I finally got a hay crop in!!! I got the MF 120 baler that I bought last year working great, and the weather was perfect!
I was able to figure out that the needles were out of adjustment, and that did the trick. Last fall I had rebuilt the knotters, which were actually in good condition, just a bit dirty, but not worn or damaged. I got one side working okay, but the other side wouldn't tie at all. After rereading the manual several times, and watching some Youtube vids, I crossed my fingers and went for it. The first bale was just a mess, and the second bale, the problem side tied fine, but the good side didn't tie, but I was able to put a square knot in that side and save it. There was a bunch of twine wrapped around the fingers, so I got it out with a multi-tool. After that, it didn't miss a tie.
I got 43 bales off of the small acre field, although they're a little lighter than what I like, I'll have to adjust it a bit tighter. They ranged from 8.5-11% moisture with 2 between 12.5 and 13.5%.
My bigger 3.5 acre field yielded 7 round bales, done by a farmer friend of mine. I cut and raked that field, and let him bale it and keep the bales because there was too much curly dock in it for me to be comfortable selling as horse hay. Hopefully I can get rid of it this year by spraying. I'm happy that things worked out finally, last year was a disaster with all the rain and the baler not working.
I was able to figure out that the needles were out of adjustment, and that did the trick. Last fall I had rebuilt the knotters, which were actually in good condition, just a bit dirty, but not worn or damaged. I got one side working okay, but the other side wouldn't tie at all. After rereading the manual several times, and watching some Youtube vids, I crossed my fingers and went for it. The first bale was just a mess, and the second bale, the problem side tied fine, but the good side didn't tie, but I was able to put a square knot in that side and save it. There was a bunch of twine wrapped around the fingers, so I got it out with a multi-tool. After that, it didn't miss a tie.
I got 43 bales off of the small acre field, although they're a little lighter than what I like, I'll have to adjust it a bit tighter. They ranged from 8.5-11% moisture with 2 between 12.5 and 13.5%.
My bigger 3.5 acre field yielded 7 round bales, done by a farmer friend of mine. I cut and raked that field, and let him bale it and keep the bales because there was too much curly dock in it for me to be comfortable selling as horse hay. Hopefully I can get rid of it this year by spraying. I'm happy that things worked out finally, last year was a disaster with all the rain and the baler not working.
