JD 447 baler or NH 315

[Dralon]

Hello i am in need for advice. Short story i have a small alpacas operation and i am doing around 10 to 12 acres of hay per years. I have been doing it with a nh 273 baler with an automatic stooker. Now i am mostly alone to do hay so let say the bales handling is getting hard and tedious especially with the weather changing so often. Now of course the 273 is a slow baler and it starts to show it's age. I want to speed up my operations. First let say i only have one tractor a Massey Ferguson 390 it had a front end loader. Locally i have 2 balers that interest me a JD447 round baler always shedded and seems in okay condition has made around 10k bales as per owner. My concern is i have some field that have small hills and maybe the hp of my tractor is a tad low. The other is a NH 315 baler small square it does not have a thrower. I know it's 2 different type of baler but what woud you recommend?

Thank you

 

[caterpillar guy]

The round baler. I'm guessing by the time you get the chamber and chute full till hay comes out the back and the weight of the baler that there is not that much difference in the weights of the full round baler and the square with it's extra weight in the baler. I would think a round baler is lighter than a square baler when both are empty. So stopping the round baler or the square would be a moot point to me. I could be wrong on those weights though.

 

[Leroy]

I tried to put a post on last night but see it did not take. Starting with
questions. I don't know anything about those animals. First is how much do
they eat and do they waste feed like a cow will? How long will a bale from
your current baller last? How many days? Then with that round baler how
many days would one last? And how would you feed it? Where they would
trample the feed into the manure? I am sure you could possibly be feeding
them in a manger and only feeding how much they would eat in a day. With a
round baler would you be able to do that? And the small square you
probably can handle one at a time to feed, even if you need to feed only a
part of a bale at a time or 2 or more bales at a time. How would you have
to handle the round bale and how many days the round bale would last and
if able to feed it where they would eat it all or trample it into the
manure and waste half or more of it. And then how would you handle the
heavier weight of the round bale? I don't know how many questions that is
but all need an answer before and good advise can be given by anybody. I
think with cows half the feed is wasted with the round bales and the cost
of that wasted feed is never included in production costs.

 

[Leroy]

Are your animals the size of small goats or the size of large cows or even
larger horses. Small goats would take different ways of feeding than large
cows. And also what type of weather do you have. Nice dry conditions to feed
in or heavy snow and ice? All makes a difference.

 

[hd6gtom]

What dealership is closest to you, Deere
or New Holland. I have to travel 60 miles
one way for NH parts. Deere is 30 miles
round trip.