Square baler pto question

[justanothercase]

My question is why do square balers come with a 3 joint pto shaft and not just a long shaft from the slip/overun clutch to the tractor?

Ive always wondered that. i put a full length shaft on my massey #12 and have had no problems with it and i can turn sharper. im just curious as to the reasoning of the 3joint system.

thanks all and have a good day

 

[ChrisLSD]

the drawbar pin is supposed to be roughly midway between the first knuckle and the second, thus enabling you to make better turns with less chatter.....

mine has been changes over to one long shaft also, but having the break in the middle would be a little better, of course if all the parts were good.....

 

[BobH in NH]

Most balers that I have seen with single piece shafts have short tongues and are designed for use on smaller and utility tractors while those with twopiece shafts and 3 universal joints always have the longer tongues. My small Ford 250 baler has a short tongue, single piece shaft, and works great on the older Ford N-series tractors. But, when I hook it to my larger John Deere Row Crops the 36-38" rear tires contact the baler flywheel on even semi-tight turns. I think all the John Deere balers I have seen have the long tongues and 2-piece shafts, as does my Ford 532 and my friends" NH 275s and 273s that I use with them. You would run into some real issues without a center support bearing on a shaft long enough for those balers.

 

[old]

On all the balers I have run it was because the tongue could swing to the side for transport and getting through narrow gates etc. So then it is more or less a safety thing so a person could spin the PTO when in the transport position

 

[JMS/.MN]

More joints equals fewer degrees of angle per joint, equals smoother running, less chatter on turns. Two-joint system on NH was just plain stupid- measure inches from flywheel center to edge of pickup, compared to centerline of any tractor to outside of right wheel. PTO always ran at an angle, more angle on right-hand turns.

 

[onefarmer]

I had a NH 268 baler with a one piece shaft. On a short turn the front u-joint would clatter badly. I now have a NH 570 with a three joint shaft and it will turn much shorter without clattering. The 268 did have a shorter tongue and the front u-joint did the most work and the back hardly moved. The 570 the work (angle) seems to be evenly divided between the front and mid u-joint with the rear only changing when the tongue is moved.

 

[Ken Macfarlane]

We have balers with both styles. The 3 joint is much smoother in turns if you adjust the drawbar right. This is on a JD with the drawbar extender.