4x4 round balers - good ones?

jdbnh · Mar 11, 2011

MyJoBota said:
Let me take my question one step further and ask what is typically required on your tracter to make hay? For example I realize you need a draw bar and a certain amount of horse power but what about pto and pto spd., 3 pt. hitch, hydraulic remotes, 12v. electical outlet, ect... ???

well it all depends on the baler and bale size you are making as far as the hp you will need. but sicne this thread is talking about a 4x4 or 4x5 baler all the horse power you would need is 40 for a 4x4 or 60 for a 4x5. and that is pto hp. most round balers only need one set of hydraulic remotes to open and close the tailgate on the baler to eject your bale. you would need another set if your baler was equipt with a hydraulic cylinder on your pickup attachment to raise and lower it. so at the most two. but only one is a have to have. most balers run on normal 540 pto. some people want 1000 especially on say a 5x6 baler but not often. your electrical is simple on a twine tie only baler, you have a simple monitor that has a full bale alarm and bale chamber gauges to direct you side to side if need be to fill your bale chamber evenly to make a nice bale. If you have net wrap your monitor is more like a little computer. you can change all your bale settings and wraps, etc from inside the cab. it has bar graphs for your bale chamber fill and a near full bale alarm and a full bale alarm. but both are simpply hooked to your battery and a ground. (this is all info based on New Holland's system, most other brands are similar but not totally, new holland has the simpliest, user friendly, setup) any more ?? let me know

HayDR · Mar 11, 2011

MyJoBota said:
Not to Hi-Jack this thread but I have a simple question. How many remotes are typically required to run these balers?

Most round baler these days only need one spool or pair of couplers. The twine and or net is electrically controlled. Hydraulic twine ties can require more spools or on older JD's have a diverter valve mounted on the baler.

bigbull338 · Mar 11, 2011

jdbnh said:
well it all depends on the baler and bale size you are making as far as the hp you will need. but sicne this thread is talking about a 4x4 or 4x5 baler all the horse power you would need is 40 for a 4x4 or 60 for a 4x5. and that is pto hp. most round balers only need one set of hydraulic remotes to open and close the tailgate on the baler to eject your bale. you would need another set if your baler was equipt with a hydraulic cylinder on your pickup attachment to raise and lower it. so at the most two. but only one is a have to have. most balers run on normal 540 pto. some people want 1000 especially on say a 5x6 baler but not often. your electrical is simple on a twine tie only baler, you have a simple monitor that has a full bale alarm and bale chamber gauges to direct you side to side if need be to fill your bale chamber evenly to make a nice bale. If you have net wrap your monitor is more like a little computer. you can change all your bale settings and wraps, etc from inside the cab. it has bar graphs for your bale chamber fill and a near full bale alarm and a full bale alarm. but both are simpply hooked to your battery and a ground. (this is all info based on New Holland's system, most other brands are similar but not totally, new holland has the simpliest, user friendly, setup) any more ?? let me know

you left out the 5 by 6 balers they need 70 to 75 pto hp to pull nicely.

jdbnh · Mar 11, 2011

big bull you are right and actually on a 5x6 85 to 90 hp is better. time you factor in your A/C, heat outside, field condition, etc. the 5x6 calls for a minimum of 80 pto so a little extra is good.

blueriver · Mar 11, 2011

MyJoBota said:
Let me take my question one step further and ask what is typically required on your tracter to make hay? For example I realize you need a draw bar and a certain amount of horse power but what about pto and pto spd., 3 pt. hitch, hydraulic remotes, 12v. electical outlet, ect... ???

540 pto speed I would think is most common, the 3 point is not used, 1 hyd remote for the tail gate, and hard wire your monitor to the system, the electric tie is in the monitor system, unless you have hyd tie then another set of remotes.

Verticaltrx · Mar 11, 2011

I would say the PTO hp's listed above are the absolute minimum and really you wouldn't be happy using them much on those size tractors. We pull our 4x4 round baler with either a 65pto hp tractor or a 85pto hp tractor. They both move along pretty quick with it but on some of the steep hills the 65hp tractor will be down in 2nd gear to pull it. I know a guy that used to run the same size baler with a 40pto hp tractor and every time he would hit a big clump of hay it would stall the tractor instantly.

When you get up to the big balers they can take a lot of power to run efficiently. Most guys around here use tractors with at least 100pto hp for 5x6 balers. I used to know a guy that did custom baling with a JD 4650 (165pto hp) and 556 JD round baler. Talk about putting up some hay, I never did ask him how fast he ran it but on some of the flat fields I bet he would be going 10-12mph or better.