I posted earlier this week about trying to quicken the drying time on my small patch of hay. I went to an auction today and bought a 7 foot New Idea crimper for $31. The PTO end was missing that has the u-joint and spline that attaches to the the tractor, but I can borrow one that fits it from from another one of my implements.Hauled it home and found a bearing on the rubber roller a bit rough. I built a dam between the roller and bearing housing and saturated it with lubricant. The chain was rusty and was routed around the sprokets wrong. In about 3 hours, I had it running off the PTO of the tractor checking it out. I closely watched the rough bearing and it didn't get hot and it quieted down. Apparently, the lubrication worked. There 2-3 chevron ribs on the steel roller that have bulges which will have to be cleaned under them, and rewelded to the roller. Other than that it seemed to run OK. Well, I just put away the 2nd cutting, so I'll have to wait about 6 weeks to see if it does what I want. The daylight will be significantly shorter and hay will need all the help it can get to dry. Question: I assume the chevron roller picks up the cut hay and drives it between the rollers and throws it out the back. What height does it need to be for good pick up? The tires are currently holding the chevron roller about 6" off the ground using the adjustable stop. It has no lift cylinder on it which doesn't matter because it will just go from the barnyard to the field. There was also an Avco/NI cut-ditioner there. I looked under it to see how it operates - It's just a big flail mower with flat blades. It looked to be in working condition, but the sheet metal had a lot of rusty holes in it and had no cylinder to raise it up or spacer to hold it up. There wasn't a loader tractor there to lift it on my trailer, and the tires weren't good enough to pull it 70 miles home - even if I could block it up for transporting. I let it pass @ $400. Next time, maybe. Ken McWilliams
Dayton, OH
| 
