Vermeer 504SI Continuing Saga

I have a 504SI that I have been working on to improve the bale quality. The rolls look shabby, like there is loose hay on the outside and the strings are loose even though the tensioner at the twine box is as tight as it will go and feels like a hard tug to get string to pull out of the tubes by hand. Even if I pull out the "pipe cleaners" in the tubes it feels like a hard pull. Much harder than pulling twine just downstream of the tensioner by the twine box. However, the strings on the bales are loose.

 

I was able to pull a belt out today to measure. It was 421". A new belt is 424". Is this an issue as long as they are all 421"? The belts and laces look good and still have a little dimple to them. There are no splices in any of the belts.

 

I replaced all the teeth with OEM teeth before first cut but did not see a lot of change. There had been a high pitch scratching sound for a while. I removed the pickup drive chain and figured out several of the center rows of teeth were rubbing on the "pan" beside/in front of and below the starter roll that the pickup teeth follow. I removed the pan and  was able to press/heat the bend from 1" to about 1/4". I have to clean and paint the pan  before putting it back in tomorrow. Would this bend have been affecting bale forming performance? It had to be fixed either way to preserve the life of the teeth. 

 

On a side note: I read in the operators manual that when replacing the belts you can opt to use all 6" belts instead of 2 - 14" and 2 - 6" belts. Is there any known advantage of going with all 6" belts? I think all the newer Vermeer's (Rebel & Ranchers, etc...) have all the same width belts. 

 

Thanks for any advice.

Vermeer 504SI Continuing Saga