouble shooting problems.  I searched the internet.  Nothing.    Then I remembered the twine wrap mishap.  So tomorrow when it is light I will see if that is the cause of the problem.  If it's not one thing, it's another.

Otherwise I am very happy with my baler.  I am very happy I don't have to deal with small bales: making them, loading them from the field, or stacking them.

Here is a 55 second video of my baler in operation.  Not an ideal video.  Maybe tomorrow I can get a better video.  https://youtu.be/P-thODJzHok