It's one of those things you can do after you quit milking cows :)

The belts weren't impeding me in any way.

Apparently you've never mowed red clover that's gone down.

@@farmerpete As an old dairy farmer... milked cows for 45 years......Im familiar with most crops of hay ..oats.....sorghum sedan grass ..switch grass.......and any other things a farm can grow. Sickle mower ( with the wind row bars/ cradle ) ..hay bine (New Holland 489.. 90% of the farmers forgot to take the shims out of between the rolls........making it a sickle mower " yet " ) and a disc bine. Wind and hail tattered hay...... but it is true.....sometimes double cutting is warranted .

Removing the belts wouldn't have gained me anything. Working by myself I still needed the cradle to hold the roller anyway.

@@farmerpete Just from what I seen.....and what you say........ the belts were creating problems....since you stated the cradle was to hold the belts up. And at 7:21 Seems your having to fight with the belts to get the roll in. The cradle worked to hold the roll up....but in the time it took to move the belt around you could have removed them. Giving lots more space to work with ease. Im very familiar with these balers...... when working on front and top rolls..... belt removal makes life a lot easier ! However.......Im also familiar with a few neighbors here..... that fight just to remove belts. They cant get the splice cores / rods out. Therefore its the last thing they will consider.......removing belts ! But its only my experience and view.

Thank you SBF!

I'm glad you found the videos helpful. The 170 is a mighty handy tractor.

That's a lot of rain! Thanks Don!

Thank you!

Thanks Bandit! I did watch a shower slide off just to the west of me while baling one day. My luck held though.

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thanks! The 170 is a little light in the front for this job without it.

Thank you!

That would have produced a wheelie all right! Thanks Chris!

I'm glad you found this helpful. Good luck rebuilding your water pump!

Thank you! I like it a lot so far. When I pick it up it feels like something substantial.

Thank you Deb.

I did heat them some, access is pretty crappy. Turned out they had some serious thread locker on them that didn’t let go until I could put heat directly on the shafts.

This is what I suggested too.......not a little heat........ a lot of heat ! Cherry red ! If you have access with a wrench you have access with a torch ! Heating a bolt..... turn it cherry red.......hold the heat steady..... keeping it cherry red for a few minutes.. the heat will travel down the bolt breaking the rust / lock tight and it will come out. Takes time !

I believe it.

Thank you. I’m glad you find some of this helpful. Over the years this baler has been pretty reliable but moving parts wear out eventually. I think it’s up in pretty good shape now.

Thank you for the kind words.

Thanks! It helps to be cheap and stubborn 😁

Thanks! Well, those back ones are easier compared to the others 😁

Thanks Nelson! I credit my German mechanical mind 🙂 The DeWalt is a beast. I like it so far. I figure those bearings lasted 25 years. If these go 25 years it won't be me changing them.

@@farmerpete 😁😁😉😉

Thanks Chris! It did turn into an epic struggle.

The DeWalt is a beast!

Its called neglect on the part of the user. Heating the bolt two or three times (cherry red) ..... it would not twist off !

Thanks! No serious flooding issues near me. The Mississippi is experiencing some moderate flooding, I’m about 12 miles from the big river.

@@farmerpete Glad to hear that 👍

Thanks Ron!

Thanks Charley! Hope you're getting your hay up ok.

Thanks Chris! Much better crop than last year.

Thank you!

Had to get acquainted with it a bit.

They were indeed good little tractors. Thanks!

Hi Don! My impression is that it uses a bit more fuel than the H. Of course the H is pretty stingy on gas.

Thank you.

I think you might be right.