385 John Deere Round Baler

[JD Farmer]

Getting things ready to bale hay, and put this off too long...but need to know how to check bale tension on this baler. I have had problems in the past with loose bales, and need to see if my pressure is leaking off on the baler.
I just finished repairing my SCV's on the tractor and they are now holding pressure like they should.
Does opening the tailgate and unhooking the lines from the tractor proove anything? There are no visible leaks anywhere. I have owned this baler since new.
Anybody know what the shop manual would say?
Thanks for your help in advance, I will let ya know what I find.

 

[Tx Jim]

It's possible the non-adjustable tensioning valve could be the problem for loose bales. I don't have access to a rd baler tech manual. Repairing the leaking scv's is certainly a step in the right direction.

 

[JD Farmer]

Jim,

I put an adjustable valve on there years ago, I think from a 435 baler possibly....crs....new JD part I know. Always run it as tight as it will go and still had loose bales. Any other ideas? Anybody?
Trying to get thru another season last year with the cab tractor, amounted to lots of loose bales they only weigh 600# max on a 4x5 bale. I'd like to see 800# bales at least when they are dried out inside the barn.

 

[Tx Jim]

I've not seen a 385 in person so I must ask how many cylinders does it have? I think it has 3 cylinders but I'm not sure. If it has a tension cylinder then it's possible the packing is leaking internally allowing bale to be loose. Also are you packing each side of the bale very well.Are your bales level?

 

[JD Farmer]

Oh yes bales are level side to side....barrels suck, lol.
It has 2 cylinders, one on each side of the gate.
From what I know, those cylinders make the pressure for tight bales if that makes any sense. So that is why I am wondering if they leak internally and if so how do I prove this before buying parts?

 

[Tx Jim]

Read the parts descriptions and I think you'll understand why I asked about numbers of cylinders. On the rd baler with separate tension cylinders one disconnects the hose from the barrel end,pressurize the cylinder and check for drops of oil out of the open ports.

 

[ihman73]

How long has it been since you resized the belts? If your belts have stretched too far without being trimmed back to spec no amount of work on the tensioner will fix it.

 

[Tx Jim]

Back when I worked for a JD dealer JD rep's stated OEM shrunk with use not stretched. I think JD Farmer soft bales is caused from loosing hyd pressure.

 

[JD Farmer]

Baler is going on 17 years old, so about 8 years ago I shortened all the belts 2" to replace the bad spices with the new heavier style used on the new balers.
So I know for sure the belts aren't too long.

 

[Texasmark1]

TX Jim and I had a conversation about this several months ago.

To put my mind at ease and to verify what he said, I put a 0-
5000# pressure gauge in the output of the hyd dist box that sits
atop the landing just ahead of the belts, just to the left of center
of the landing.

At the top rear of the box, upper left, actually behind the box, is
a tee from the box that sends pressurized fluid both directions
to the gate cylinders. I teed the gauge in that line.

With the gate open there is little pressure on the line. When the
gate is closed as far as it will go, pressure on the gauge
increases to around 900#.

As you form the bale the belt arms move against the gate
cylinders such that they try to open the gate but can't. When the
roll gets at around the 4' diameter design limit, the gauge
pressure has increased to about 2500#. This 2500# is pushing
against the belts to tighten the roll.

So, as Jim said to me initially, my baler, a 375, does in fact have
belt tensioners.

On the 375 there is a third cylinder and it is used to run the tie
arm across the bale.

The gauge and high pressure pipe adapters were less than $50
and that was a quality oil filled gauge. If you get one and install
it, if you can't get that belt tensioning pressure then I'd say you
have one or both cylinders leaking by. Time for seal kits.

Mark

 

[JD Farmer]

Now this is what I was looking for, thank you Mark. I have a gauge on order, now need a T and fittings...went and looked at baler and seen where you are talking about, easy enough to do once I get the fittings.

 

[cannonball]

make sure you compression spring is not broken...
E82191 Compression Spring