NH 851 Round Baler

[T in KY]

I have purchased an old NH 851 round baler. I doubt if it was used very much, Owned by and older fellow with a 60 acre farm)and has been parked in a barn for probably 10-12 years. It looks good other than dust. Being used to square balers, what do I need to do to get this 851 ready to bale again? I think it is an auto tie and I have no idea how that works. The fellow heirs are going to try to find me the op manual since he bought the baler new.
 

[old]

You can still buy the manuals from New Holland I know because I did so for my 850. As for getting it ready grease it up oil the chains etc and read the manual. When baling with one you do need to drive almost as if your drunk as in go side to side over the windrows so as to fill the whole bale area or you can/will break things or bend the bars etc.
 

[T in KY]

Great help, I have heard to NOT make large windrolls and drive fairly slow with good RPM. What about the auto tie? It does not have any wiring exposed (I.E. a plug, etc.)
 

[chevytaHOE5674]

The auto-tie will tie when the bale reaches its preset size. At the top of the baler there is a scale with a pointer to show how big the bale is, once it gets to the end a little arm will flip up with STOP showing. When this happens you stop and let the bale tie and eject once its done.

There is also a lever you can pull on to trip the tie sequence if you want a smaller bale.

It is all explained in the manual.
 

[T in KY]

Great info i which I am sure I will use.
 

[IaGary]

You want your windrow as big or bigger than for a square baler.

After you get the bale started you will also drive faster than square baling or the baler will grind up the hay faster than you feed it in.

I use to run 4 MPH in windrows that barely fit under the front axle of the tractor.

Gary
 

[Moline_guy]

Good old balers we have run them since 81. The auto tie is all mechanical, it will trip when the bale is full. Unless you have a sealed up air conditioned cab, you will hear it trip the arms down, feed a little more hay into it so the twine gets tying. Once in a while when a new twine roll starts you have to jump out and give the twine a little pull so the string gets going, other wise you will have to manually retrip it after it finishes it cycle. Sisal twine works best, if you use the nylon/ plasic stuff you will have problems. You move a v belt on the right side under the cover to put more or less twine on. We set ours for the least amount of twine, unless you are selling hay it is enough twine to hold the bale together and move it a few times on the least amount of twine setting. Windrow size doesnt matter, in our experience the bigger the better. If you have the windrow big just so it goes in the pickup, you don't have to wander back and forth and it also makes a nicer looking bale, the smaller the windrow the more back and forth you have to do and the bales don't look as good. You will have to bale the hay a littel tougher than a belt baler, short fine dry hay will spin out in the chamber, they work better on longer hay or hay that is on the green side. We have always run about 300-400 rpms under pto speed, you won't be able to shove hay into as fast at this slower speed but the baler will last a lot longer. Once the rollers on the chains start coming apart its time to put a new chain in. Check your floor rails and make sure they are not worn through, you have to remove the floor chain to put in the rails. Rails and chains are available through s houps catalog cheaper than dealers. The rails will usually run about 1500-2500 bales depending on your windrows. The smaller the windrows the more the baler is running per bale. If you brake the big chain, be careful repairing it, it is heavy. Also keep an eye on the cables that pull on the springs on top, if they are starting to have unravels replace them, if they brake the spring slams down and bends the snot out of the frame. Also check the rollers on the pickup through a small hole on the left side. You can see through the hole as you turn the pickup slowly if these rollers need replacing. If you run them with the rollers out it will eat up the track. Oil your chains once a day.



 

[old]

On the round baler like the 850 or 851 you want nice size windrows and or put 2 side by side so you do not have to driver back and forth across the windrow. As for speed you do not want to go to slow or you get a bale the is extra heavy and very hard to put a bale spike in, learned that the hard way when I first got my 850 and could not lift the bales with my loader tractor due to how heavy they where. I now run in 3rd gear with my Oliver Super 88 and that is just about right for a nice bale. As for auto tie I can not help you with that the 850 does not have that
 

[Kerry50]

I owned a 851 for several years. Moline Guy gave you good advice. I think the thing I would do with a baler that had set for that long would be to replace the cables that keep the tension on the chain. There is one on each side of the baler at the top of the tailgate. I had one of these break while baling and all heck happened. You do not want that aggravation. Even if they look good they will probably have rust internally. Raise the tailgate, block the cylinders, replace those cables. My dealer suggested even oiling them. Good luck.
 

[Our Farmer]

Good advice here. I've got an 846, which is essentially the same machine and like it a lot. Tip on the floor chain rails; NH wants a ton of money for replacements. I made my own out of some channel for just a few bucks and a little extra time.

Going to take a bit of time to get used to, you'll need to get a feel for making an even roll by weaving back and forth across the windrow a bit.

It's a good machine.
 

[Moline_guy]

Definately keep the cables oiled, and like kerry50 said if they are rusty, best to replace both of them before, otherwise you get to replace them and straighten up the mounts when they snap. Only thing I disagree on is having the end gate open to change these cables. Best to have the endgate closed, remove spring covers, and then you just back off the tension on the springs a bit, this will leave the cable loose enough to get the pins out. When the endgate is up there is a lot of tension on the springs so you would't be able to change the cables.