First Time Round Baling

[Ken Macfarlane]

Well my first bales looked great, had a few troubles overfilling the baler since we don't have the buzzer box and the indicator isn't accurate but had lots of fun.

My problem is, it doesn't seem as fast as square baling! I'm stopping to tie every so often and it takes a while (too long as the twine knife isn't cutting)

It can't swallow any bigger of windrow and I can't drive any faster really. This is a closed throat, solid core, Case/IH 4x4 baler (looks like a heston).

Right now it seems to take about 1/3 longer to bale a field if the twine knife worked. Luckily its borrowed but I'm thinking an accumulator may be better money spent for our operation.

 

[Luke S]

If you were running one of these new 5x6 monsters that makes a 2,000lb bale you'd think you were getting somewhere. My neighbor has got one and he can bale 100 of those big suckers in the time it takes be to make 25 of the little rounds I make with my little Case-IH 8420.

 

[the tractor vet]

Well the littel krone that we use is great , we bale in first high on a 1066 and as long as ya can get over the windrow she will just eat hay and straw . The only thing that it needs is a wider pickup but we can live with it the way it is . Good pice of equipment ours is a 125 4x4 nothing fancy no electronics just plan and simple . The other one that my other buddy has has been going for 17 years with only one bearing and one sprocket failure and has baled way over 50000 round bales of hay straw and corn stalks.

 

[RodinNS]

You identified the problem in your third paragraph....
Hesston, closed throat. Get an open throat baler, preferably one that starts a bale without a fuss, and you'll know what fast baling is all about. I think you saw mine last summer.... and it pokes out up to 50 an hour on average, depending on the crop and so on... Those are 4x4 bales.
Not all round balers are like the one you're using.

Rod

 

[Sid]

"and it pokes out up to 50 an hour on average" Wow, that is one bale every minute and twelve second. What kind of hay are you baling and how fast do you go.

 

[Allan in NE]

Sid,

Like he said, he's making 4x4 bales.

Allan

 

[RickB]

If the twine knife isn't working, you need to be comparing that operation to a small square baler that consistently misties. This summer, I ran 150 4x5 netwrapped dry hay bales through a NH BR740A in a little under 4 hours one afternoon. Equivalent of roughly 3000 small squares.

 

[RodinNS]

I travel as fast as the baler will take it... which can be up to 10 mph on light rows. 5.5-6 is the average speed I like to work at, but I've been down to 4...
The hay is just heavy, late first cut that will yeild over 15 bales per acre. The bales are 6-700 pounds. We rake with a 14' rake and sometimes double the rows in lighter hay.
Everything has to be RIGHT for that kind of production. No foul ups.... and the rake starts on the outside of the field and makes one row right to the center. You break that rule, you lose production. I'm also working like a machine to keep that pace up. Once I get tired, the average drops.
Just the same, in a good crop, with that baler, most any competent operator can push 40 bph without stressing themselves too much. The baler itself is just an old Claas Rollant 44S... Like Allan said, it's making a 4x4 bale, so we make a lot fo them. Any good modern open throat baler should do that or close to it if a guy wants to push a bit. Old closed throat balers just can't.

Rod