Mydad had one of those old roto balers. But he had many other names for it when it didn't work, which was quite often. It's still setting behind the yard in the trees along with a bunch of other old machinery. He baled with an "M" International for quite a few years. No live power. So when the twine arm dropped, he had to step on the clutch, stop, shift it out of gear to neutral, let the clutch out so the baler would run and wrap the bail with twine and eject the bale, step on the clutch again, shift the tractor back into gear, let the clutch out, and go until the twine arm dropped again, and do it all over again. For every bale. On a normal hay year, he made about 15,000 bales. Do the math on how many times he stepped on the clutch on that M. Then, add in all the times for stopping because the baler (or whatever he chose to call it at that moment) malfunctioned.....Then, after some years of baling with the M, he bought a D19 Allis Chalmers on a farm auction. Live power with the Power Director shift handle! No more clutching! He thought he died and went to the big hay field in the sky! It's still setting in the trees behind the yard with a bunch of other old machinery. One piece being an old Allis Challmers one row silage cutter with the reel on it. That thing actually worked pretty good.
funny , my unkle talked of rotobaler and VAC14 case , short stick he wood pop out of gear then clutch back in to save one step .... never did say how many shift forks he went thru 😅
Thanks for the honest presentation of the Rotobaler's 'exentricities'. Another problem you didn't mention shows at 3:27 when the twine arm drops but there's no incoming crop to feed the twine in. Couldn't get a good look at the bale, but it likely had no twine on it. Like others, I grew up with (and had my vocabulary expanded by) the Rotobaler. I well remember just about cresting a hill to where Dad was working and seeing a ball of binder twine flying through the air...
When I was a kid, we and most of our neighbors used conventional small square balers. I know of only one old -timer that used a rotobaler. I recall seeing his funny-looking little round bales lying in the field, but never got a good look at the machine itself, nor the baling operation. All I knew was that he had Allis equipment. Thanks for bringing this to RUclips!
I am 71, my Dad had an Allis 45 and round baler in early 1960’s before trading it in for square baler/fit better in barn. The Allis 45 was sold couple years ago. Must have been 70yrs old and was our favorite do-everything tractor.
Walked many miles by the side. Of one of these, dad would have me cutting hay off roller, reset string feed, picking rocks or sticks off apron. Have mercy when the thing throwed the back roller.. hauling those things was only workable with a hay hook. Old wd45 was a good little horse. Now I'm 71 yrs. Memories of the past.
Awesome. I enjoy watching videos. I probably missed something cool . I understand crowds. People are fine in small groups. My brother had a roto baler with a WD45. Thank you.
Just imagine if AC had the vision to take the rotobaler to the next level eventually becoming similar to today's big round balers. Could've been a game changer for AC.
Mydad had one of those old roto balers. But he had many other names for it when it didn't work, which was quite often. It's still setting behind the yard in the trees along with a bunch of other old machinery. He baled with an "M" International for quite a few years. No live power. So when the twine arm dropped, he had to step on the clutch, stop, shift it out of gear to neutral, let the clutch out so the baler would run and wrap the bail with twine and eject the bale, step on the clutch again, shift the tractor back into gear, let the clutch out, and go until the twine arm dropped again, and do it all over again. For every bale. On a normal hay year, he made about 15,000 bales. Do the math on how many times he stepped on the clutch on that M. Then, add in all the times for stopping because the baler (or whatever he chose to call it at that moment) malfunctioned.....Then, after some years of baling with the M, he bought a D19 Allis Chalmers on a farm auction. Live power with the Power Director shift handle! No more clutching! He thought he died and went to the big hay field in the sky! It's still setting in the trees behind the yard with a bunch of other old machinery. One piece being an old Allis Challmers one row silage cutter with the reel on it. That thing actually worked pretty good.
Thanks for sharing that story!
funny , my unkle talked of rotobaler and VAC14 case , short stick he wood pop out of gear then clutch back in to save one step .... never did say how many shift forks he went thru 😅
Thanks for the honest presentation of the Rotobaler's 'exentricities'. Another problem you didn't mention shows at 3:27 when the twine arm drops but there's no incoming crop to feed the twine in. Couldn't get a good look at the bale, but it likely had no twine on it. Like others, I grew up with (and had my vocabulary expanded by) the Rotobaler. I well remember just about cresting a hill to where Dad was working and seeing a ball of binder twine flying through the air...
Your story made me laugh! Thank you for sharing it and thank you for watching.
Thanks for sharing
You're welcome!
When I was a kid, we and most of our neighbors used conventional small square balers. I know of only one old -timer that used a rotobaler. I recall seeing his funny-looking little round bales lying in the field, but never got a good look at the machine itself, nor the baling operation.
All I knew was that he had Allis equipment.
Thanks for bringing this to RUclips!
You're welcome. Thanks for watching.
Love the process of making "Baby" round bales! Thanks for sharing John! 🤗
You're welcome!
I am 71, my Dad had an Allis 45 and round baler in early 1960’s before trading it in for square baler/fit better in barn. The Allis 45 was sold couple years ago. Must have been 70yrs old and was our favorite do-everything tractor.
Thank you for sharing your story!
Walked many miles by the side. Of one of these, dad would have me cutting hay off roller, reset string feed, picking rocks or sticks off apron. Have mercy when the thing throwed the back roller.. hauling those things was only workable with a hay hook. Old wd45 was a good little horse. Now I'm 71 yrs. Memories of the past.
Thanks for sharing that story!
Awesome. I enjoy watching videos. I probably missed something cool . I understand crowds. People are fine in small groups.
My brother had a roto baler with a WD45. Thank you.
The secret of them working right was the windrow. But the driver needed to know how to work the windrow- this guy flunked badly
Thank you!
There is a bracket that will stop running the belt off on narrow winrows. Not hard to make. Been on our roto for years.
Well, now I know why there was only one rotobaler in the farming community where I grew up.
Looks like my dad would have come up like that one north Carolina
Just imagine if AC had the vision to take the rotobaler to the next level eventually becoming similar to today's big round balers. Could've been a game changer for AC.
Funny how rethinking one aspect (in this case the size of the bale) can catapult an idea from dud to stardom. Thanks for watching.
Yes well if you ever had to.use a roll baler you.didnt love them.very much at all in fact you usually hated them.with a passion
Thanks for the clear and honest assessment. It made me smile.
Thanks for sharing.
You're welcome.