Double Hitch Cuts Baling Time In Half

Double Hitch Cuts Baling Time In Half BALERS Dane Hanson gets his baling done in half the time it used to take His 2-wheel hitch lets him pull two balers at one time and at nearly half the cost of a commercial 2-baler hitch     “I sell a lot of small bales of hay to the horse market ” explains Hanson “I couldn’t go to a large baler so operating two balers at once was the only way to get the job done faster After using this setup I would hate to go back to a single baler ”     Originally Hanson envisioned using square tubing for the hitch’s main crossbeam However a 10-in wide 12-ft long I-beam salvaged from an old creamery was the right length and height The 12-ft width provides ample room for the two in-line balers to track in parallel     Hanson recognized that the hitch had to be sized to provide the right height for the baler hitches and pto connecting gearboxes He chose to go with mechanical drives instead of hydraulic for cost and repairability     “I looked at a commercial hitch but it cost $14 000 and used hydraulic motors to power each baler ” says Hanson “The gearboxes I used cost about $6 000 new but if they break down I just replace a gear bearing or possibly a shaft When a hydraulic motor goes it’s gone ”     Hanson welded a 12-ft length of 12-in wide channel iron over the top of the I-beam It provided a mounting plate for bolting the gearboxes in place and also gave the beam more end-to-end strength     “It ended up like a large T-beam with wheels mounted to spindles welded to either end ” says Hanson     The tongue is a heavy wall length of 6-in dia steel pipe angle braced to the hitch crossbeam Baler hitches are mounted on the backside of the beam at the height needed by the baler tongues Hanson says he overbuilt the bale hitch projections and is glad he did     “The baler tongues put a lot more weight on the hitch than I expected ” he says     Hanson admits he also over-engineered the gearboxes Though the balers require only 50 to 70 hp each the gearboxes driving each is rated for 150 hp The center gearbox that drives the outer boxes is rated at 250 hp He used 1 1/2-in shafts to connect the gearboxes New U-joints added roughly $2 000 to the overall cost     “I didn’t want the gearboxes to be the weak link ” explains Hanson “I wanted to be sure I had plenty of capacity “     Hanson says designing the gearbox set up was one of the more complex steps in building the hitch “I sketched out where they would go as I needed a three-shaft center one and two-shaft right and left drives to either side ” notes Hanson “My supplier Curtis Machine Company was a big help ”      Going heavy-duty has paid off Hanson notes that while the double baler hitch runs smoothly most of the time occasionally a problem shows up that tests the hitch’s durability     “Once in a great while the balers get in sync with each other and for a couple of minutes they really bang the tractor and the gearboxes ” says Hanson “That’s when I’m glad the gearboxes are oversized ”     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Dane Hanson 414 Spruce St Jamestown Kan 66948 ph 785 439-6518; dhanson73@gmail com

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