McIntosh MULTI BALE User manual

MCINTOSH
MULTI BALE
FEEDER
User Manual
Email: [e-mail]
Phone: [phone]
McIntosh Brothers Engineers Ltd
PO Box 4240
PALMERSTON NORTH
NEW ZEALAND

WARRANTY CONFIRMATION
Your bale feeder is guaranteed for a period of 12 months from date of entering service, provided
that such equipment has not been subjected to improper usage and or excessive speed over rough
terrain or any other conditions contrary to the manufacturer’s specifications or recommendations.
The dealer has instructed me on the use of the bale feeder and maintenance requirements.
Serial # _______________
Owners Information: Dealers Information:
Signed _________________________ Signed _____________________
Owner _________________________ Company _____________________
Date _________________________ Sales Person _____________________
Date _____________________
Please return this completed form to;
McIntosh Brothers Engineers Ltd
PO Box 4240
PALMERSTON NORTH 4442
[email protected]et.nz
Please note: It is recommended that the owner and dealer both retain a copy for their records.

GENERAL OPERATION
AND
MAINTENANCE INSTRUCTIONS
Multi Bale Feeder
MANUFACTURED BY
McINTOSH BROTHERS
ENGINEERS LTD
PALMERSTON NORTH
NEW ZEALAND
DISTRIBUTED BY

Safety
must have
PRIORITY
•Maintain your machine in good working condition.
•Keep all guards and shields in place.
•Disconnect hydraulic supply lines when any maintenance, greasing or
adjustments are undertaken.
•Keep hands, feet, and clothing away from power driven parts.
•Keep other people clear of machine when in use.
•Always shut down hydraulics when you leave the tractor seat.
•Do not allow people to travel on your bale feeder.
HUMAN ERROR IS THE MAJOR FACTOR IN
ACCIDENTS

MAINTENANCE
GREASING
The following is the number of greasing points on our multi bale feeder.
Multi bale feeder unit grease nipples: 4 Cradles, 8 Lifting Arms, 1 Swivel, 1 Jack, 4 Hubs, 2
Walking Beams, 2 Drive Shafts, 2 Rear Idlers
The machine should be greased daily for the first week and then weekly after that using the
greasing points as below:
CHAIN
The roller chain needs no adjustment.
Periodically oil the chains and check the bolts holding the slats to the roller chain.
TYRES
Standard tyre 11.5 x 15.3, 58 PSI
Optional tyres 11.5 x 15.3 Tractor Tread, 58 PSI
400/60 x 15.3, 50 PSI
Wheel nut torque: 480 N-m

LIFTING ARMS
Greasing the lifting arms is very important to keep the machinery working correctly.
If you find the second arm does not come back fully to the loading position, put some more
grease into it. That will fix it the majority of the time.
If you find you cannot stop the bale from falling into the cradle, the most common problem is air
in the circuit. Bleed air out of the valve block and rams, then try again.
STORAGE AT END OF SEASON
•When the season is over, always clean off any feed material and wash machine.
•Fully grease.
•Apply a covering of oil to the chains prior to storage otherwise some links may seize up
while not in use
•Adjust the floor chains.
•Have both rams in the closed positions and if any of the chrome shaft is showing, put grease
onto that area. If the rams are not closed, rust spots may appear on the chrome shaft
which will damage the seals. In the closed position, the smaller ram will still have 75-80mm
of shaft out. When the rams are used regularly they are lubricated by the oil in the ram. It
is when they are not used is when the damage occurs. This applies to any rams on farm
machinery.
•Check tyre pressure before you use it again.
WHEN INSPECTIONS AND ADJUSTMENTS ARE BEING MADE,
HYDRAULIC POWER MUST BE DISCONNECTED
OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS
The bale feeder need two sets of remotes to operate. One set operates the transfer bed moving
the back frame forwards and backwards. You can move this at any time.
The second set of remotes operates the roller chain cradle and loading arm.
There is a diverter valve on the back of the machine that switches the hydraulic oil from the
cradle to the loading frame.
When the transfer frame is at the very back of the transfer bed the loading frame will work. If it
is right back and the loading frame is not working there may be some material stopping the
frame from touching the stops. You will need to remove this to get the loading frame working.

It pays to check if there is material around this area when at the back of the machine when
cutting the plastic or net. This problem is more common when feeding square bales. To operate
the cradle the frame needs to be moved forward 50mm.
When pushing the bales forward over the cradle slats, have the yellow slat in the top right hand
position as marked on the bale feeder frames. When pushing any bale forward the yellow slat
needs to be in this position. This enables the bale to be pushed over the star wheels to the front
of the cradle. If you try and push the bales over the fixed teeth you will only get the bale about
two thirds of the way on before the front digs in and back lifts. You will need to turn the cradle
to get it the rest of the way either in the paddock while feeding or in the loading area if you still
need to load more bales onto the transfer bed.
The front basket is there for the plastic and the side basket for the net.
LOADING THE BALE
Lower the forks as low as they go. In this position they are set up for a standard 4 - 5 foot bale.
If feeding out 6 foot bales lift the forks at the tyne end 100 - 150mm. Once you have loaded a few
bales you will get the right area, it does not need to be exact. If the bale is coming over and the
front of the bale is landing first, put the forks in lower. If the forks are as low as they can go it is
not a problem, just load that that way. If the bale is coming down with the back end of the bale
hitting the cradle first then put the forks in a bit higher into the bale.
It is easier to have the bales lined up first before loading the first bale. Once you have placed the
first bale into the cradle you cannot see the forks when backing into the second bale so all you
have to do is back straight back into the other bales which solves a lot of problems. Leave a gap
between each bale to cut the plastic off.
Before loading the bales, cut the plastic off all the bales. Then back into the first bale, lift the bale
over until approximately 400mm above the cradle. This distance can vary as it depends on the bale
and what height you find is the best to remove the netting. For finer chop bales you may need it
higher.
Cut the netting underneath and pull it off. Once the netting is off, you can lower the bale onto the
cradle. Move this bale forward to the middle position, then move the sliding frame back to the
rear position. If the frame does not go right back you will not move the diverter valve and the
loading frame will not work.
Load the next bale, cut the net off and push the two bales forward. Reverse the moving frame to
the rear again and repeat. Spear the last bale and lift to around 45 degrees. Move the moving
frame forward 50-100mm so the oil flow is now transferred from the loading frame to the cradle.
Another way is to cut the plastic and net off the top half of the bales. Load the bales then remove
the half of the plastic and net which is the now on the top. Leave just over half the plastic on the
bale otherwise it may fall apart when flipping over.
When loading a bale, flip it right over in one movement. If you stop the bale at its full height the
second ram may not have enough power to flip the bale over and you will have to go down again
and then up. Load the bales with the tractor running, using as few revs as possible. With a slow
flow you will have more control. Once the bale is above the cradle you will not be able to lift it up
again so with the first few bales try different heights to get the net off until you find the best

position for you. The heaviest bale we have loaded weighed 1,300kg so there is a lot of power in
the ram.
To get the forks out of the bale, reverse the oil flow and the main ram will lower down while the
smaller ram will go into a float action. Once the main ram fully retracts, the smaller ram will then
rotate the forks until they are down to the load position again. If the forks do come back to the
flat position there may not be enough grease in the pivot pin.
When travelling with no bale on the forks have them in the up position so that you do not back
them into anything or anyone trips over them.
Start Position
Loading
Hold to cut net off

Loaded 1
Loaded 2
You can push the first bale either to the front or middle position when loading the second bale
Travel Position
FEEDING OUT
As our Bale Feeders will operate from either side, there is no need to concern yourself of which
way you place the bale in the cradle.
While feeding out, if the bale is hard to start or while it is unrolling the bale slows down, put more
revs on the tractor to speed up the bale feeder. Slow the revs down once the bale is feeding easier,
aggression pins can help.
We recommend a maximum of 50 litres of oil. If you put a bigger oil flow through the motor and
swap the direction of the feeder very quickly, you may damage the motor. At a faster flow, you
will also create far greater wear and tear on the machine. You can also split the o-rings in the
valves which can cause the bale to drop when travelling.
AGGRESSION PINS
These are supplied to assist breaking out a hay bale which is hard to get started or a very hard
centre or a moldy wrapped bale. They are not used in normal operation. If required, insert pins

in the ends of the bale as the pin holes allow. Restart your machine and the aggression pins will
break into the bale and allow it to unwind.
Sequence Cartridges
These are set at 2 ½ turns out. The purpose of these is to have the main left ram operating first
before the smaller tip ram. If these are out too far, the second ram may operate before the main
ram is fully out.
Return Relief Valve
Set all the way out, this valve is set at 50 PSI and will only go to 300 PSI when fully out. The purpose
of this valve is to let the small ram go into float when pulling the forks out of the bale. If it is
screwed in too much, it will try and lift the bale when pulling out. This is just enough pressure in
it to flip the forks over to load again.
FAULTS WITH LOADING ARMS
Forks do not fold down parallel to ground to load bale.
•Lack of grease in pins.
Bale drops into cradle/cannot hold it up to take plastic off.
•Air in small ram. Bleed ram.
•Faulty sequence valve. Take valve out and check, replace.
•Forks creep down when travelling with a bale on – check the valves in the aluminum
block and check the o-rings are not split. If one is split, replace o-ring. This is caused by
excessive oil flow. Cut flow back to maximum of 50 litres.
TROUGH BALE FEEDER
•Load with the arm down.
•Travel with the arm up until you want to start feeding.
•You can lift the arm up to 45 degrees to feed with. The chains will still turn even straight
Sequence Cartridge
Return Relief
Valve

up but it is hard on the machine
•If adjusting chains, have the arm up on a 45 degree angle where the chains are at their
tightest point: DO NOT adjust when the arm is down.
•Store the machine with arm down and the ram closed otherwise grease the ram if it is out
so it does not get rust spots on it and damage the seals.
Service Information
This notice is to provide assistance and give information for issues that may occur
with some McIntosh Equipment.
In Field valve adjustments for Rear Bale Forks
On Multi Bale Feeders, the lift rams sequencing valve is located underneath the blue
cover located on the rear right hand side. You will need to remove the cover to expose
the valve assembly.
On Double Bale Feeders, the valve assembly is mounted on the rear left hand side near the
wheel.
The sequencing valve assembly has 3 valves fitted to the block. There are 2 adjustable
throttle valves that control the tip over and return speed of the bale forks. The 3rd valve
is an adjustable relief valve that controls the pressure of the forks when returning to the
loading position. Sometimes you will be required to adjust these valves to suit the types
of bales, oil flow of the tractor and the customers needs. When adjusting these valves,

we recommend you only adjust one valve at one time, then test the operation again.
We also recommend that when adjusting the valves, screw them in or out 1/2 a turn at
a time and retest. This can make a big difference depending on the oil flow and the
weight of the bale.
If problems occurs, we recommend that you set the valves back to the standard factory
settings and re-test the system again.
Problem: Fork assembly will not return to fully dropped (loading) position
or rear forks creep down when carrying a Bale.
Return sequencing
valve located here
Standard Factory settings 3.5 to 4 turns out
If the fork assembly is not returning to the load position during operation, screw the
return valve out a half a turn at a time until the operation works correctly. Normally this
valve is set at 3.5 to 4 turns out. If this valve is screwed too far out, the main lift ram can
drop when carrying a bale.
If this occurs, screw the valve in until the ram holds the bale. Always tighten the lock nut to
stop the oil from leaking.Problem: Fork assembly won't tip over into feeding chamber or
falls in too fast
Problem: Fork assembly won't tip over into feeding chamber or falls in too fast
If the fork assembly will not tip the bale into the feeding chamber, this normally means the tip
over sequencing valve is screwed too far in. Undo the lock nut and turn the valve out a 1/4 of a
turn at a time until the operation works correctly. Normally this valve is set at 2.5 to 3 turns
out. If this valve is screwed too far out, this will cause the fork assembly to drop in too quickly
and hard to hold the bale over the feeding chamber. If this occurs, screw the valve in until you
find a speed that is acceptable. Always tighten the lock nut to stop the oil from leaking.

Problem: Bale tries to come back out when returning the fork assembly back
to the loading position.
There can be several reasons for this to happen. Firstly check the oil flow coming from the
tractor. These machines are designed to operate with oil flows of around 40—65 litres per
minute. A higher oil flow can result in a build up of back pressure and cause the forks to try
and lift the bale back out when returning. Lower the oil flow and try again before adjusting
the return relief valve. If the problem still occurs, unscrew the relief valve to lower the retract
pressure. In most cases, the valve is almost fully screwed out. If this pressure is too low, this
can cause the fork assembly to not fully return to the loading position.
On Multi Bale Feeders, this problem can also occur with tightly formed or dry bales. In
these cases we recommend you remove the middle tine and operate with only the two
outside tines fitted. We suggest you try this first before adjusting the relief valve.
Problem: Fork Arm Dropping Bale into Cradle
Take out the two smaller sequencing valve cartridges and check that the o-rings and
backing rings are not cracked or broken. Replace them if they are.
This can be caused by too much oil flow above 50 litres per minute.
s
Retract pressure
relief valve
located here
Tip over ram
sequencing
valve
located here
Standard Factory
setting