Running a 4160 and the knife has stopped tripping (cutting the net) The auto tie does start the net. It is set for two wraps, then it should cut the netting. The knife stopped tripping about 20 bales ago. It just keeps wrapping until the pto is shut off. Then I have to dump the bale and get out and cut the net with a pocket knife.
I took the baler in for service and to have it checked out this spring. It wouldn't start the auto-tie last fall, the last field I baled. I was able to get through it by punching the manual start a couple of times for each bale. I knew that was because of trash build up in the baler interfering with the mechanism. That happens about every 200 - 300 bales. The trash builds up in places that are hard to get to and you need different tools and utensils and a compressed air blower with a long reach to get it out. Not something you can do in the field.
I got it back from the dealer's shop and it worked great the first five bales of the year. Then it stopped cutting netting. The baler has about 12,000 bales through it and this is the first time that has happened. I messed around with it for a couple of hours then called the dealer. They sent a technician out and we worked on it for about four hours trying different things. The sensors all tested good. Since I had hay in windrows we were able to test each adjustment. He got on the phone with "technical support" but it was a Saturday and they were looking up solutions on the computer. The technical expert was off for the weekend. The mechanic had been to kubota's baler school and he had a detailed repair manual but it did not address this problem and he said he couldn't figure what needed adjusted. He got up in under the inside and found some more built up trash. In the process of clearing that he cut his hand pretty badly on the knife. After a round of cycling the tying mechanism several times with the monitor I tried one more bale and it worked. He stayed until I successfully baled half a dozen bales then he left. As I finished up the field it malfunctioned on the last bale.
You set the number of wraps of netting you want on the monitor. A counting (measuring) wheel rolls on the net roll as it turns and counts the progress of the wraps on the monitor. When the specified number of wraps are completed the knife trips mechanically and cuts the net. The monitor then gives you a signal to dump the bale, etc. That is the way it is supposed to work anyway. The net measuring wheel has a magnetic sensor on it that counts off when the net is rolling. It is sending those signals through the wiring harness to the monitor inside the tractor. The monitor shows those wraps as they occur. Then it sends the "cut" signal to the knife mechanism. I have learned to listen carefully for the "clunk" of the knife. The knife trip mechanism is all mechanical except for an electric motor mounted on top that resets or re arms the spring loaded knife in preparation for the next cut. I can't see how it would trip the knife but the motor is the only electrical device on the netting mechanism. And it has to be causing the knife to trip some way and that signal has to be coming from the monitor because you set the monitor for the number of wraps you want on the monitor. I am thinking it is an electrical failure in the wiring harness or monitor or netting actuator motor. Like I said earlier, the sensors are all showing good.
Anyway, three days and I can't get a call back from the dealership. I have 230 acres of hay in two different counties that need to be cut and put up last week and we are in a weather pattern where it is raining every six to thirty six hours and has for the past month. But that is just farming.
What I am hoping for with this long winded post is to find someone who has dealt with this net cutting problem and can tell me that it is a simple fix that I just haven't seen.
Thanks guys
I took the baler in for service and to have it checked out this spring. It wouldn't start the auto-tie last fall, the last field I baled. I was able to get through it by punching the manual start a couple of times for each bale. I knew that was because of trash build up in the baler interfering with the mechanism. That happens about every 200 - 300 bales. The trash builds up in places that are hard to get to and you need different tools and utensils and a compressed air blower with a long reach to get it out. Not something you can do in the field.
I got it back from the dealer's shop and it worked great the first five bales of the year. Then it stopped cutting netting. The baler has about 12,000 bales through it and this is the first time that has happened. I messed around with it for a couple of hours then called the dealer. They sent a technician out and we worked on it for about four hours trying different things. The sensors all tested good. Since I had hay in windrows we were able to test each adjustment. He got on the phone with "technical support" but it was a Saturday and they were looking up solutions on the computer. The technical expert was off for the weekend. The mechanic had been to kubota's baler school and he had a detailed repair manual but it did not address this problem and he said he couldn't figure what needed adjusted. He got up in under the inside and found some more built up trash. In the process of clearing that he cut his hand pretty badly on the knife. After a round of cycling the tying mechanism several times with the monitor I tried one more bale and it worked. He stayed until I successfully baled half a dozen bales then he left. As I finished up the field it malfunctioned on the last bale.
You set the number of wraps of netting you want on the monitor. A counting (measuring) wheel rolls on the net roll as it turns and counts the progress of the wraps on the monitor. When the specified number of wraps are completed the knife trips mechanically and cuts the net. The monitor then gives you a signal to dump the bale, etc. That is the way it is supposed to work anyway. The net measuring wheel has a magnetic sensor on it that counts off when the net is rolling. It is sending those signals through the wiring harness to the monitor inside the tractor. The monitor shows those wraps as they occur. Then it sends the "cut" signal to the knife mechanism. I have learned to listen carefully for the "clunk" of the knife. The knife trip mechanism is all mechanical except for an electric motor mounted on top that resets or re arms the spring loaded knife in preparation for the next cut. I can't see how it would trip the knife but the motor is the only electrical device on the netting mechanism. And it has to be causing the knife to trip some way and that signal has to be coming from the monitor because you set the monitor for the number of wraps you want on the monitor. I am thinking it is an electrical failure in the wiring harness or monitor or netting actuator motor. Like I said earlier, the sensors are all showing good.
Anyway, three days and I can't get a call back from the dealership. I have 230 acres of hay in two different counties that need to be cut and put up last week and we are in a weather pattern where it is raining every six to thirty six hours and has for the past month. But that is just farming.
What I am hoping for with this long winded post is to find someone who has dealt with this net cutting problem and can tell me that it is a simple fix that I just haven't seen.
Thanks guys
