I need a round baler!
- Thread starter matt21
- Start date
- Views: 74348
chh
Veteran Member
What size are you looking for? Condition, condition, condition is the keyword when you start shopping for a round baler. Hesston balers are owned by Agco and now sold as MF balers. They are not as popular as some other brands and tend to run a bit cheaper. Gehl made a good baler but Gehl has gotten out of the ag market. There are some deals around on them and parts a still available thru Gehl.
Winter seems to me to be the time to shop for hay equipment. I bought a near new(still under warranty) baler in January this year on got a good deal.
Check out fastline and tractorhouse online. You can get a pretty good idea whats available and prices.
Winter seems to me to be the time to shop for hay equipment. I bought a near new(still under warranty) baler in January this year on got a good deal.
Check out fastline and tractorhouse online. You can get a pretty good idea whats available and prices.
HayDR
Veteran Member, Approved Advertiser
What size round baler are you looking for? What size tractors do you have?matt21 said:
I'd like to have a 4' wide baler. 4x5 is the size bales i prefer, but i know that some people still prefer 5x5 or 5x6. The tractor i have right now is 43 pto hp but i'm looking at about a 60 pto hp tractor to use with my MoCo and for a round baler when i get one.
ozzie tractor
Gold Member
matt21 said:
it all depends on what you want to spend. i use a krone vp1800 now, had a vp1500 and a kr10-16 krone before that. i would buy a vp again but would never recommend a kr series krone to anyone. was glad to see the end of that machine .
the gehl gear was always a good bet, just stay away from the ones with the full computer controls on them as they have a fairly expensive habit of dying. the 1475 was probably the pick of them but the 1470 wasnt bad either, the best thing about gehl is they don't need huge horsepower to drive them (as opposed to krone, which is quicker but 60hp wont really do the job despite what the brochure says)
Farmwithjunk
Super Member
My son has a Vermeer 5400 Rebel baler. I've used it behind 47hp and was most impressed. Really good support on Vermeer products in this area too.
ozzie tractor
Gold Member
Farmwithjunk said:
i cant argue with the quality of a vermeer either. i have a friend with one and it has give very few issues
I found an older vermeer 605f baler. I've heard they're good balers but i have no experience with round baling so i don't know. I'm also looking for a bi-fold wheel rake. I'm wanting to trade my 12' Discbine in on a used baler and possibly a rake if the right ones come along, but no one around here wants to take in a 12'er.
HayDR
Veteran Member, Approved Advertiser
The 605F bale usually sell for $1,000- $3000 Tops. Realize this 605F baler will make a tight bale of hay but is close to 30 years old. I do not know what your budget is but if you can find a good Vermeer 605J or 605k baler, you will spend $5000-$8000 and have close to the current technology used in the latest balers. These later model balers will be worth about the same 5 years from now when you want to update.matt21 said:
This is a 605 J baler.
I'm on a shoestring budget right now but i also don't want something that i'm gonna have to work on every 2 or 3 bales. I would be willing to pay that much for one, i just have to sell my Discbine first. I found a Case-IH 8455 round baler that seems to be in good condition for $3500.
chh
Veteran Member
You are going to need a bigger tractor than you mentioned to run a 605 to its potential. I used a 4020 JD on a 605 (C or D) that I had. It was a load on the 4020 with a full bale. You will need to stay in the 4x5 range of baler if you want to run it with 60 hp. IMO
Weight of the tractor is another factor. My MF 2746 A recommends 65 pto hp min. 80 pto is recomended and a min of 6000 lbs of tractor weight. A round baler can really push a tractor around on hills.
Weight of the tractor is another factor. My MF 2746 A recommends 65 pto hp min. 80 pto is recomended and a min of 6000 lbs of tractor weight. A round baler can really push a tractor around on hills.
slowzuki
Elite Member
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2003
- Messages
- 4,156
- Location
- New Brunswick, Canada
- Tractor
- Kubota L5030 HSTC, MF 5455, Kubota M120, Allis Chalmers 7010
Depends what 60 hp too, the little 4x4 rounder behind my Kubota L5030HSTC is hardly noticable compared to a square baler in fairly hilly fields. I'm sure a 4x5 would be a load on the hill, I'm sure a 5x5 would be way too much simply for weight of the full baler.
Well, i looked at a Zetor 7711 cab tractor yesterday that has 67 PTO HP. It would handle it a lot better since it has more power and weighs more. Also that case 8455 is a 4x6 twine baler but i would just make a 4x5 with it to keep the weight down. Plus 4x6s aren't as stable as 4x5s.
chh
Veteran Member
If you plan on baling very much you will want a cab. I did it for years without it and the only thing worse than not having a cab is having one with air that doesn't work. The Zetor would be closer, but would be better on the 4x6 than the 5x6 Vermeer. I see and have run 120 hp tractors on 5x6 balers. 4x6 bales are stable if you make a good square shouldered bale. I have only had 1 fall over this year. It rolled down a hill and flipped over when it hit a dip. I made sure I ejected bales a little more carefully after that.
I'm not familiar with the Case-IH model your mentioning. Some models where made by Hesston and some by New Holland if I remember correctly.
I'm not familiar with the Case-IH model your mentioning. Some models where made by Hesston and some by New Holland if I remember correctly.
The 8455 model was made by hesston. It only has about 3,000-4,000 bales on it. It comes with a monitor.
So it sounds like a 4x6 would be better for me with the horsepower i'm running. I just don't want to get a tractor with more than about 80hp for fuel consumption reasons.
The zetor does have a cab with air conditioning that works(at the moment)
So it sounds like a 4x6 would be better for me with the horsepower i'm running. I just don't want to get a tractor with more than about 80hp for fuel consumption reasons.
The zetor does have a cab with air conditioning that works(at the moment)
chh
Veteran Member
Maybe....I have seen balers with 20,000 bales on them that were ready to go into the field and work and I have seen balers with 5000 bales(or less) that needed extensive work before they would ever be field ready. All that said round balers are not that complex of a machine and all in generally speaking 4000 bales isn't much. Has it been stored under cover when it wasn't working? If it has set out its entire life the bearings on the rollers may not last long. Sun and weather is not very good on the belts either. If you can hook it up to a tractor and run it a bit it should tell you a lot. The baler should be fairly quiet. Listen for bearings squeaking and rattles or grinding in the pickup area. The chains should run smoothly and be adjusted so that they aren't running with a lot of slack. Sprockets should not be worn to the point the are sharp on the points. The price you quoted is pretty cheap for that model.
ozzie tractor
Gold Member
just check the belts and belt joiners (if its got them, some are continuous belts, some are joined) keep an eye out for cracks coming from the joiners, tears and gashes etc as the belts can become hard over time and will continually crack out, also look at the sides of the belts and make sure they have not been rubbing due to not tracking properly, this is usually caused by a bearing failure etc, because 1 belt isn't all that expensive but a full set can add up.
chh
Veteran Member
I don't know if anything that would be hurt by just sitting unless it was the belts and tires if it was under cover. If it has sensors on the baler that go with the monitor, check that something didn't eat all the wiring off also. The bearings in the rollers generally are not all that expensive or to hard to change( belts may have to be removed) but you don't want one to fail while baling. Hot chunks of metal out of a flopping roller falling into dry hay can make for an interesting day.
Get it hooked up to a tractor and let it all turn for a bit if you can. Run the door and tie mechanism thru a few cycles while you are at it. A smaller tractor can spin it over if it is just setting.
Get it hooked up to a tractor and let it all turn for a bit if you can. Run the door and tie mechanism thru a few cycles while you are at it. A smaller tractor can spin it over if it is just setting.
