488 Haybine bad design?

[Bobalooie]

This is my first season with a 488 haybine. The tongue that goes from the unit to the tractor keeps breaking at the haybine. So, I stole another tongue from a parts machine, and I see that it's been welded and reinforced too. What the heck? This looks like a poor design to me with all the stress of the haybine sitting on this tongue bar where it goes into the haybine. You can see in the photo that it's snapped and dropped to the ground.

 

[Northvale PA]

I had a 461 and 469 but never had a broken drawbar. However, the 469 large spring posts both snapped off because rain water had pooled in the bottoms and rusted them. I think that’s a bad design. Having other weak spots is not a surprise. My opinion is various assemblies are made just strong enough. But never include rust or ground hog holes.

 

[rustred]

This is my first season with a 488 haybine. The tongue that goes from the unit to the tractor keeps breaking at the haybine. So, I stole another tongue from a parts machine, and I see that it's been welded and reinforced too. What the heck? This looks like a poor design to me with all the stress of the haybine sitting on this tongue bar where it goes into the haybine. You can see in the photo that it's snapped and dropped to the ground.View attachment 78076

I just don’t like the looks of that cylinder on that hitch. My bet is that’s what is breaking the hitch. And for cutting the cylinder should be retracted and I see it’s extended for transport position. I have the 489 model and it’s a better set up than those 488’s. Mine don’t have that wobble box either. Gonna be cutting hay with it today.

 

[casecollectorsc]

Like rust said, you sure you are using the correct cylinder....looks too long. Maybe a 3"x8" stroke cylinder.

 

[Fred Werring]

I just don’t like the looks of that cylinder on that hitch. My bet is that’s what is breaking the hitch. And for cutting the cylinder should be retracted and I see it’s extended for transport position. I have the 489 model and it’s a better set up than those 488’s. Mine don’t have that wobble box either. Gonna be cutting hay with it today.

Mine must be an older 488, it doesn't have the cylinder for transport/mow position.
Just has a spring loaded pin and holes in the frame.
A PO did add some angle to the tongue for strength, and welded in metal behind the cutterbar where it had rusted.
That said, dragged it out when I lost and was waiting on a bearing in my disk mower, mowed 25 acres like a champ.

 

[Bobalooie]

I just don’t like the looks of that cylinder on that hitch. My bet is that’s what is breaking the hitch. And for cutting the cylinder should be retracted and I see it’s extended for transport position. I have the 489 model and it’s a better set up than those 488’s. Mine don’t have that wobble box either. Gonna be cutting hay with it today.

Ya, that’s a hefty cylinder for this unit. So I’ve had to use it very sparingly just to move the transport. When it broke and fell, it pulled the cylinder out.

I’m not sure what’s going on with this thing as the metal in the drawbar seems rather thin in my welder’s opinion.

 

[rustred]

Ya, that’s a hefty cylinder for this unit. So I’ve had to use it very sparingly just to move the transport. When it broke and fell, it pulled the cylinder out.

I’m not sure what’s going on with this thing as the metal in the drawbar seems rather thin in my welder’s opinion.

is there another pin to pull out before using the cylinder? on mine there is ,and u use a rope to pull it and hold till it pops on the hole u want. then just pull ahead or backup to move the hitch.

 

[Bobalooie]

is there another pin to pull out before using the cylinder? on mine there is ,and u use a rope to pull it and hold till it pops on the hole u want. then just pull ahead or backup to move the hitch.

Yes, mine has a spring pin. I suspect the reason the previous owner put a cylinder on this is that manually moving it forward or backward doesn’t seem to move the position very easily at all.

 

[rustred]

is there another pin to pull out before using the cylinder? on mine there is ,and u use a rope to pull it and hold till it pops on the hole u want. then just pull ahead or backup to move the hitch.

just looked again at ur photo and that dont even look like a factory thing. some ones idea it think.

 

[Bobalooie]

just looked again at ur photo and that dont even look like a factory thing. some ones idea it think.

You’re correct.

 

[MJMJ]

Yep, someone got creative because thats not the way it was designed. The 488 might be one of the longest produced hay machines there is, they were first made in the 70s and they still make them today. The design isn’t the reason its breaking.

 

[Bobalooie]

Yep, someone got creative because thats not the way it was designed. The 488 might be one of the longest produced hay machines there is, they were first made in the 70s and they still make them today. The design isn’t the reason it’s breaking.

Well, we found an old drawbar from another unit. It’s got a lot of reinforcement and welds at that joint as well. Notably, this one did not have a cylinder attached to it. We installed it… And so far everything’s good.

The one thing about this drawbar as well as my other one is that I find getting into the transport mode extremely difficult. You’re supposed to either back up or move forward to change modes, but nothing is moving. I’m assuming the nut that holds the drawbar in place (on which pivots) is supposed to be tight. Correct?

 

[MJMJ]

Well, we found an old drawbar from another unit. It’s got a lot of reinforcement and welds at that joint as well. Notably, this one did not have a cylinder attached to it. We installed it… And so far everything’s good.

The one thing about this drawbar as well as my other one is that I find getting into the transport mode extremely difficult. You’re supposed to either back up or move forward to change modes, but nothing is moving. I’m assuming the nut that holds the drawbar in place (on which pivots) is supposed to be tight. Correct?

Yes. It takes some practice. When I used one, I would keep a small piece of 4x4 on the haybine to use as a chock when trying to get it into transport mode. Just put it behind the driver side tire and back up, it should slide right into place. Getting into cutting mode should be simple without a chock, just pull forward, maybe steering slightly to the left if needed. Sometimes on certain hillsides I would have to pop the clutch.

 

[Fred Werring]

Well, we found an old drawbar from another unit. It’s got a lot of reinforcement and welds at that joint as well. Notably, this one did not have a cylinder attached to it. We installed it… And so far everything’s good.

The one thing about this drawbar as well as my other one is that I find getting into the transport mode extremely difficult. You’re supposed to either back up or move forward to change modes, but nothing is moving. I’m assuming the nut that holds the drawbar in place (on which pivots) is supposed to be tight. Correct?

If you haven't, grease inside the frame that the top of the tongue rides on as it pivots. I grab a handful of grease and get in there as far as I can, mine pivots pretty easily. Might want to look in there, make sure there's nothing that can obstruct the tongue as it pivots.

 

[mennometis]

Well, we found an old drawbar from another unit. It’s got a lot of reinforcement and welds at that joint as well. Notably, this one did not have a cylinder attached to it. We installed it… And so far everything’s good.

The one thing about this drawbar as well as my other one is that I find getting into the transport mode extremely difficult. You’re supposed to either back up or move forward to change modes, but nothing is moving. I’m assuming the nut that holds the drawbar in place (on which pivots) is supposed to be tight. Correct?

As long as I'm young enough to get on and off the tractor, I'll be chocking the far wheel, and back up or pull ahead depending on which mode I'm going into. It's two times off and on the tractor but I have to get off to engage the transport safety link anyway.
That pivot bolt just sits loose in the frame on my 479. I think the nut should just retain the bolt from popping out if you hit a bump. The tongue does swing rough in the track on mine, I probably should lay some grease on it before storing.

One thing to note from the 479 manual: "The tongue can best be swung by allowing the header to rest on the ground,.." I think this is to take a bit of weight off the tongue as well as serve the purpose of a chock.

I got lucky last year cutting at the highway where someone left a nice rubber chock in the ditch. I now keep it on the frame just under the PTO bearing (not on a 488, which has long shaft.)

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Couldn't have been too bad. New Holland was still making 488's up until a few years ago.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Yes, mine has a spring pin. I suspect the reason the previous owner put a cylinder on this is that manually moving it forward or backward doesn’t seem to move the position very easily at all.

It's an acquired skill.

Do you by chance notice any polished areas on the tongue where the rear wheels of the tractor are rubbing against it during very tight turns?

Do you go round-and-round or back-and-forth mowing? The problem with round-and-round is the corners keep getting tighter and tighter which brings the tongue in contact with the rear tires. With a 9' machine we'd go 8 times around the field and then do the rest back-and-forth. By the 7th time around the turns are getting pretty tight.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Well, we found an old drawbar from another unit. It’s got a lot of reinforcement and welds at that joint as well. Notably, this one did not have a cylinder attached to it. We installed it… And so far everything’s good.

The one thing about this drawbar as well as my other one is that I find getting into the transport mode extremely difficult. You’re supposed to either back up or move forward to change modes, but nothing is moving. I’m assuming the nut that holds the drawbar in place (on which pivots) is supposed to be tight. Correct?

Tight yes. So tight that it's pinching the frame down on the tongue, no.

 

[will-max dairy]

just looked again at ur photo and that dont even look like a factory thing. some ones idea it think.

That cylinder setup is bad, bad news... it would need to have some sort of slotted, sliding mechanism on the tongue. I suspect that the cylinder is pulling/pushing the tongue with respect to the pivot bolt.

 

[mennometis]

Just looked at my 479. Yes, the tongue is under designed for strength. My good one and my parts one have fish plates welded on all 4 sides. The design is almost as bad as their jacks.

I also noticed my pivot bolt has no nut on it and probably hasn't for the 6 years I've owned it. I can pull out the bolt by hand.