small sq baler input HP

Robert_in_NY · Apr 2, 2006

Scott, what model Case baler is that? My friend has one that I can buy cheap if I wanted to but it is hard to find Case baler parts but it would be fun to fix it up and put it behind my old Massey Harris. The baler even has the Case thrower so I can use my kicker wagons if I wanted to play /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

jimg · Apr 2, 2006

How are you figuring 90hp as the spec, I think, is around 75? Just curious b/c this baler spec thing seems to be a big crap shoot if Im understanding the entire conversation. For someone getting into haying its pretty confusing. I want to be as efficient as possible but only have marketing blurbs to plan w/.

Robert_in_NY · Apr 2, 2006

The "Minimum" spec to run the 575 is 75 pto hp. That is what NH states is just enough. The 90 hp figure is what everyone who has run a 575 tells me is the ideal hp to run this baler at. They would rather have at least 100 pto horses in front of it but 90 is a good machine.

jimg · Apr 2, 2006

I see...still 100hp is quite alot of tractor. Do you have an idea of how much faster bales can be made at 100hp than 75? I assume thats where the advantage comes in -- being able to move faster over the field.

Robert_in_NY · Apr 2, 2006

I don't have any idea. I have never hooked the 7710 up to the 575 yet as I got it late last summer and didn't want to mess around wiring it up then. I will see how it handles it this year though. My 7710 is putting out 110 pto horses so it should be a big difference between what the TN and TL-A did on the 575. The TL-A was a big upgrade over the TN and that was around 75-80 pto horses if I remember right so I can tell you more around the end of May early June.

jwcinpk · Apr 3, 2006

110 horses for a square baler? Couldn't you use the same tractor to run one of the new giant square balers? I don't believe there is a 110 hp tractor in my whole region! Looks to me like if you had to put up that much hay you'd be rolling. Maybe then in a seperate setup changing to squares.
How many squares are you guys doing a year?

cowboydoc · Apr 3, 2006

My family will usually put up around 50,000 a year.

jwcinpk · Apr 3, 2006

Wow I cannot imagine! I don't think there are that many put up in all of SE KY. Are you using wagons or some sort of bale bandit setup? Or migrant workers?

jimg · Apr 3, 2006

Ill be doing small sqs b/c of the market Im planning to target. That market almost exclusively requires small sqs b/c theyre easy to move, store and transport. If I was making hay for myself then yes, rd bales would probably be ideal.

jimg · Apr 3, 2006

I would be interested in hearing a yr end report about how it goes.

riptides · Apr 3, 2006

Do you have a business plan? I am curious as I let yet another season get away from me. We would eventually like to start our own haying operation. So I have been following to see how others have started up.

Thanks!
-Mike Z.

cowboydoc · Apr 3, 2006

Ours is all done with hay stackers and stacked outside. A one man operation.

Robert_in_NY · Apr 3, 2006

Last year was a bad year but I baled up 180 acres. I am cutting back on hay ground and will only do up 100 acres this year and turn the rest over into corn and oats.

It is common to have large tractors on small square balers. The big dairy farms here have a big Magnum and the other has a MX200 on their 575's.

My market is horse owners so rolling does not do much good around here. I do some rounds but they are for the grape farmers to lay mulch in their vineyards to protect the roots from freezing on the gravel ground.

I am building a new barn this year that will house at least 10k bales as storage has always been my limiting factor to where I couldn't get a second cutting one year because I had no more room.

Robert_in_NY · Apr 3, 2006

( Ours is all done with hay stackers and stacked outside. A one man operation. )

Stop rubbing it in Doc /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

slowzuki · Apr 4, 2006

For comparison our JD336 asks for 35 pto hp on the plate. My 43 pto hp on the L5030 w hydro runs it great without a wagon behind. The neighbours 52 pto hp tractor, gear model, has no trouble powering it but only has two gears around the correct baling speed and it is a wide gap between them.

If I was pulling a wagon behind the baler, I would want my tractor to weigh at least as much as them which puts you up in the 75 pto hp range or ballasted 60 hp range. A neighbour pulls a baler and big thrower wagon behind a Ford 3000 (about 40 pto hp) and has no problems on the flat. It is a squirely rig on hills though.

Robert_in_NY · Apr 4, 2006

I talked to the JD rep about the ratings for the JD balers and he said they are the minimums but that the owners more or less need to know the proper hp and size tractor to put in front. Even the guys I know running JD balers want 90-100 horse tractors in front of them to take full advantage of their capacity. Yes, you can get by with less as I have been with my TN and 575 but when you put a 90 horse tractor in front of that baler you see a huge difference for the better.

dgl24087 · Apr 4, 2006

When I was a teenager, 25+ years ago, I worked for my uncle and cousin in the summers in the hayfields. We pulled a NH 310 and a wagon with a JD 1530 (45 PTO HP) on some fairly steep ground in WV. We typically baled 5-7000 bales each summer, tractor and baler did fine.

slowzuki · Apr 5, 2006

The 336 I have runs out of capacity before I run outta power. The 5030 can run it in enough hay to stall the pickup and feed auger and produce bales with a half dozen or so flakes per bales. The problem becomes dragging a wagon behind on hills. I don't have enought weight or power to do this.

My L5030 weighs in around 6500lbs so to haul itself, 3000 lb baler and a 5000 lb wagon up a decent hill is impossible on its 42 pto hp.

( Yes, you can get by with less as I have been with my TN and 575 but when you put a 90 horse tractor in front of that baler you see a huge difference for the better. )

cowboydoc · Apr 6, 2006

You are 100% right slowzuki. You can run a baler with a lightweight tractor but it's not smart and on anything but flat ground it is not going to work. If you put hills into the equation there's no way those tractors do it. I don't care what's being said here. We usually bale with the 6415 and there are times it gets hairy on the hills so I know that a 30 hp tractor is not going to do the job.

scott_vt · Apr 6, 2006

Hi Robert,
That a good question, and one that I dont have an answer to. I know the fella was using his Super M and the tractor died and he had to get that hay in. He had 100 bales on the wagon and that little A just kept clawing away, he even had to steer with the brakes at the end but it got the job done /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I believe the guys name is Ken Koch out in Illinois I believe.

The photo came from Yesterdays Tractors, antique photo section.

scotty