The baler is not self-propelled and gets its power takeoff (PTO) from the tractor pulling it. <\/p>\n
The operator has to change the twine only when required, and everything is always well greased.<\/p>\n
Despite its proficiency, the baler came with a few quirks, and the family is well versed in how to handle them.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad learned quickly that you can\u2019t clean the high-quality steel around the knotters with water, as it rusts easily and then tangles the twine. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe try not to get it too wet and carefully dry it before putting it away.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the hay is too wet, it jams in the chamber and shears off a bolt to save the baler.<\/p>\n
Steve Howarth kept the baler when the family farm was sold. Photo \/ Catherine Fry<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s exactly what shear bolts are designed to do, but one day, Dad was baling green hay and went through 15 shear bolts during the making of 1500 bales,\u201d Steve said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lesson learnt was to carry lots of spare shear bolts in those conditions!\u201d<\/p>\n
Dave wouldn\u2019t let anyone else drive the baler for years, and Steve drove it for the first time in the early 2000s, despite it being in the family for more than three decades by then.<\/p>\n
In 2008, when Dave sold the family farm, Steve kept the baler in his shed, along with two tractors, a mower and a hay bob. <\/p>\n
He uses it for a small amount of contracting work, making about 1500 bales, mainly around Christmas time and within 5km of home.<\/p>\n
When the baler finally breaks, it will have such sentimental value that it will still be kept in his shed for years to come, he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The baler is not self-propelled and gets its power takeoff (PTO) from the tractor pulling it. The operator…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20639,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[9055,836,21701,21702,682,138,8278,21705,21706,127,2109,5820,2082,21703,21704,302,1446,17306,111,139,69,21692,21707,5132,6100,21708,13797,4998,1316,1530],"class_list":["post-20638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-9055","tag-836","tag-60yearold","tag-baler","tag-being","tag-business","tag-conditions","tag-custodian","tag-daves","tag-despite","tag-family","tag-ferguson","tag-for","tag-hay","tag-howarth","tag-its","tag-making","tag-massey","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-proud","tag-staying","tag-steve","tag-still","tag-suitable","tag-used","tag-weather","tag-when","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}