Baler pondering

[Erik Ks farmer]

Would you rather have an 11 468 with 4500 bales or a new 664 Vermeer rancher?
 

[Larry NEIL]

4500 is a few bales. The most expensive machine you can buy is one that you buy one piece at a time from the parts department.
 

[DeltaRed]

Erik,If you can afford the initial cost,and if you
have the 'acres'-now and down the road,Buy the NEW
one.Steve
 

[Old Bob]

If you are considering a baler at least give a John Deere a little consideration. I have always ran Deere balers and have had no problems whatsoever other than just normal maintenance. In our area I see a lot of burnt Vermeers. Only a thought.
 

[Erik Ks farmer]

same price Steve. New Deere is more $$ my thinking is new is better just fishing for someone with experience with these machines .
 

[JD Seller]

I am assuming that the first baler is a 2011 JD 468 with 4500 bales???? If that is true then go with the JD 468. With 4500 bales it is not even broke in good, if it has been took care of. I have two JD 568 balers. The 2012 just turned 6500 bales in one season on it. I usually keep them for 4-5 years. They usually have 30-40 thousand bales throught them. The ease of operation makes them a much better baler than the Vermeer. You can change so much from the cab throught the monitor.

Also do not even think about not getting mesh wrap. The time saving during baling will soon pay for the extra cost. Plus you will save hay after that.

I have baled right against Vermeer balers. My brother has a two year old one. I can always get more tons baled per day than he can. In good hay I can make a good six foot bale in under two minutes. In BIG corn stalk windrows I can get a bale in right at a minute. My son baled 380 bales in six hours this last fall.

You need the high moisture kit, mega pickup not the mega wide, and the variable core kit. This will make you have a good simple baler that can bale just about anything you can get in the pickup.

Also the resale will be better. You also will have a much better parts network. NO ONE can compete with JD on getting you parts. They may not be cheap but you can get them in a hurry if you want them. So if you have a field of hay down and it is looking like rain I would bet on the JD over the Vermeer.

DO not think I don't respect a Vermeer baler. I owned Vermeer balers until the JD 566s bales came out. I started out with a Vermeer 605 F baler. The resale is lower and they do not sell as fast even with a lower price.
 

[Erik Ks farmer]

It is a 2011 JD 468, I will not buy a baler that doesn't have net on it. I will do some more research this week and see where things lead. I have a 554 XL Vermeer now, had a 504F before that and a 504C prior to that. I need a good high capacity baler to get my ground covered more timely. Thanks for your input.
 

[Too Far Gone]

Ive used many kinds of balers.You wont believe how much quicker you get the job done with the John Deere.I just retired a 530 with 25000 bales through it,and its still baling now.It had 10000 on it when we got it.General maintenance like pick up attach rebuild,bearings,belts,chains and sprockets.I'll definately make my next one a net wrap Deere.Im a believer
 

[Tx Jim]

I agree with the others in go GREEN. I too traded off a JD 467 with 30.000 bales on it to get a rd baler with newtwrap. My new 467 now has 14,000 bales on it. The JD rd balers are very good balers.
 

[Erik Ks farmer]

What are the differences in a 467 and a 468? Are there any differences other than bale size in a 567/568? Do the 500's have heavier shafts and bearings?
 

[Old Bob]

Bale size is the same. Heavier chains and sprockets.
 

[Old Bob]

Erik in our area, and I'm not sure if it's not the same everywhere, you can buy a 5 foot wide bale cheaper than a 4 foot wide one. The reason for this, as best I can figure out, is it is easier to haul the 4 foot wide bales side by side on a semi trailer with less overhang. So there fore the 5 foot baler is less desirable. I buy and sell some equipment and just recently bought a 530 John Deere baler from a Deere dealer for $3k. It is a one owner baler with no damage, excellent paint, and no rust. Always stored in inside. If you are baling basically for your self, in my opinion, the bigger the bale the less amount of exposure to weather if you leave yours outside, and also you have to feed less as you put out probably 25% more hay in a 5 foot bale then a 4 foot bale, maybe more. I have always said I wish they would develop a 10 x 12 baler, less bales to haul and feed more at a time. Again just a thought.
 

[Tx Jim]

[Leroy]

The reason for the 4' bales is that you can get 2 of them side by side and stay within the legal width of 8' if you can squeeze them enough on roads with a 8' limit, Ohio is 8 1/2' so easy to stay legal. with the 5' you are over width and could get a ticket.