Baler breakdown, August 23, 2008

[Soapweed]

Breakdown on a baler

Number one son to the rescue

Along with his helpers

The axle is all askew.

One of the uprights broke off.

Bevelling the steel

Grinding down the other end

Jacking up the baler and pulling the axle into place

Welding the pieces together

Hay bales from out of the swamps

Home sweet home

Tall dark ranger

Ringo guarding the cookies

The finished weld

Up close

Off to conquer the next emergency

The End

 

[Shortgrass]

Ringo Guarding Cookies?? Is that a kin to something I once heard regarding foxes and henhouses?? The boy runs a pretty bead.

 

[leanin' H]

Bet it's great to have the calavry handy when ya need him! Were ya bailing in high gear on some washboards? Slow er' down turbo! Liked the weld close-up. Brought back bad memories from shop class in high school. My welds end up lookin' like i melted a pop can and threw it at what i was attempting to fix. :wink:

 

[Sundancer]

The SMV emblem is missing.....must have been baling at speeds over 25 mph :wink:

Nice weld job, nontheless....and nice to have such a talented steel worker in the family as well. I bet those "Family Discounts" come in handy when paying the bill, too :!:

Nice picture story. Thanks.

 

[Texan]

Were ya bailing in high gear on some washboards? Slow er' down turbo!

The SMV emblem is missing.....must have been baling at speeds over 25 mph :wink:

I hate to make any accusations of Evil Knievel style baling, but you can add me to the list of inquiring minds. :lol: I've got a Vermeer XL and I can't imagine anything like that happening.

Could we get a little more info on how that happened? Just so we'll know what NOT to do? (You don't have to tell us who was driving - I'm sure we all assume it wasn't you. :wink: :wink: :wink

 

[Soapweed]

Were ya bailing in high gear on some washboards? Slow er' down turbo!

The SMV emblem is missing.....must have been baling at speeds over 25 mph :wink:

I hate to make any accusations of Evil Knievel style baling, but you can add me to the list of inquiring minds. :lol: I've got a Vermeer XL and I can't imagine anything like that happening.

Could we get a little more info on how that happened? Just so we'll know what NOT to do? (You don't have to tell us who was driving - I'm sure we all assume it wasn't you. :wink: :wink: :wink

Okay, boys, here is the story. As you will note, both of our Vermeer L balers have the big airplane tires on them. This is not for "show;" this is because some of our meadows are very boggy and soft. With a front-wheel-assist tractor and these over-sized tires, it is possible to bale over the top of these floating bogs. Yes, I was driving when the malfunction occurred. :roll: To my credit, I didn't drive very much further before realizing that the baler was indeed suffering a problem. :wink:

A couple weeks ago we had a flat on one of the big tires of the other baling tractor. The tire man showed up to fix it, and promptly buried his truck in one of our swamps. Another one of the Soapweed crew took this tractor with baler attached to pull out the stuck truck. Instead of hooking on to the front of the tractor (like I would have done) and backing up to pull out the stuck truck, this other individual hooked the towrope on to the back of the baler, around the axle. This was probably not a good idea, and possibly eventually led to the demise of the upright piece of steel on the axle. No one will ever know for sure. :???: :? :wink:

 

[Cal]

Good welding job Soap. Anyone else ever notice when you run balers that are pretty close to being identical that one will be good and the other one will be a pain in the butt? Just called to trade in one of the 567 JDs, for a 568, that's had most of the bearings go out in it's short 10,000 bale life. PTO shaft CV joint even seems a little loose. The other one just goes like a Timex. Hopefully the 568s have all the bugs worked out.

 

[Texan]

Thanks for the explanation, Soapweed.

 

[Stretch]

Your son is a darn fine welder Soapweed. I am guessing that his home away from home welding trailer is 100% custom by him. I can think of hundreds of times that it would be a perfect asset to any operation. 8)

 

[fulton]

Hey CAL, I dare ya to try one of those funny looking yellow balers. I think there called a Vermeer...

I bet you end up liking it better, especially the price!

 

[Les]

soapweed that is about the coolest looking welding rig I have ever seen. There is one thing I have been wondering from the first time I saw the pic did your son have a plan when he started to build it or did he just add to it as time went on? that rig would make a lot of welders envious for sure.

 

[Cal]

Hey CAL, I dare ya to try one of those funny looking yellow balers. I think there called a Vermeer...

I bet you end up liking it better, especially the price!

You very well could be right. The green ones hold their value pretty well if you run the p--s out of 'em and trade fairly often, it seems. When do you end up starting to replace bearings on the Vermeers? And how's their netwrap? We got the 568 today and it works like a charm, but then the kicker on the 567 broke. :roll: ....and what's the ticket on a new Vermeer?

 

[Northern Rancher]

Back in my haying days I had a Massey 1560 which was basically a red Vermeer-it was a good baler. The older Vermeers lost out in our country because they had a closed throat and when you baled onbrealing or meadows with roots in them they'd get stuck between the front rollers and burn up the baler.

 

[Les]

Mr soapweed if number one son had a plan(blueprint) for that welding outfit I was wondering if he wanted to share it? I am interested.

 

[Soapweed]

Mr soapweed if number one son had a plan(blueprint) for that welding outfit I was wondering if he wanted to share it? I am interested.

At the next opportunity, I will try to take some more closeup pictures. My son can then include some measurements. His basic trailer is 10' x 4'. The boom is about six feet tall with a seven foot arm. He built the trailer when he was a sophomore in high school and has been adding to it ever since. You could almost say it has been a "labor of love." :wink: The trailer with all its attachments and gizmos now weighs 6000 pounds.

 

[Les]

Thank you..appreciate it

 

[DOC HARRIS]

Were ya bailing in high gear on some washboards? Slow er' down turbo!

The SMV emblem is missing.....must have been baling at speeds over 25 mph :wink:

I hate to make any accusations of Evil Knievel style baling, but you can add me to the list of inquiring minds. :lol: I've got a Vermeer XL and I can't imagine anything like that happening.

Could we get a little more info on how that happened? Just so we'll know what NOT to do? (You don't have to tell us who was driving - I'm sure we all assume it wasn't you. :wink: :wink: :wink

Okay, boys, here is the story. As you will note, both of our Vermeer L balers have the big airplane tires on them. This is not for "show;" this is because some of our meadows are very boggy and soft. With a front-wheel-assist tractor and these over-sized tires, it is possible to bale over the top of these floating bogs. Yes, I was driving when the malfunction occurred. :roll: To my credit, I didn't drive very much further before realizing that the baler was indeed suffering a problem. :wink:

A couple weeks ago we had a flat on one of the big tires of the other baling tractor. The tire man showed up to fix it, and promptly buried his truck in one of our swamps. Another one of the Soapweed crew took this tractor with baler attached to pull out the stuck truck. Instead of hooking on to the front of the tractor (like I would have done) and backing up to pull out the stuck truck, this other individual hooked the towrope on to the back of the baler, around the axle. This was probably not a good idea, and possibly eventually led to the demise of the upright piece of steel on the axle. No one will ever know for sure. :???: :? :wink:

Soapweed-

In regard to the "Botched, Bungled and Beat-up Baler Affair", I think you have done a Yeoman Service in ricochet-ing AWAY from the intent of the original question as to whom, just exactly, was the culprit and what in the world :roll: was "this other individual" considering when "this other individual" attached the towrope to the other baler axle?

Perhaps I may be of assistance in rationalizing the justification for a seemingly strange decision in this instance! Inasmuch as you have "Airplane Tires" mounted on the balers, and inasmuch as, undoubtedly, TIME was of the essence in getting the hay baled before the BOGGY moisture destroyed a good portion of next winter's nutrition for your beef herd, and inasmuch as "this other individual" was interested and concerned for the well-being of the 'Tire Guy' and his valuable time constraints, and "this other individual" - thinking astutely ahead - determined that the 'cushioney and bouyancy' characteristics and traits of the Airplane Tires (according to the Tires' EPD's :???: :roll: :wink: ) would sustain, protect and insure a successful retrieval of the "bog-buried truck", I think used exceptional, noteworthy and unparalleled clairvoyance and sagacity in determining the most pragmatic and expedient method of extricating said vehicle from the miry clutches of the "Boggy Swamp!!"

. . . and you have preserved and safeguarded the TRUE IDENTITY of the scofflaw - in toto - for eternity! :clap: :clap: :tiphat: :wave:

Tell "Peach Blossom" Doc said not to worry about it at all! It was a great weld job!

DOC HARRIS

 

[Soapweed]

I hate to make any accusations of Evil Knievel style baling, but you can add me to the list of inquiring minds. :lol: I've got a Vermeer XL and I can't imagine anything like that happening.

Could we get a little more info on how that happened? Just so we'll know what NOT to do? (You don't have to tell us who was driving - I'm sure we all assume it wasn't you. :wink: :wink: :wink

Okay, boys, here is the story. As you will note, both of our Vermeer L balers have the big airplane tires on them. This is not for "show;" this is because some of our meadows are very boggy and soft. With a front-wheel-assist tractor and these over-sized tires, it is possible to bale over the top of these floating bogs. Yes, I was driving when the malfunction occurred. :roll: To my credit, I didn't drive very much further before realizing that the baler was indeed suffering a problem. :wink:

A couple weeks ago we had a flat on one of the big tires of the other baling tractor. The tire man showed up to fix it, and promptly buried his truck in one of our swamps. Another one of the Soapweed crew took this tractor with baler attached to pull out the stuck truck. Instead of hooking on to the front of the tractor (like I would have done) and backing up to pull out the stuck truck, this other individual hooked the towrope on to the back of the baler, around the axle. This was probably not a good idea, and possibly eventually led to the demise of the upright piece of steel on the axle. No one will ever know for sure. :???: :? :wink:

Soapweed-

In regard to the "Botched, Bungled and Beat-up Baler Affair", I think you have done a Yeoman Service in ricochet-ing AWAY from the intent of the original question as to whom, just exactly, was the culprit and what in the world :roll: was "this other individual" considering when "this other individual" attached the towrope to the other baler axle?

Perhaps I may be of assistance in rationalizing the justification for a seemingly strange decision in this instance! Inasmuch as you have "Airplane Tires" mounted on the balers, and inasmuch as, undoubtedly, TIME was of the essence in getting the hay baled before the BOGGY moisture destroyed a good portion of next winter's nutrition for your beef herd, and inasmuch as "this other individual" was interested and concerned for the well-being of the 'Tire Guy' and his valuable time constraints, and "this other individual" - thinking astutely ahead - determined that the 'cushioney and bouyancy' characteristics and traits of the Airplane Tires (according to the Tires' EPD's :???: :roll: :wink: ) would sustain, protect and insure a successful retrieval of the "bog-buried truck", I think used exceptional, noteworthy and unparalleled clairvoyance and sagacity in determining the most pragmatic and expedient method of extricating said vehicle from the miry clutches of the "Boggy Swamp!!"

. . . and you have preserved and safeguarded the TRUE IDENTITY of the scofflaw - in toto - for eternity! :clap: :clap: :tiphat: :wave:

Tell "Peach Blossom" Doc said not to worry about it at all! It was a great weld job!

DOC HARRIS