Can you run a small baler with an LS G3038?

[RollingHills]

Looking to bale hay on our small hobby farm. We have an LS G 3038 and are looking at a newholland 276 baler. Will the tractor operate the baler to put up hay on 20 acres of fescue and clover?

 

[milligjg]

Here's a post off of another forum.

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01-26-2006 12:29:50
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Re: Sq Baler HP Requirements in reply to Mike in Houston, 01-26-2006 10:20:46
35HP or bigger works well on most square balers. Live PTO is a big plus when useing one also. I usto us an Oliver 77 to pull a JD-14T and it played with that baler but my Ford 841 didn't do as well with it. The ford is rated as a 45HP tractor and the Oliver is 38HP, the live PTO on the Oliver made a real differance on the baler.

 

[kydick]

i have baled thousands of bales with a 1978 2600 ford gas engine 32 hp tractor and a 1960 new holland super 68 hay baler. used it for 25 years with no problems. i personally dont think you have to have a high horsepower tractor to bale hay for this size bale.

 

[aczlan]

We bale and kick 1-2000 bales of hay into our wagons each year with our NH 276(I think that's the model) with its belt kicker, it gets powered with our Kubota L3830 and that is just enough tractor, I wouldn't want to pull the baler and wagon with less HP or weight.

Aaron Z

 

[rankrank1]

You can bale with a compact tractor (if you pick the correct baler). A NH276 baler is a step up in capacity above many of the older vintage balers and would not necessarily be my preferred choice to hook to a compact tractor due to its increased hp requirements and associated gyro affect.

Baling successfully with a compact tractor usually involves sticking to the smaller and older vintage balers if you wanting to do this on the cheap. There are expensive brand new models of low capacity balers specifically made for itty bitty tractors but they are quite pricey.

If you dead set on a New Holland brand (which I would be) then I would like your chances better if that baler you are looking at was a 273 (or any New Holland model number equal to or lower than a 273 number except I would skip over skipping over the 77 albatross and the 66 wadboard model).

Hours worth of reading on this subject with creative searches.

 

[zzvyb6]

Here's Me cutting and baling with my NH479 mower and baling with my JD-14T. Tractor is a JD 1070 ~35 hp. I used to run both of these machines with a Yanmar 220D. The Yanmar had enough power, but was a little light and hopped around over all the bumps.

I pick up the bales with a NH 1012 Stack wagon. No problems with any of these machines.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hST7oAoFJkA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsnjrhQJfsY

Here'sa friend of mine running a NH baler with his small Kubota:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOEF1-oOk3Y

 

[powerscol]

As mentioned above, Yes, with the right baler. Look up my posts on baling with a compact tractor. You have 32 HP at the pto, a shuttle shift with 12 speeds and with the loader attached just enough weight at about 3600 lbs. The shuttle shift concerns me a bit as with my hydrostatic I can just slow down if things load up. I do go slow in either low range or low middle range.

First you will need filed rear tires, and be ready to go slow. You probably can not tow a wagon behind the baler.

I have a Bobcat CT 235 and run an older Hesston 4550 baler. I only have 26.5 PTO HP. It is the smallest inline they made and runs fine as long as I watch my speed and windrow size. Current model is the MF1835. I tried different units like a 24T, but had too much jerking and rocking motion on the tractor. The inline is much smoother.

If you can, test run a few you are considering to be sure, but my guess would be the smaller units with a 35 HP minimum or less PTO HP requirement. There are other compact balers out there too. Check out SFI small farm innovations

For cutting you can run most any sickle mower (I run and IH 1300 with a 9' bar) and some of the smaller drum mowers. your other choice would be a self propelled swathers with conditioner. Also you can run most of the older side delivery rakes and some of the current rotary rakes - just watch the HP requirements.

Do you have rear hydraulic remotes on your unit. They can come in handy.
Good luck.

 

[RollingHills]

Thank you for the feedback. Much appreciated. We do have filled rear tires and understand we can't pull a wagon as well. Will look for an older NH model per the feedback. Thanks again!

 

[mattv1]

i baled for a few seasons with a 35 horsepower kubota (L3540) and a NH273 baler. Last season i did ~1200 bales or so, didn't have any problems at all.

Here was the 'aftermath' post from my first season. http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/haying/289991-first-haying-season-done-unless.html?highlight=

Upgraded to a Farmall 75C this year though

 

[newbury]

Here's Me cutting and baling with my NH479 mower and baling with my JD-14T. Tractor is a JD 1070 ~35 hp. I used to run both of these machines with a Yanmar 220D. The Yanmar had enough power, but was a little light and hopped around over all the bumps.

I pick up the bales with a NH 1012 Stack wagon. No problems with any of these machines.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hST7oAoFJkA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsnjrhQJfsY

Here'sa friend of mine running a NH baler with his small Kubota:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOEF1-oOk3Y

I really like the "Suburban haying"

also found there.

 

[Tx Jim]

I really like the "Suburban haying"

I had 2 different neighbors that raked hay with a pickup. They found out that hay wrapped around driveshaft got way to close to catalytic convertor would actually BURN. Both neighbors lost pickups and some hay to the fires. Not me Vern because that's why tractors were built for field work. I've also sq baled some hay with a JD BO(14 HP) and a JD 214 baler on flat ground dropping bales on the ground.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I don't think HP is the question or problem. I think, will the pto drive line be built strong enough to take a steady diet of the pounding a baler gives out? OLD tractors had that strong pto drive line, but many compacts don't.

It wasn't all that many years ago I read of a guy here, with an higher HP "L" series Kubota, with a shelled out pto from running a small square baler. The tractor was still under war., but Kubota refused war., saying L's weren't designed to run old balers, the owner should have bought an "M" series...

Personally, I don't and would NOT run an old balers with any of the compact tractors, but it's "your" money... lol

SR

 

[newbury]

I had 2 different neighbors that raked hay with a pickup. They found out that hay wrapped around driveshaft got way to close to catalytic convertor would actually BURN. Both neighbors lost pickups and some hay to the fires. Not me Vern because that's why tractors were built for field work. I've also sq baled some hay with a JD BO(14 HP) and a JD 214 baler on flat ground dropping bales on the ground.

My first thought on seeing that was FIRE!!
Especially at the end of the clip where it looks like she has to drive over the windrow.

 

[Bigfoot62]

I don't think HP is the question or problem. I think, will the pto drive line be built strong enough to take a steady diet of the pounding a baler gives out? OLD tractors had that strong pto drive line, but many compacts don't. . .

Rob,
I was wondering about that myself.
Something else I was thinking, is that even though these newer tractors are rated at a higher HP, it's also at a greatly increased RPM. The old tractors developed peak HP at a much lower RPM, and therefore had a lot more torque. Wouldn't that figure into the equation as well?

I'm not an engineer. Just an old farm boy thinking out loud.
My :2cents:

 

[rankrank1]

I don't think HP is the question or problem. I think, will the pto drive line be built strong enough to take a steady diet of the pounding a baler gives out? OLD tractors had that strong pto drive line, but many compacts don't.

It wasn't all that many years ago I read of a guy here, with an higher HP "L" series Kubota, with a shelled out pto from running a small square baler. The tractor was still under war., but Kubota refused war., saying L's weren't designed to run old balers, the owner should have bought an "M" series...

Personally, I don't and would NOT run an old balers with any of the compact tractors, but it's "your" money... lol

SR

You are not all wrong. Even big size farm tractors that see steady diets of extensive baling definitely can see increased ware inside the tractors PTO/tranny driveline.

That said if someone is intent on baling with a compact tractor then your chances of success certainly increase in IMOP when you stick to the small low capacity low hp balers.

I have baled for several years with my little Kubota L285 tractor. I do not feel I hurt it all. I had about the absolute smallest baler you can buy and I was only doing just a few acres. In comparison, the bushog and tall weeds seem much harder on the PTO driveline than my little baler ever did.

That all said: Now that I have a fleet of junker tractors to use besides the Kubota, I typically will bale with the Farmall m or Farmall h instead of using my little bota. Why: I simply do not want to risk damaging the bota. The m and h were dirt cheap to purchase and have much more metal in the PTO driveline to handle the blaer shocks. Slim to none chance I could tear one of them farmalls up. Even if I did parts are cheap and plentiful everywhere.

Classifying compact tractors can be difficult. Some are built decently heavy relative to their size and others are not. Regardless, for more than a 5-8 acres piddle patch then I would use a heavier built tractor.