BR7060 Stuffer issues.

[UpperTinicumFarm]

First Post-
We have a NH BR7060 Silage Special, just shy of 10,000 bales through it. Short of some repairs here and there it has been a great baler. All but for the stuffer arm, this will be the third time taking it apart and repairing it. On the second go we replaced factory bearing with more heavy duty bearing. But again it has become wore, has anyone tried removing the counter weight from the equation? That seems to be what caused all the issues.

 

[Destroked 450]

I have a BR7070 with the 1.5m pickup, it just turned to 10,000 bales, no issues with the stuffer
I did lose a bearing on the main drive roll last year
My prior wide pickup 640 went 20 years and over 20k bales with only the pickup cam bearings needing replaced
Are the bearings wearing out from lack of grease, I know they are sealed non greaseable bearings but is something possibly damaging the side seals
Or are the bearings getting lose in the two piece bearing flanges

 

[UpperTinicumFarm]

The first and second time we have repaired it, it was the main bearing on the counterweight side of the arm. Which we cut out and fabricated a bigger beefier bearing in.(Parts 2 & 3) Which seemed to fix the issue. This time, I believe what happened was the collar holding the shaft came loose (Part 20), allowing it to have slop or movement in turn wearing out the shaft ends and arms. See picture- parts 11 and 4, where the shaft is bolted and keywayed in. Each time it seems to be caused by the counterweight.

 

[Destroked 450]

My pickup jumps up and down enough with the counter weight in place, I could only imagine what it would do without one
I think I would be looking at the feeder shaft (#10), are the keys in place, are the key ways perfectly square with each other. If the shaft is slightly twisted or the key ways were no machined properly from the factory the stuffer would be operating slightly twisted, that could cause binding in the bearings and other issues

 

[UpperTinicumFarm]

They key ways might have been straight, they are no longer. The shaft ends are also wore. My plan is to add some weld to tighten up the gaps, get new key ways, then after it's back assembled. Tach weld each end so it doesn't wobble. I looked into getting new parts but the counterweight alone is $500. I'm trying to limp this one till end of season, then look for a new baler.

 

[Destroked 450]

I’d check with some equipment salvage yards to see if they have a stuffer assembly from a baler that may have burnt the bale chamber but not the pickup
Or if the price is reasonable just swap out the entire pickup assembly, that would involve the least amount of work and time

 

[UpperTinicumFarm]

We pulled the shaft out of the pickup today, gonna start there since it's the cheapest piece. See if a new shaft takes out the slop. The ends were pretty wore. And a brand new total assembly is pricey.

 

[Destroked 450]

Yea other than that shaft I’d have to go down the used road

 

[UpperTinicumFarm]

We are headed down the fix it and trade it in for new. It still has a little trade in value being under 10,000 bales. Still a good baler, just giving us a headache with this issue.