Hay Monster Update

Was going to update a post I started last year on troubles I was having with the hay monster.........AKA......the DewEze Bale Mobale.

Trouble I was having was keeping battery charged, and would not start when hot. Well all that has been fixed. Ran it yesterday and once we were done for the day.......I turned it off.......then tried staring again when hot......and she fired right up.

Changes made were to replace the older Delco one wire alternator (with it's whacky wiring and homemade mounting bracket) with new Power Master 90 Amp one wire alternator for Chrylser (this is a 318 Chrysler engine), plus upgraded (upsized) battery cables and charging wire to larger sizes.  Also replaced timing chain and cover.......corrected the distributor being 180 degrees out of whack (and got spark plug wires to correct firing order) and also figured out a way to create a timing mark where none existed before, so we could set timing with a timing light. 

In addition to starting while hot, now seems to have a lot more low end torque and lugging power along with high end.....2,000 rpm......torque and lugging power under a load.....pulling up a hill with full load on.  At low RPM,  she stalls a bit under load, so timing may still be off a bit. I had set it by feel initially, then a guy helped me refine that with a timeing light as per where he thought it ought to be and it seems worse. 

But all in all, running way better now than before. Thanks to all here  that offered advice and solutions. The month or so I spent messing with it last summer certainly paid off. 

On the steering, have concluded the cylinder on it now is too short. End of shaft inside the case is not centered. Has about 5 inches of movement when turning to the left, and only 3 inches or so to the right before it bottoms out. 

Have located a hydraulics guy who really knows his stuff and showed it to him and he said it would be no problem to replace the cylinder with one with same ends that will fit. But since we are into the season, going to have to live with it for now..........not wanting to put it out of commission until after season ends. 

Also roaded it about 20 miles to a welding shop for some repairs and upgrades........and 6 months and all winter sitting out, they never touched it........so brought it home same as it left .That was frustraing. Good news is........during road trip, found it had 5 speeds, not 4......and when in road gear, she will really step out. Guy following me said at one point I had her up to 40 mph, but that was getting a bit scary. Steering so loose she was taking up the whole road of a 2 lane blacktop. Meeting big trucks was white knuckle experience. Kept thinking they had more confidence that I could keep it on my side of the road than I did.