Time to upgrade

[neevlk]

Looking to upgrade to a newer round baler.Have all but worn out my 504G Vermeer;really like the four foot wide bales but handle way to may bales on my75 acres alfalfa and 50 acres of grass.Looking at going with JD467 or 468 with net any advice on these balers for that matter any other brand. Thanks

 

[HayDR]

If you ar looking for a 4' wide baler that can do silage, cornstalks, etc then look at the Vermeer 664 Rancher. It will be $8k-$10 cheaper than the JD 468. The 665 has been in production and now Vermeer is offering a 4' wide version in the Rancher 664.

 

[bulldog69]

I don't know about your experience with your Vermeer but I love mine. When I get ready to replace mine I am going to look at a Vermeer 604. It will give you a 4 ft bale width but 6 ft high. It's rated at a 2000# roll and a 605 Vermeer is only 2400#. To me the advantage of this baler over the others is the ability to roll any size you want from a 30" x 4 ft all the way up to a 6' x 4 ' roll. If you have a customer that wants 4 x 5 rolls you can do it for them. At a touch of a button you can go to the 4 x 6 rolls for yourself and cut down on your bale count. The 468 silage special rolls a 4 x 6 roll but it only weighs 1650#. I don't know if you have ever weighed one of your 4 x 5 rolls that you make now but my 504 Super I rolls will average about 1400#. If you look at the weight specs on all the other balers the Vermeer rolls will weigh more than all the rest. If you are wanting to handle fewer rolls why would you pay more for a JD baler that will make you handle a larger roll that doesn't really hold but about 200 lbs more hay than what you have now.

The choice seem clear to me, buy yellow and save some green.

 

[Jd6403]

I'd go with John Deere 110% better bales, better baler and you can make a heavy bale with them, turn up the density knob and your ready to go. You also can go wrong with net wrap, the stuff is great. If your not a Deere fan then I'd also look at NH. They make very heavy and tight bales and they are fairly cheap when they've been used. Unlike John Deere. Anything under 10,000 bales in the two brands still have many miles to go! Good luck!

 

[bulldog69]

You must be a deere fan. Look at the specs on the JD, NH and then Vermeer. The Vermeer beats them both on the rated bale weight. When it comes to round balers, Vermeer was the first on the market and are still setting the standards.

 

[Jd6403]

Yes I am a Deere fan, a 4x6 bale from a jd 467 or 8 weighs about 1700 lbs and that's about as heavy as you can get that bale. Down here we bale some real hay. And John Deere is all you see for one reason, they can bale any crop and make bales after bales after bales. If he wants heavier bales go with a 567 or 568. They make about 2200 in a 5x6 bale.

 

[jlsmith]

What is the bale weight on the vermeer.
If there is a Massey Ferguson dealer near you u may want to check out the mf1745 which is put out Hesston. Not a big fan of JD tractors but they do make a good baler.

 

[bulldog69]

Hello jd6403,

Have you ever baled with a Vermeer baler. Not trying to be a smart ars just curious. I really do like mine. It's the best baler I have ever pulled.

Hi jlsmith, to answer your question on the weight. I have weighed several of my 4 x 5 bales and of course they will vary some due to the material I'm in and moisture but with the density all the way up it will go up to 1400 lbs. The Vermeer 604 which rolls a 4 x 6 is rated at 2000 lbs and the 605 rolls a 5 x 6 rated at 2400 lbs. You may already know this bit Vermeer was the designer and the first to build a hay roller. They designed and built the very first one in 1971. So hats off to Vermeer for making hay production what it is today.

 

[jlsmith]

sorry but the first baler was built in 1939 by a man named inness and most of the parts came off a JD grain binder. but yes the vermeer is a good baler

 

[Jd6403]

No I've never ran a Vermeer becuase they do not exist in this part of Texas. John Deere is all you'll see. I own a John Deere 535 which I've ran for 5 years and have had 0 problems. I've ran a 567 and 468 and they are really hard to beat in my opoinon. I have no grudge against Vermeer becuase I've never ran or seen on but after using jd for along time, I find it hard to switch to anything besides it.

 

[bulldog69]

sorry but the first baler was built in 1939 by a man named inness and most of the parts came off a JD grain binder. but yes the vermeer is a good baler

I didn't word my previous post exactly right. Vermeer made the first ever large round baler in 1971. The video of it is interesting to watch.

 

[bulldog69]

No I've never ran a Vermeer becuase they do not exist in this part of Texas. John Deere is all you'll see. I own a John Deere 535 which I've ran for 5 years and have had 0 problems. I've ran a 567 and 468 and they are really hard to beat in my opoinon. I have no grudge against Vermeer becuase I've never ran or seen on but after using jd for along time, I find it hard to switch to anything besides it.

I understand what you mean about switching equipment. Old habits are hard to break when you are getting good service out of what you are using. It's like everything else, there is good and bad in all makes and models. Anything can break down no matter what the brand name. My Vermeer is 14 years old now and other than the buzzer in the moniter acting up part of the time I have no complaint with it.

 

[D7E]

You must be a deere fan. Look at the specs on the JD, NH and then Vermeer. The Vermeer beats them both on the rated bale weight. When it comes to round balers, Vermeer was the first on the market and are still setting the standards.

Vermeer are a bit off an odd ball here and don't have a very good name ! JD's are getting less too , Almost all NH/case IH now .

 

[Jd6403]

Vermeer are a bit off an odd ball here and don't have a very good name ! JD's are getting less too , Almost all NH/case IH now .

If I couldn't pick John Deere it would have to be new holland for my second chocie

 

[bulldog69]

I have the only Vermeer baler around my area that I've seen at least. Most people around here have either NH or Gehl balers. I had a NH and have used a Gehl. Both did a good job but the Vermeer is by far the best I have been around. As bad as I hate to admit it I even had a M&W (sore subject) and it was only good for the parts man at the dealership. You only had 2 ways to go with it. Break down in the morning while the dealer was open or break down in the afternoon and hope you got a day of baling in. The only thing you could count on is that it was going to break at some point.

My problem with JD is my local dealership. I only have one that is close to me and if I never set foot in there again it wouldn't make me loose any sleep to say the least. If I didn't know any better I think their motto is the high the price the worse the service. I just can't see paying over $10,000 more for a JD baler than what I can get a Vermeer for.

 

[Renze]

Any sign of Welger/Lely around you ?? hmm... Lely is tied up with Vermeer, maybe we're already talking about the same baler.. Over here its 60% Welger balers at contractors. Some Deutz, some NH, some Krone, some Deere and some cheap italians at private farms.

 

[bulldog69]

When I go to the big Ag Expo I see some of their products but that I know of there aren't any around here. There is a krone dealer not to far from me but the problem with their balers is that they look just like a M&W and I'm not ever going down that road again.

 

[Bigfoot62]

My 2 cents' worth:

I just bought a very nice used round baler. It's a JD 457. Had I not found a good used one, my intention was to buy a new Vermeer 504M. The only other used baler that I would consider is the NH. This is just based on my personal experience.

YMMV

 

[brad123]

We have a vermeer 504M and haven't had the best of luck . 5000 bales and have replaced 7 rollers in an upgrade kit from vermeer.. Unfortunately still not very satisfied.. The bale kicker is terrible if there is any slope at all.. Chains are low quality and wear out quickly.. Had problems with the pickup... not happy

 

[bulldog69]

Brad123, just out of curiousity does your baler have the auto oiler for the chains? Knock on wood, I haven't had any chain trouble out of my baler but it does have the oiler on it and despences a little shot of oil to the chains every time a bale is dumped.