Hay Making on a Different Scale

[5030]

Is there an advantage to making them 4x4? I've never seen them that size anywhere. I try to buy the biggest bales I can. 4x6 is my favorite size to buy

In reality Eddie, it all comes down to the end user being able to handle them. My customer has the equipment to handle large rounds but not every end user has that. I can roll 4x4's as well or 4x5's or even 4x6's though at 4x6, my round bailer is at it's limits and that size adversely impacts the life of the unit, especially the belts. Nice thing about the new round bailer I own is, I can control the density of the round bales continuously, even when making a bale. Just a matter of adjusting the on board computer on the fly. I like to run my bales with a soft center (for easy spearing and loading while running maximum density as the bale grows in size because it gives my customer a sold bale that weathers even better if not kept inside (he don't keep them all inside, don't have the room) and why he wants them in net in the first place because a netted bale repels water better than a twined bale. Consequently, all mine are 4x5. That gives him the best bang for his buck and the net, along with the high density wraps allow the bales to weather better for him. I'd much rather twine them because it is less expensive than net but in my case that don't work for him, so they get netted. I considered a bale wrapper at one time but for me it would just be an added expense I don't need.

 

[LHF2019]

A lot of the customers could not handle 4x5 baleage. It would just be to heavy. Depending on moisture level I can get 4x4 to push the 1000 lbs weight. I like it on the dryer side so figure I average 8-900 lbs. Wrapped clover before and that was into the 1200 lbs range.

@5030 When I switched to net from twine I found for me the price was within cents. I wrapped my rounds aggressively because I wanted a nice flat bale. Think it cost at that time $1.00 to wrap a bale. Don't know what it is now that prices have gone up but I will never go back to twine.

 

[5030]

I keep a couple mega balls of twine in the twine rack on the bailer just in case I have an issue with the net wrapper. Net has went way up in price though I have not bought any lately. My Kubota dealer is carrying Kubota branded net which is Tama (same as John Deere, different color) but candidly, I prefer Bridon net and will most likely buy that when I require some. The Tama is made in India but the Bridon is made here so you know what I prefer. One of the guys on Hay Talks is a Bridon dealer and been buying it from him and he cuts me a deal on shipping as well so long as I buy at least 5 rolls at a time.

One nice thing about the new bailer I have now is the twine arms overlap so it applies twine in a criss cross manner unlike the New Holland I sold, not that I use it much anyway. Like I said, just there, just in case. Always good to be prepared for any eventuality.

I had enough issues with twine when I had my NH 575, I don't miss it really. Why I'd never have a large square bailer, one, my customer cannot handle the mega squares and all those knotters scare me. He's entirely geared for rounds and I'm all good with that actually. The more mechanical stuff, the more chance of issues. My 575 always ran quite well but when it didn't, it was always a pita. I even had the knotter blowers and the one shot lubrication on it. All gone and glad it's gone.

I never cared for the way the New Holland net insertion was set up either. You had to thread the net in the center of the duckbill and I was always getting cut by the net knife. The new bailer I now have, net insertion is on the left side through a window in the duckbill and nowhere near the net knife. Off the roll, over the top spreader roll, under the second spreader roll and into the window with a 12-14" tail sticking out below the duckbill and that is it and I'll run the first net wrap on manual to be sure it's spreading full width and then switch it over to automatic. I usually wrap at 2.5 wraps per bale. If I run wheat straw I'll jump it up to 3-3.5 wraps per bale, depending on how 'crumbly' the straw is. I don't round bale much wheat straw but I do it occasionally.

My ongoing issue is, I presently don't have my bailer here. it's at the dealer getting refitted with scrapers on the main drive roll as well as the tailgate roll. I was building hay on the main drive roll last year and I was worried that the increasing diameter on the main drive roll would eventually cause the belts to fail and my dealer had the Kubota district rep look at it and they agreed so it's getting refitted at no cost to me I might add and so far Dennis (who is the lead tech at the dealer) has spent almost 3 days refitting it. Kubota didn't make any money on this one as their labor rate is 130 bucks an hour. Kubota sent them the incorrect hardware the first time and had to air freight the correct hardware.

I see that now Kubota is supplying ALL the new bailers with scraper bars and my dealer has 4 more bailers like mine that will have to be modified.

Soon as I get the bailer back, weather permitting, I'll be cutting, raking and bailing. Getting a bit rank but it is first cut anyway.

Weather here don't look good either.

 

[Hay Dude]

Guess some people haven’t left the 1980’s because any large square baler can make shorter bales that will stack more efficiently than round bales. And the speed of production is like 3 times faster. Speed is everything when you rely on hay for a primary source of income or you are in a rainy area.

We make 300 or more 5x4x4 “cubes” per year. They have replaced round bales in every way, are easier to transport and store inside with less wasted space. They meet the typical 1,000lb round bales in weight.

I have a dozen large beef producers in my area I also sell the full 4x4x8 bales to. Small bales get devoured in minutes, so they prefer the big bales.

 

[5030]

It's a nice bailer none the less. I just wish it wasn't all electronically controlled. I do like the in cab screen and the driving portion of it. Has a 'steering wheel' on the screen that guides me in filling the bale chamber entirely and it came with centralized pressure lubrication (except the drive chains) and it even tracks net usage and tells me when the roll is almost used up so no having to watch it unlike the New Holland where I had to pay attention to how much net was left and I got it with flotation tires as well.

 

[Coffee drinker]

Another big advantage of the square baler is less leaf loss on crops like alfalfa when it gets on the dry side for baling. Maybe not so important for beef cattle but a whole different story for dairy.

 

[5030]

Guess some people haven’t left the 1980’s because any large square baler can make shorter bales that will stack more efficiently than round bales. And the speed of production is like 3 times faster. Speed is everything when you rely on hay for a primary source of income or you are in a rainy area.

We make 300 or more 5x4x4 “cubes” per year. They have replaced round bales in every way, are easier to transport and store inside with less wasted space. They meet the typical 1,000lb round bales in weight.

I have a dozen large beef producers in my area I also sell the full 4x4x8 bales to. Small bales get devoured in minutes, so they prefer the big bales.

Whatever. What you do and what I do are 2 distinctly different things and again, my customer prefers rounds in net so that is what he gets. The knotters on your large bailer would cause me consternation and besides, I'd have to buy a larger tractor to run it and not something I'm at all comfortable with. I'm fine with what I run and they have been paid for many years ago.

 

[5030]

Another big advantage of the square baler is less leaf loss on crops like alfalfa when it gets on the dry side for baling. Maybe not so important for beef cattle but a whole different story for dairy.

Never been an issue here because I watch the RM when I'm bailing so shatter isn't an issue and never has been. I know exactly what what the RM is as the hay is being run into the feed table at all times. What the Delmhorst with it's slipper shoes are for.

 

[5030]

If every operation was the same, we'd all be running big square bailers behind big power. They aren't all the same and what you run (Hay Dude) and what I run or what anyone else runs will be intrinsic to their particular operations. My operation is tailored to my customer's needs and not to my wants and I'll leave it at that.

 

[Coffee drinker]

Never been an issue here because I watch the RM when I'm bailing so shatter isn't an issue and never has been. I know exactly what what the RM is as the hay is being run into the feed table at all times. What the Delmhorst with it's slipper shoes are for.

Knowing what moisture is helps but you know as well as I baling at the optimum moisture is not always possible. Big squares are also better if you are loading into a tmr mixer without preprocessing the bale and you need to hit the weight within 30 kgs. Rounds are better for storing outside. We try to buy squares for the ones we can shed because they stack better. The ones we can't shed we try to get rounds.