All Time Baling Record?

[SPYDERLK]

I used to be in a crew for a guy in the hay business, and we did lots of days around 2500+- into the barn. We'd show up @ 8 with 3-4 wagons lined up and maybe get ahead of the baler by mid afternoon. If two balers we're going then we wouldn't get ahead. Usually we'd have 4 in the barn and 2 unloading and 1 running wagons. The elevator could handle hay end to end and if Jim came from the field and the elevator wasn't packed solid, the guys on the wagon would hear it.

True, but it made more sense for the farmer to have hay ready to go into the barn as he could get more work out of us while we were there while not having to run two balers that day.
From my perspective in the barn all day, it didn't matter when the bales where made, those wagons just kept coming...

Yes. ... And 2500, even with that preparation/headstart, goes to show the magnitude of a 10K bale feat.

,,,larry

 

[WillysWoodPile]

In the 70's we did custom baling and made a lot of hay to sell. David Brown 990 and NH 273; 1740 bales dropped on the ground about 4 hours. Hay was raked from day before and didn't get dry till late afternoon.
Windrows were big; You could jump from 1 bale to the next. And by the way that old 273 would bale in 1000 rpm and do a good job of it.
Same era we baled 3400 and 2 boys stacked them on flatbed wagons more help took them to the barn and unloaded. 6 wagons 1 baler 1 rake 2 other tractors and a pickup moving wagons.
Move up a few years help got harder to get, NH 311 with a thrower, I do 1000 bales after work with a kid in the field to have the empty wagon right where I need it when I need it.
Now I make mostly round bales and work by my self and don't sell hay anymore , just feed my cows and horses.
By the way I have neighbor that does 5-6000 square bales in a day 1 new jd baler a huge rake and lots of help...............SO yes it can be done easy with 2 balers.

Thank you DirtFarms. I appreciate your showing that it can be done.

As to the other posts in effect calling me a liar... shame on you. Just because YOU can't do it doesn't mean somebody else can't [do it].

I apologize if I presented the facts in a way that made it seem impossible. In any case... "It was done". And I remember talking to my uncle Lee and he [re] figured and it may have been between 9,000-10,000 bales.
--This is the last post I will make in this thread. If any do not believe my uncle then that is their choice. But do not call me or him a liar on these boards.
-- We have not had animals on our farms for many years now. We grow about 800 acres of corn and about 700 acres of soybeans. We have around 2,000 acres. My grandmother died a couple years ago and my uncles are splitting up the farms.

 

[texas42]

As I explained before, I grew up on a dairy farm. We would put up about 20,000 bales of hay per year given 1st and 2nd cutting. We also did custom baling which when I became a teenager was my job. If you bale good 16 x 18 x 36 inch bales, 1,000 to 1,200 bales per day with one baler is about the limit. Now if you are talking about the small kicker bales, or two or three balers that could be a different story.

 

[slowzuki]

I think there is a bit of a tall tale there. In that area of michigan doing dry hay you have at most in the best part of July 8 hours to bale, and you likely need acid to do that. Most days closer to 6 tops. Lets run with 8 hours, and a baler from the late 70's like a JD 336 to get you some extra capacity, you can make 200 pretty and 32" shorty bales per hour or 350 or so rougher looking bales per hour. You won't find many fields to keep that up all day but 300 bale per hour average on that era baler can be done.

So we have 300 x 8 = 2400 bales per day. I've baled for many years with a JD 336 before I got my JD 348 to go with it and I'll tell you, 2400 bales, that would be a baling day for the record books.

I ran my 348 hard one day last year on a 100 hp tractor and we managed to get almost 1700 bales in about 5 hours one day. It has about 10-20% more capacity than my 336. I didn't stop for barely anything and the person raking did a perfect job ahead of me in good yielding fields so the pickup was full. With a few more improvements I could have made 2500 bales if I had the full 8 hours but that is the exception.

When we run the 336 and 348 together 500+ bales per hour is pretty easy but that is still only 4000 bales per perfect day.

I know of a farm running a triple hitch with 3 high capacity inline balers in the dry west were they can do 12 hour days, and they are getting 6000 bales a day.

I also know a neighbour that running a high capacity baler, running with acid to extend his baling window to maybe 10 hours, has made into the 3000's with one baler in a day maybe twice in the last 20 years.

Growing up I worked for a farm that ran an 80's era MF224 baler with 18 people on the haying crew the best day I recall was 18 wagon loads that would average about 200 bales each.

--- I have asked my Uncle Lee this question a couple of times over the last 20 years so I am fairly certain it is accurate.
--- I asked him what was the most bales of hay he had ever baled in one day. He said that he and his buddies baled, and put up, about 10,000 bales in one day. He also said that they did not quit at the normal time (if there is such a thing) but continued [I assume] well into the night.
--- This would have been in the 60's or 70's.

--- Does anybody have a similar tale where you baled until you couldn't bale anymore?
--- I've yet to ask him how many guys he had baling with him to get an accurate picture of what I am describing. But I will tomorrow.

 

[dlrfarms]

Now if ya'll were baling with ih 45 I could see where it would hardly be possible to bale 5-600 a day . Mom and my bro tied more bales
by hand than it tied the whole time we had it. I wish I was in my 20's again with the machinery we have today;cabs,ac,sunshades etc.
When you got paid by the bale you learned to make every move count.Dad would never stop the baler only to switch wagons if we was pulling one. You added more twine on the go, Try and ride the wagon hitch and tie a knot that will go thru the knotters! You should see some of these guys around here that sell to the horse market go after it when things are right.

 

[5030]

2 years ago I did a contract wheat straw behind a combime (rotary) and baled 3000 small squares (on the ground) in 8 hours with my large frame Kubby and NH 575. All I did was stop to fill the twine box 2 times and get a bottle or 2 of water from the cooler. Glad I didn't have to pick them up.....

I would never bale hay after dark, in fact I would never bale hay once the sun goes down. Too much moisture from dew.

 

[RickB]

Thank you DirtFarms. I appreciate your showing that it can be done.

.

Big difference between showing and telling. This thread is all tell, no show.

I'm still not buying.

 

[rmk700]

He specified, "he and his buddies" so he could of had 9 'buddies' which each had a baler. 10 balers could do it in one 24 hr day.

 

[Sysop]

This would get some work done in short order...

 

[murphy1244]

That was way cool! Thanks!:thumbsup: