Haybine Roll Rubber Removal

[DanielW]

Hi folks,

A couple of times I've replaced rubber that's peeled off haybine rolls with intermeshing steel bars. It's been very successful; I can draw them up in CAD software and get spacing discs plasma-cut at work to space the bars so they provide lots of mesh/crimping action without risking hitting each other if the rolls are slightly out of time or have some backlash. I've done this on a New Holland and a Deere 1209. The New Holland was pretty easy to strip the rubber off (was already peeling) and the Deere was a co-workers, with the rubber so far gone there was almost nothing left. Both times it was a pretty straight forward job.

So, when I pulled out the 1209 at my father's to tune up last night and noticed a couple of lugs just starting to come off, I thought it was no big deal: I'd peel off the rubber, weld the intermeshing bars on, and they'd last forever. Even though a lot of the rubber was good, the rolls are so worn they've long since ceased to crimp very well.

Boy, was I in for a surprise. The two rubber lugs that were starting to peel came off easily, but the rest of the rubber is vulcanized on incredibly well. A combination of pneumatic chisels, pry bars, hot knives, and sawzall blades barely got any off. Way different than the last two I did. So now I've got myself in the stupid position where there's too much peeled off the rolls to try and limp it through another season, but still oodles of work to try and strip the rest of the rubber off. It's a Deere 1209, so a pretty lousy haybine to begin with, and not worth putting much time/effort into. I could conceivably pull the rolls and burn the rubber off, but pulling the rolls on one of these old girls isn't a small job either, and not really worth it for an old 1209.

Has anyone else stripped rubber off haybine rolls? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Probably makes sense to just haul it to the scrappers and find another. Or else just trail the disc mower down from the other farm - but that's 110 miles away: a long way to be trailing a disc mower back and forth during haying season. We typically do less than 20 acres at my father's, so can't justify buying a decent discbine for that little acreage. Any used old haybine I find will probably bring it's own pile of problems with it, however. plus the fact that used equipment around here is going for stupid prices. A neighbour just sold a New Holland 488 with a pooched wobble box and rolls that were pretty marginal for $3500.

 

[lastcowboy32]

Just a note I thought of after reading your post. I've been around NH haybines since I was a kid. I thought the wobble drive was "the only way"... until we started doing our own hay and a friend of ours that hauls stuff back and forth to the auction literally dropped a Hesston 1070 in our yard and said "pay me when you get the money"...

Since I've used the Hesston, I've come to appreciate the swaybar mechanism they use, as opposed to the wobble drive. Mine needed to be rebuilt. It was 200 bucks in bearings, some sweat and a few cuss words. Wobble drives, from what I've heard, are financial horror stories if they need to be repaired.

 

[DanielW]

That's an excellent point, and you may have 'swayed' me into getting
a different moco. Wobble box drives (I know from experience) are
great when working, but if they start spitting bearings they can be
a nightmare in time and money. And the 1209's were known to have
pretty lousy wobble boxes compared to some, which is one reason I
really don't want to put a lot of time/money into this one.

There's a New Idea for sale not far from me with the sway bar knife
drive. Asking $2500, which I still think is a bit rich for the
condition it's in and with no knife, but not too terrible. You might
have convinced me to have another gander at it.

 

[lastcowboy32]

Yeah... there is a yin and yang to everything. The thing that I dislike about the Hesston is how it drives the reel. A 10' long #40 roller chain that goes around a rat maze of sprockets. We have two 1070s now, and I just keep an extra 10' of #40 in the garage at all times. For 20 bucks, it's good insurance. And, I don't know if it was dumb luck or by design, but the 10' roll fits just right. No chain splicing required. Click the master link and roll.

The other downside is parts availability. I can still get sections, guards and reel bar teeth... and those funny tie rod thingies that they use on the end of the sickle bar, but maybe not for long.

Plan is to get about another five years out of these two and then see if I can lay my hands on a seven or eight foot disc mower/conditioner... and then use the two Hesstons to keep one going for a few more years. Two seven/eight footers works better than one big mower for us.

 

[caterpillar guy]

I'm not understanding rubber problem on the rolls. We have a 1219 just newer model of the 1209. Was bought new and has set inside almost every night. The rubber is good with no problems and the wobble box has been trouble free. I do check the oil in it each year before starting the year. Bought new in the mid 80's still using it.

 

[MJMJ]

For just a little hay, why not just use as is? It will still cut fine and crimp a little.
Wish I was closer to your area. I have a 488 sitting and taking up space. Works fine, just no need any more. Around here, if I got offered $500 I would take it and run.

 

[DanielW]

I've seen a several old haybines that have had rolls in mint condition - I suspect your point about yours having sat inside every night is why yours are good. It's the sun that kills them. I keep mine inside, but only bought this one about 7 years ago. Until then it was owned by a guy who kept it outside in full sun since he bought it new. The rubber dries up, shrinks, and cracks all over. Kind of a pain, as hay gets caught in the cracks and starts to wrap.

I'd like to find a decent 1219; they had a few pretty significant upgrades to the 1209: a 5 bar reel that allowed for a faster ground speed/smoother crop flow, and a reinforced wobble box mount being the most significant. I was told the 1209 boxes don't go bad because the boxes themselves are lousy, but because the mount steel was flimsy, bend, get out of alignment, and put all kinds of undue stress into the mechanism. You see lots of 1209 box mounts that have been re-welded. Ours is solid and original, and everything else (apart from the rolls) is in great shape, which is why I'm still reluctant to get rid of it.