Pulling a baler

[mudcreek183]

My nephew will be getting a baler for free, I will helping him move . I will be doing the usual things ,greasing and checking the wheel bearing and bring spare tires.Would it ok to pull it about 120 mile. Have never moved one that distance.TIA.

 

[old]

My nephew will be getting a baler for free, I will helping him move . I will be doing the usual things ,greasing and checking the wheel bearing and bring spare tires.Would it ok to pull it about 120 mile. Have never moved one that distance.TIA.

Yes but only a bit slow as in nothing over about 45mph. I learned the wheel bearing grease thing the hard way and had a wheel bearing burn up on a baler I tried to pull home

 

[Fritz Maurer]

Rarely balers have good grease in the bearings, especially free ones. I'd repack them before you hit the road. Not all balers have roller bearings. Don't try to pull a bushing hub that far without frequent checking of the temperature and greasing.

 

[Sbird]

Is trailering it not a option?

 

[Tx Jim]

If wheel brgs are packed with grease & brg pre-load set correctly baler brgs should be good for many 100's of miles. Furthest I ever towed a farm implement was 367 miles. I towed a JD model 700 grinder-mixer from Amarillo to Cleburne. I also remember towing a 27' fold up JD 331 disk harrow with a C65 Chevy truck. I suggest taking some spare rims with tires.

 

[Leroy]

My nephew will be getting a baler for free, I will helping him move . I will be doing the usual things ,greasing and checking the wheel bearing and bring spare tires.Would it ok to pull it about 120 mile. Have never moved one that distance.TIA.

What make and model? Some balers did not have anything but sleve bearings.. Load it on a standard tandam axle trailer. Hauled a few balers like that. But if roller bearings not over 25 MPH.

 

[Brown David]

My nephew will be getting a baler for free, I will helping him move . I will be doing the usual things ,greasing and checking the wheel bearing and bring spare tires.Would it ok to pull it about 120 mile. Have never moved one that distance.TIA.

If I was getting it I'd call a towing company, get it on a roll back and be done with it.

They've got the rigging, insurance, knowhow, etc. Anything goes bad or wrong it's on the towing company.

Sure, it might cost a few bucks, but in the long run, it's cheaper and more convenient.

 

[caterpillar guy]

Well I'll throw this out. Once loaded it will become an oversized load by legal definition . So permits and signs,flags and all the jazz that goes with it. Now there are a few states that it would not be an issue like WI if not over 10 wide and stay off the Interstate you would be fine. In IL if it has a wheel base which it does from the draw pin to the wheels it would not need a permit if not over 12feet wide. The biggest reason for towing it would be to not have to deal with all the oversized nonsense. Yes you will need to check wheel bearings occasionally. Now as for it having to be wheel bearing grease is BS. All sorts of equipment runs at at least the speed of a wheel on the road for many hours under load like the plunger bearings and Rotor bearings in combines with a high load level on them just like PTO universals and they have to swivel with the tractor also. So a good gun grease will work for the wheel bearings just like for The rest of the bearings you have on the farm. If it has straight roller bearings you will need to squirt some grease in them every so often check them for the needed intervals. IF roller bearings I would not worry about them so much if they have grease at the beginning. speed will dictate the intervals.

 

[showcrop]

I pulled my MF 225 well over that distance 25 years ago. It was probaly 15 years old at the time. Due to the hitch off-set I couldn't get it under 12 ft. wide. PLAN AHEAD FOR THE OFFSET!! I got an over-width permit and they routed me on the interstate. The only concern on the interstate was keeping speed up. I stopped and checked tires and bearings every 40 min or so.

 

[sammydwm]

My nephew will be getting a baler for free, I will helping him move . I will be doing the usual things ,greasing and checking the wheel bearing and bring spare tires.Would it ok to pull it about 120 mile. Have never moved one that distance.TIA.

sold my 24T to a guy about 3 hours away...he showed up pulled both hubs, packed the bearings and off he went....had a couple of spare tires on the truck as well...

 

[Destroked 450]

Take some spare tires and wheels, pop the hubs off and pack the bearings, once the wheels are back on head for home
I purchased a NH BR7070 in 2014, towed it 300 miles behind a Chevy 1500 Silverado stating under 45 mph

 

[paul]

Small square or round baler? Would be helpful to know the model, but you could at least give the type of baler?

I pulled both my round balers home about that far, no problem at all.

A small square should be ok but they might be a little more awkward with their offset. Even with the hitch over if your model allows. And the off balance weight means one side is going to bounce more. And some aren’t real heavy on the hitch with the short wheelbase they can be a lot more unstable. Or maybe just fine, depends on the model/ setup. I’d pull one home that far. But I live in rural area, if I had to deal with traffic, city, river crossings on major highways, I might feel different.

In either case a badly pothole road is a bad thing, those things bounce bad with solid axles and the weight so centered I’d go some miles out of the way to avoid a bad road. I’d take a lot of gravel vs a pothole road.

Paul

 

[zuhnc]

A thread under "tractor tales" outlining putting a NH 271 on a trailer, with pictures. Not overwidth; the baler itself is 8'-2", and on the trailer was very near legal width. Common sense will dictate how you need to move it. I think, unless you are a foot or two over width, no one will bother you. It will also be helpful to show that the load is properly secured to the trailer, and not with just baling wire or string! However, the jurisdictions through which you travel have the final say. zuhnc

 

[chcase]

My nephew will be getting a baler for free, I will helping him move . I will be doing the usual things ,greasing and checking the wheel bearing and bring spare tires.Would it ok to pull it about 120 mile. Have never moved one that distance.TIA.

It can be done but must plan ahead to be safe. Years ago I bought a MF baler. The owner lived a few miles from a dealer so took the baler there and I paid to have the wheel bearing repacked and new seals in The wheels installed. I was lucky as the tongue did swing for transport. My dad drove my truck and pulled it home. Took two good spare tires grease gun and good jack. Slow trip home at 25 miles a hour and got to see alot of countryside. Had called state patrol at that time to make sure no road construction on the roads he took. He towed it about 150 miles and stopped to make sure no bearing got hot.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Yes. I mean, why would it NOT be okay? Those machines cover far more miles with far less maintenance going round and round the field making bales. I don't understand all the "worry wart" responses. Good tires, grease the wheel bearings, clip in the draw pin so it doesn't jump out, and hit the road. Many before you have gone longer distances with far less preparation.

You'll be doing at most 35-40MPH. Feel it out. You'll learn what a comfortable towing speed is. It will take a long time, at least 4 hours including stops.

From a legal standpoint, if you're a farmer towing your own equipment and it has a visible SMV symbol, the law won't bother you unless you're on an Interstate. So either make sure whoever "owns" the equipment is the one driving and is a farmer by whatever legal definition there is.

I have mixed feelings on lights, like those magnetic trailer lights they sell at Harbor Freight. Yes they increase visibility, but they can also be used by a nit-picky law officer to change the definition of what you're towing from "farm implement" to "trailer" with all the associated legal ramifications. I've personally put lights on some equipment I've towed but it was on a Sunday morning and I didn't encounter any patrol cars.

 

[showcrop]

Yes. I mean, why would it NOT be okay? Those machines cover far more miles with far less maintenance going round and round the field making bales. I don't understand all the "worry wart" responses. Good tires, grease the wheel bearings, clip in the draw pin so it doesn't jump out, and hit the road. Many before you have gone longer distances with far less preparation.

You'll be doing at most 35-40MPH. Feel it out. You'll learn what a comfortable towing speed is. It will take a long time, at least 4 hours including stops.

From a legal standpoint, if you're a farmer towing your own equipment and it has a visible SMV symbol, the law won't bother you unless you're on an Interstate. So either make sure whoever "owns" the equipment is the one driving and is a farmer by whatever legal definition there is.

I have mixed feelings on lights, like those magnetic trailer lights they sell at Harbor Freight. Yes they increase visibility, but they can also be used by a nit-picky law officer to change the definition of what you're towing from "farm implement" to "trailer" with all the associated legal ramifications. I've personally put lights on some equipment I've towed but it was on a Sunday morning and I didn't encounter any patrol cars.

A hay baler being towed by a pick-up truck is not farm equipment. It is a trailer, provided it has all equipment that it should have. This is probably why my DOT sent me an over width permit and a trip route which put me on the interstate.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

A hay baler being towed by a pick-up truck is not farm equipment. It is a trailer, provided it has all equipment that it should have. This is probably why my DOT sent me an over width permit and a trip route which put me on the interstate.

New York DOT doesn't want to be bothered unless it's on a trailer, and even then they make it impossible for someone who is not a professional driver and doesn't pull permits on a regular basis to do the right thing. The county sheriffs and state troopers have no clue who to refer you to.

Only time I have ever heard of the law giving anyone hassle for towing farm equipment was because the guy put a ball hitch on the implement. Ball hitch makes it a trailer, so you need lights and brakes. Officer told him that if it was connected with a clevis hitch and a draw pin, he wouldn't have even been pulled over.

 

[caterpillar guy]

102 inches or 8'6" is legal width without permits so just load and go no problem. Would be a bit faster that way.

 

[mudcreek183]

He is going to get a neighbor to haul it for him , on his trailer.

 

[MeanGene1]

When I was a youngster, my gramps had an IH dealership, and later in the same town there sprouted a Ski-Doo/ Yamaha dealership that we patronized, and gramps helped them put together a trailer that would hold six sleds, so they loved us. It was owned by two brothers, and one was a NYSP patrolman, and knew that my dad was a BCI Investigator. So one day gramps has me roading the planetary steer 91 Combine home, which had a top speed of 11 mph. Got down off the hill, and almost home, on state Route 15, the main drag at the time, riding the shoulder as I could, then suddenly hear a siren, then see the bubble gum machine on a white n black right beside me, then the laughing face yelling at me "GET THAT F'ING THING OFF THE ROAD!" followed by hysterical laughter as he drove away. Made the last 1/4 mile and turned in the driveway to see his car, and him, gramps and grams having a rolling laugh at my expense. I was ten at the time, had been roading the combines and 706's for a while