Vermeer 605K

[farmersamm]

Seem to be reasonably priced.

I don't like having an air bag tensioning device. Air bags rot over time.

Any Vermeers that are worth a damn? I'm leaning towards the 5x6 just to save money. They seem to be less in demand. Be ok for feeding our cows, but I'm not very sure they'd be good for selling bales. Nobody can haul them easily.

Prices seem to be running in the 5-6K range

 

[DanielW]

All Vermeers after the Series I are good balers. Some of the very earliest R series ones had teething issues, but I believe Vermeer has those resolved now. My preference is still slightly toward Deere balers, but if I need a new baler, I'll likely lean toward Vermeer as the Deeres are priced too high to justify for my size of operation. And I don't have any experience with the Deere balers after the 468, so my knowledge may be slightly out of date.

 

[farmersamm]

All Vermeers after the Series I are good balers. Some of the very earliest R series ones had teething issues, but I believe Vermeer has those resolved now. My preference is still slightly toward Deere balers, but if I need a new baler, I'll likely lean toward Vermeer as the Deeres are priced too high to justify for my size of operation. And I don't have any experience with the Deere balers after the 468, so my knowledge may be slightly out of date.

Thanks. I'm getting desperate for something to work with.

Vermeer is probably about 50% of the market here.

The air bags scare me. Expensive to replace, and not sure how long they last in an un-sheded situation.

 

[flying belgian]

Seem to be reasonably priced.

I don't like having an air bag tensioning device. Air bags rot over time.

Any Vermeers that are worth a damn? I'm leaning towards the 5x6 just to save money. They seem to be less in demand. Be ok for feeding our cows, but I'm not very sure they'd be good for selling bales. Nobody can haul them easily.

Prices seem to be running in the 5-6K range

I have a 504 signature and just love it.

 

[farmersamm]

I have a 504 signature and just love it.

I'm sure I'd love it too. It's too far out of my price range to even think about.........sadly.

I'm glad you finally have something that you can just go out and WORK with, instead of fighting every time you use it.

 

[DanielW]

I wouldn't be too worried about the airbags. Just like bearings: They're only going to be crazy expensive if you go to the equipment manufacturer for them. But Vermeer certainly doesn't use their own nor proprietary airbags. They'll be a standard Goodyear/Contitech bag mount and bellows pattern, and once you cross reference the size you'll be able to get replacements quite cheap from any industrial supply. We use Contitech airbags at work, and I've bought a few for my own projects (and sourced the equivalent Contitech bags as replacements for a friend's old NH chain baler). They were all only a few hundred dollars a piece (at most), and were decades old before needing to be replaced.

But the sun is the enemy to them (and any rubber product). Do you not have a shed to store the baler in? I don't think I'd buy a newer baler (or any baler for that matter) without at least a roof to keep it under during the off-seasons.

 

[farmersamm]

I wouldn't be too worried about the airbags. Just like bearings: They're only going to be crazy expensive if you go to the equipment manufacturer for them. But Vermeer certainly doesn't use their own nor proprietary airbags. They'll be a standard Goodyear/Contitech bag mount and bellows pattern, and once you cross reference the size you'll be able to get replacements quite cheap from any industrial supply. We use Contitech airbags at work, and I've bought a few for my own projects (and sourced the equivalent Contitech bags as replacements for a friend's old NH chain baler). They were all only a few hundred dollars a piece, and were decades old before needing to be replaced.

But the sun is the enemy to them (and any rubber product). Do you not have a shed to store the baler in? I don't think I'd buy a newer baler (or any baler for that matter) without at least a roof to keep it under during the off-seasons.

No shed, but I keep the baler, and header on the old swather, tarped. Keeps sun, and rain off.............as well as it can.

 

[flying belgian]

I'm sure I'd love it too. It's too far out of my price range to even think about.........sadly.

I'm glad you finally have something that you can just go out and WORK with, instead of fighting every time you use it.

Thankyou. I feel I paid my dues with that New Holland. However I did a few more things with it over winter and had it working real good now. Baled 70 bales with it this summer without any issues. Thought I better get rid of it while its working.

 

[farmersamm]

Thankyou. I feel I paid my dues with that New Holland. However I did a few more things with it over winter and had it working real good now. Baled 70 bales with it this summer without any issues. Thought I better get rid of it while its working.

What did you do to correct your problems. IIRC, you said you'd had it with the baler, and that was this season??

 

[farmersamm]

What did you do to correct your problems. IIRC, you said you'd had it with the baler, and that was this season??

I found the thread......................

https://forums.yesterdaystractors.com/threads/i-dont-want-to-put-up-with-this-grief.1781441/#post-11683358

Still won't bale what I bale most of the time........long stemmy stuff. So, while it helped with short stuff, it didn't help with what I bale on a regular basis. I fully understand why you pulled the plug on the crappy thing.

 

[Fred Werring]

I wouldn't be too worried about the airbags. Just like bearings: They're only going to be crazy expensive if you go to the equipment manufacturer for them. But Vermeer certainly doesn't use their own nor proprietary airbags. They'll be a standard Goodyear/Contitech bag mount and bellows pattern, and once you cross reference the size you'll be able to get replacements quite cheap from any industrial supply. We use Contitech airbags at work, and I've bought a few for my own projects (and sourced the equivalent Contitech bags as replacements for a friend's old NH chain baler). They were all only a few hundred dollars a piece, and were decades old before needing to be replaced.

But the sun is the enemy to them (and any rubber product). Do you not have a shed to store the baler in? I don't think I'd buy a newer baler (or any baler for that matter) without at least a roof to keep it under during the off-seasons.

True
I'm still running a NH 855 chain baler, needed to put air bags in it last year.
Went cheap on the bags. Found this Torque brand, good reviews wherever I looked. $196 for the pair, delivered.
So far so good, but this is only the second year

 

[farmersamm]

I have a plan to buy time to make a decision. A guy I buy hay from, will roll the hay that's left on the ground for $15/bale if necessary. I feel it's a fair price. I do the raking, he just has to roll them.

This is my backstop if Plan B doesn't work.