Service: Massey Ferguson 2150 big square baler James Pavey, workshop manager for the Big Bale Co (South) Ltd, picks out some pre-season service points on MF’s 2100-series balers and passes on interesting tips. Andrew Pearce supplies words and pictures
More than three decades ago the Hesston name was right at the heart of the big bale revolution. In 1991 the brand was bought by AGCO, but the machines themselves – along with other hay/forage equipment – are still made in the small Kansas town whose name they carry.
Top of the current crop is the five-strong 2100-series, a favourite with contractors and large farms. These are complex tools that are best looked after by specialists, yet there’s still plenty for users to get busy on before the season kicks off. And as the key principles have stayed the same over time, much of what follows here applies to older Masseys and to other Hesston based balers.
The operating theory is fairly simple, even though the machines are not. Crop — typically hay, silage or straw — is lifted by a tined pick-up and passes by way of short augers to a crop cutter, if fitted; otherwise the crop mat moves to the packer throat, where fingers sweep it to the stuffer box. The material is queued here, retained by holding fingers, to form a charge. Incoming crop causes pressure to build up in the stuffer until it trips the stuffer sensor door, at which point the holding fingers withdraw and stuffer fingers sweep the charge up into the bale chamber
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