Praise for MF 450 baler

[mennometis]

I bought a MF 450 a couple years ago for $600 CAD and it baled its value in hay within the first 2 hours of baling last year. I'm raking two 9ft haybine windrows into one and yes the hay has to be dry and
the windrow full width of the baler. Baled another 77 bales this summer with the only issues being my own skill, not the baler:

1. Forgot to feed a little hay in when starting the manual tie. 10 bales in and lots of twine wrapped around pickup before I figured this out.
2. Tried baling late into evening and couldn't start a bale and plugged up. 2 days later in same windrow, had no problems.
3. Cone shaped bales when baling on side hill. Baler tracks downhill from tractor, so had to drive up on windrow a bit to center it.

Yesterday evening the baler started a bale in even the smallest windrows due to properly dried hay and a bit of weaving. I'll be looking for another one of these balers if this one ever wears out. I use a
50hp 990 David Brown to pull it and to lift the 700-800 lb bales at chore time. Perfect bale size for hobby farming.

BTW, I got the baler from a retired custom bale operator who only made one bale with it after buying from auction. I trusted his word on its fit for use and am glad I did.

 

[DanielW]

I think the 450 was a rebadged Vermeer 504C, wasn't it? They're excellent balers, but closed throat, so starting the bale can sometimes be strugglesome. If you do end up looking for another, consider the Massey 1440 and 1450, which are (respectively) a rebadged Vermeer 504G and 504F. Also great balers, and they're are open throat, so a lot less trouble starting the roll (if they're adjusted correctly). I bought a 1440 for $900 CAD a few years ago and it's also served me well. Sounds like you're also here in Canada, so the Massey equivalents are a lot more common than the Vermeers.

Don't forget you can always down-size the main drive sprocket on any 504 by a tooth or two to run it with less HP. I had to do that when I was pulling mine with a 48 HP Case 630. Now I pull with an Allis 180 and I've up-sized the sprocket so the baler's at full speed when the tractor's only at 1800 RPM. Still has oodles of power for one of these balers, and saves a lot of fuel and noise.

 

[mennometis]

Pickup was jamming in rough hay meadow that I've only baled with my square baler. The guard on the drive end is bent and interfering with the cam roller arm. Pre-laser designs used flat bar, but should have trimmed corners to prevent risk of rubbing. My engineering background tells me that extra corner material serves no structural purpose so I'm just going to trim of the corners with an angle grinder after I try to bend the guard back in place.

 

[mennometis]

5th season using this baler and going strong at roughly 100 bales per year. Detects hay moisture and tells you when the humidity is too high. How? It won't start a bale, and/or plugs up in the feed rollers when air reaches ~85% RH in the evening. Pickup no longer jams with new pickup drive belt, but still need to fix worn cam track. "If it's working don't fix it"