Cleaning/Washing your Baler

[Mtjohnso]

I have an old NH 311 Baler that I finished using for the year ( grass hay only 1crop).
I have pulled all the hay out. Blown out with a landscape blower and will use an air hose next. Greased and oiled everything per manual. Cleaned off excess grease with rag and carb cleaner. Still sheet metal is pretty dirty.
Do you pressure wash or hand wash your baler or leave as is and just wipe it down? Any areas you avoid?

 

[JIM MN]

Leave as is and just wipe it down. And for me, the big thing is to put it in the shed.

 

[mudcreek183]

I was mine by hand when finished for the year.

 

[DanielW]

Used to wash mine, but too much risk of rinsing out a bearing or drying out the chains. I blow all the hay out of every crevice I can get to and leave it at that.

 

[flying belgian]

I wash mine with a bucket and a brush. No pressure.

 

[Wdj]

I pressure wash on a hot day, blow as much water out as possible. Let it get dry, grease it. In a hand pump sprayer mix motor oil and diesel 1 to 2 or 3 ratio. Spray every part and surface I can. Then I wrap it in a tarp for the winter . It is kinda messy but its good to go the next year. Might do different if I had a building to put it in.

 

[JOCCO]

Yes mine I pressure wash and clean the knotters. You can use some spray on metal treatment like fluid film. Can oil or grease chains and plunger tracks too.

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

Blower, pressure washer, air dry on a sunny windy day. then grease everything.

 

[Absent Minded Farmer]

I power wash my baler & then grease it to get any water out oft he bearings.

Mike

 

[Texasmark]

No I don't wash my baler and keep it under cover to keep the weather off it. Obviously I have reasons for not washing.

 

[MARK ROBKE]

I believe in NOT washing-for the same reason I believe in not letting equipment getting rained on. Water causes rust, and it stays where you can't see it. And also it may get into bearings. Mark.

 

[chcase]

I have an old NH 311 Baler that I finished using for the year ( grass hay only 1crop).
I have pulled all the hay out. Blown out with a landscape blower and will use an air hose next. Greased and oiled everything per manual. Cleaned off excess grease with rag and carb cleaner. Still sheet metal is pretty dirty.
Do you pressure wash or hand wash your baler or leave as is and just wipe it down? Any areas you avoid?

I empty the hay out and blow everything out with my air compressed, then oil and grease things. Had a neighbor that washed and waxed his baler after each season, He got more on trade in then he paid for it. The second owner thought he got a jewel until he had to replace alot of bearings.

 

[Mac AR]

Nope, never wash it. Clean out the chamber and blow it off every day whether done baling for a day or the year. Don't have enough shed space for it (yet) so I grease it good then tarp it every fall and it works just fine in the spring. Keeping everything greased helps keep the moisture out. I also like to put a little penetrating oil on the knotters before I put it to bed for the winter.

Mac

 

[will-max dairy]

I have an old NH 311 Baler that I finished using for the year ( grass hay only 1crop).
I have pulled all the hay out. Blown out with a landscape blower and will use an air hose next. Greased and oiled everything per manual. Cleaned off excess grease with rag and carb cleaner. Still sheet metal is pretty dirty.
Do you pressure wash or hand wash your baler or leave as is and just wipe it down? Any areas you avoid?

A 40V battery powered leaf blower has been a Godsend for haying equipment in my opinion. I put a fresh battery in mine and throw it in the bucket of the tractor. When I'm done mowing or baling for the day, I blow all the dust and chaff off of the mower/baler. I never tarp them. I only wash them rarely (the area on the cutterbar of the haybine where the guard bolts stick up gets dirt and grime in there that won't blow out), and never with a pressure washer, because I don't have one.


Washing is great for sheetmetal on cars that drive on salted roads...

For anything else made of metal, keep the outside dry and the inside greased, in my humble opinion.

 

[Mac AR]

I only wash them rarely (the area on the cutterbar of the haybine where the guard bolts stick up gets dirt and grime in there that won't blow out),

I have to do that occasionally as well. A sprayer on the hose washes it off enough to satisfy me. I like to squirt a little used motor oil on the bar when I set it up for the winter, seems to help keep it from rusting. I second the leaf blower as well, sure has changed my life when it comes to cleaning up equipment, be it the haybine, baler, or corn picker.

Mac

 

[caterpillar guy]

Clean the dust and dirt off oil chains if not in a hurry and put in shed. Same chains since we got it back in the early 90's . Oil must be good along with the keeping it inside even if only overnight. My rake sets out sometimes during haying since it takes a lot of room lengthwise. The old steel wheeled bar rakes have slept outside since I was a kid and probably before that so for the last 60plus years and have worked well when needed. Pretty simple rakes with little to go wrong with them.

 

[cumminstinkerer]

I have found on my IH 47 if I wash it off good, let dry and then spray the knotters, feeder house area, and bale chamber down with pam or equivalent, then come time to run just run it

 

[will-max dairy]

I have found on my IH 47 if I wash it off good, let dry and then spray the knotters, feeder house area, and bale chamber down with pam or equivalent, then come time to run just run it

I did the Pam trick with the cutterbar on our haybines and the knotters on our baler one fall before storing for the winter (outside)... it did seem to help.

 

[cumminstinkerer]

I have also used it on a dozer blade, could not get it to scour, old boy that worked with me says you bring the DA and some 180, I'll stop and grab some Pam, I thought what is this old man thinking, wqe sanded that blade down while things were warming up, coated it with Pam and went to work, when we stopped for lunch that blade looked like chrome! I'd never seen such a thing, from then on when we shut down for the winter we would coat the blades with it and come spring the first hour would have them shiny again.

 

[Mac AR]

I have found on my IH 47 if I wash it off good, let dry and then spray the knotters, feeder house area, and bale chamber down with pam or equivalent, then come time to run just run it

I've never heard of that before now, will have to try it at least on the knotters. Thanks for the tip!

Mac