Baler choice

[lacamo]

I need to buy a baler because I cannot depend on others to bale my field (7 acres) and need the hay for my livestock. I've fed out rounds for years and cannot see dealing with squares. Our NE summers are short & damp, so I can count on baling 2nd & 3rd cuts at > 20% moisture and having them wrapped. This seems to eliminate smaller balers like the Hesston 530/MF 1734. On the other hand, my tractor is a Kubota 5040DT (about 45 pto hp) which limits my choice of larger belt balers. I've looked at JD 448 and NH BR7050 from local dealers as possibilities; the Vermeer dealership is > 100 miles away so scratch that. Also, even though I might be doing some other small fields in the area, aren't those units overkill (probably under 200 bales/year)? Please help -- my brain is very sore from thinking about this.

 

[msb]

NE ? Is that Nebraska or New England ? Nebraska summers are not short and wet as a rule. Sounds like you need to find a silage special or a round baler with a proprionic acid attachment.

 

[lacamo]

That's New England. The preservative works better on square balers because it's more evenly distributed. On rounds, it gets the edges (assuming you have 2 nozzles) but not the center where it counts. In any case, a dealer told me that proprionic acid destroys the insides of balers. Anything that's specifically setup for silage is too much for my tractor. Of course, as long as I'm spending my way to pauperhood, I could pick up an older IH or JD ....

Thanks for your help

 

[paul]

What you need is a small square baler, or a bigger tractor & more ground to cover to make a fancy roundfd baler pay, or you need to get the moisture down to use an older $1000 smaller round baler.....

Don't see a silage baler working out for you, tractor wise or acres wise.

--->Paul

 

[lacamo]

I realize that a slightly green square will dry out if stacked right better than a tight core roundy. But the time/labor (=$$) involved with squares and the risk of total loss if the windrows get rained on makes me nervous. I agree a 4x4 round baler is overkill (plus the neighbors will think I've gone totally crazy and probably talk to my wife: then I'm in serious trouble...)

 

[Anonymous-0]

Tell me again why it's a total loss if they get rained on, would you rather feed them snow balls ??? They may not be as pretty, but still plenty of nutrition value.

 

[Josh in WNY]

I think you might get better coverage than just on the edges if the spray nozzles apply the preservative to the hay as it goes through the pickup. (That's how it's done on the small square balers) As far as rusting out the baler, the earlier preservatives did that, but the newer stuff has a buffer solution which limits the corrosion.

Josh in WNY

 

[lacamo]

Just concerned about mold (and the barn burning down). I raise sheep & goats; these critters are more susceptible than cows to listeriosis from moldy hay. Round bales can at least be wrapped.

 

[RodinNS]

You might as well buy a tractor in the 65+ hp range too cause you ain't balin' silage with the orange one.
That will put you into a range where you can run a real silage baler like a Claas Rollant 44s or Rollant 240.
Those balers were built from the ground up to bale silage. They also bale hay quite well.... but are high capacity balers and need snort in front of them. 60 is the bare, bare minimum.
Why not just continue to have someone make the hay for you?
This certainly won't be an economical venture.

Rod

 

[lacamo]

Year after year my first cut gets later and later, the result being the quality of the forage is steadily deteriorating. Because of the size of my field, I realistically can"t expect to be anywhere near the head of the list for guys who do haying. In addition, I"m charged almost as much as I"d have to pay for purchased hay! That"s why I"ve decided to do it myself. There are other folks in the area with small fields who, in exchange for the hay, would be happy for me to mow. In terms of total cost, I figure that the savings on buying hay (> $2000/yr this year), the equipment depreciation, and its eventual resale, not to mention the improved output of my field will be at least a break-even.

 

[Bob Semrau]

I would also recommend small square bales as the only economical approach. If you don't have the barn space you could get one of those canvas buildings and put the bales up on pallets. The hay quality will be much better than round bales stored outside.

If you cut and bale half of the field at a time 7 acres is do-able by one person. You also avoid risking the whole field at once. A tedder might be a good investment, too.

 

[RodinNS]

Well, you've got optimism on your side...
Much as I hate idiot blocks, they're about the best answer in your situation if you want to keep costs down.
Round balers cost considerably more money and require power.
Seven acres never killed anyone. That's really only a nice days work for a small square baler if you've got some help to gather them up.

Rod

 

[lacamo]

I was considering this as an option. In fact, due to the price of grain, I might plant a couple of acres of alfalfa which I'd harvest separately -- a square baler would certainly be easier on the dried leaves. Funny you should mention the tedder: my GF440T was delivered today!

 

[lacamo]

You definitely have a point; however, these days it's hard to find anyone willing to do "that kind of work" (even with the free beer). I spent many such afternoons years ago following the baler loading the truck. Can't say it wasn't fun! A friend of mine finally gave up farming, in part, because of lack of help haying. Loaded kicker waggon would probably require same HP as round baler. So, maybe that 3x4 MF (35hp) is a reasonable compromise?

 

[RodinNS]

You might get one of those balers to work with 35 hp but I wouldn't want to try it. We baled for years with a Ford 5610 on this Claas 44s and it was the bare minimum. We never really learned what the baler could do until we got 75 horse in front of it. That's a 4x4 baler...
The real thing you're looking at is that if you want a cheap baler you're looking at an old Hesston/CIH or ancient Vermeer and any of those old clap traps will be a closed throat baler. Number one is that you won't bale silage with them. You won't even bale hay that's a bit tough with them. They wern't the pinnacle of round baler technology.... A newer baler from either one with an open throat is apt to run you 5 grand plus if you don't mind spending that...
That's why I suggest the square baler. You can pick one up that works decent here for well under a grand, it'll work fine with your tractor and you're only going to have ~1000 bales anyway.

Rod

 

[Roger in Iowa]

The small JD round balers work acceptable in silage, especially for 7 acres. Put the bales in individual bags for when you cannot get the hay to dry. Makes excellent silage.

Roger in Iowa

 

[Joe(TX)]

Most of the balers mentioned need over 50 hp. Some need 60-70.

 

[lacamo]

The Hesston 530 / MF 1734 is supposed to run fine with a 35HP tractor. Used ones are hard to find (I'm on a waiting list with 4 guys ahead of me). A new 1734 is around $13K. Unlike JD or NH, the resale value in a few years would be a fraction of this.