Round baler hitch pin problems

[MarkinMO]

I was baling hay a couple of days ago with my NH 650 and had the top of the hitch pin break off and the baler came unhooked from the tractor. I had just crossed a rough spot in the field. Fortunately nothing was damaged from the incident. Anyone ever have this happen? I think this was a 1" or 1 1/8" pin and was a real tight fit. Is it better to have a little wiggle room with the pin? I suspect the pin may have sheared off when the baler made a side-to-side movement and the pin was so tight that it put too much stress on it.

 

[Doug in IL]

You don't want a real tight fit. Use about a quarter inch smaller diameter pin than the hole. The tight fit is no doubt the reason it failed.

 

[Doug in IL]

You don't want a real tight fit. Use about a quarter inch smaller diameter pin than the hole. The tight fit is no doubt the reason it failed.

 

[johns48jdb]

sorry, i disagree. any slack gives the pulled implement a way to jerk the pin and shear it off. one without any play prevents this. are you sure the hitch is tight on the baler and not moving back and forth and jerking against the pin?

 

[old]

Your hitch pin justs some slop to it because as the machine and tractor move up and down and side to side if the pin it to tight it will bend or brake the pin. Thats why trailer hitches are on a ball, or some other type of thing that lets things move up and down and side to side
Hobby farm

 

[Roger in Iowa]

You have to use a smaller pin! If it is a tight fit there is no wiggle room side to side or when going over a terrace or thru a ditch, it will break parts!

 

[johnva]

You dont want that sucker tight. It needs to be a tad smaller to give it some play. When its tight like that and gets into a bind that pressure builds up and something has to give. Which is the pin.

 

[Anonymous-0]

You gotta have slop or a perfectly flat surface to run on so there can be bending and twisting flex. Else you shear the pin or bend the hitch. The down side to that is the looseness you decry.

The alternative that AC used years ago and that I've adopted for my planter is a ball hitch. Its not loose but it allows the necessary flex for bending and twisting when the tractor and implement are on different planes.

Gerald J.

 

[TractormanNC]

The operators manual for my NH 575 baler says to use a 3/4 inch hitch pin or bolt. The hole in the hitch will easily swallow a 1 inch or maybe 1 1/8 inch pin.

 

[johns48jdb]

certainly you need a little slop, but after re reading his post he said the top broke off. sounds more like a cheap pin to me. i for sure never run anything with a drive shaft hooked to the tractor without using a pin that has a locking pin of some sort on the bottom so it can"t be pushed out when crossing a hill or ditch. i know safety chains are a hastle but the end of a pto shaft frailing around on the draw bar isn"t a very comforting thing to see. a chain short enough to keep the two pto shafts together in case of pin loss or brakage certainly couldn"t hurt anybody.

 

[RodinNS]

I always use the biggest pin I can in the impliment to the point that it's smaller than the drawbar hole on the tractor. My fords all have 1-1/4" drawbar holes. A 1" pin works fine in them.
If the pin was the same size as the drawbar hole it would bend or snap tho...
My baler generally takes a 7/8" pin...

Rod

 

[dieseldoc]

You probably had pin to tight and it probably was a china made pin.

 

[hayray]

My New Holland manual states to use a pin that is smaller than the hole because it will prevent the pin from binding, remember that there is alot of multiple angles there. That is why on my Hesston square baler there is a single plane ball joint that uses a bolt. On my New Holland round baler I use a 1 inch pin and always have the safety chain connected, that saves the PTO shaft if the pin fails.

 

[Hay Dr]

You are 100% correct.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Dont know if it is the same but the manual I got with the NH 640 (new to me-1994 model) Says to use a bolt 5 X 7/8 or 1 inch with two large washers with the nut up. I drill a hole and add a pin in mine so it cant drop out if the nut does work loose. I dont like to tight a fit, but small one could be worse. Suspect china pin from TSC. Bob