Small tractor hay baling???

[RichNJKubota]

I use a Kubota L4310 HST for baling 10 acres. The baler is NH 320 w/kicker. The land is very gently sloped. I use 4WD and have filled rear tires and FEL. I pull a hay wagon behind the baler to catch the bales. It works well. But like most other posters have mentioned - I go real slow and take my time. No hurry as safety is the biggest factor.
On my own I would have not even considered using a hay wagon but the neighbor farmer thought my tractor could pull both the baler and wagon. He was right.
When I went looking for a baler I wanted something smaller than a 320 but the 320 was the right price ($1800) and in good condition.

 

[slowzuki]

I run a Kubota L5030hstc with loader, loaded tires, 42 pto hp, weighs about 6500 lb with a JD 336 baler behind it. It handles it very nicely but I would not even think about a wagon behind it except on the flat.

If you went to a much older low capacity baler like a JD 14 you would be better off and maybe could pull it ok on 30 hp.

4 acres isn't much hay even if you are in a high yield area. Here it would be about 400 bales and would take me a bit under an hour to bale.

I also mow with a 9 ft haybine and do some raking/tedding. The short compact tractors are really too rough riding in our fields to be good at tedding/raking. Just going to a 2 ft longer wheelbase makes such a difference.

 

[7864]

New Holland,in the sixties made a compact baler that made 14 x 16 bales instead of 14 x 18.It was called a compact 65.My father bought it new in 1964.It was made for small tractor ,small acre baling.It could be run comfortably with a 30 hp tractor.Hills and full wagons towed behind required a lot more tractor though.

 

[jimg]

Fro some reason the reply I made a couple days ago to this thread diappeared...

agriquip does make a (round) baler for compact tractors. You can find out more at their website.

 

[MikePA]

Fro some reason the reply I made a couple days ago to this thread diappeared...

You mean Post #19?

 

[jimg]

Yup, that would be it...Im not used to the new display formats yet...sorry

 

[Renze]

contractor baled some hay for us with a 160 hp Ursus last week... In previous years we also had them bale with a Deutz D40, his wife's 35 year old horse chores tractor, when no other machine was available to bale.. In his fleet of Zetor, Ursus and Case Magnums he usually keeps one 80 hp Belarus for baling, it is only used for light jobs like baling and corn planting, but it has the flywheel mass to keep the baler going.

regarding these old tractors, It's the flywheel mass that did the trick, the 2 and 3 cylinder machines ran slower revs so they required a heavier flywheel.

 

[Bob_Young]

Back in the '80s, the only tractors we had were a gas 3 cylinder Ford 2000 (about 35HP) and an old JD40 (maybe 22HP). We baled about 15 acres every year and got about 1200 to 1600 bales of mostly orchard grass hay that we sold to people raising horses. The baler was a very tempermental McCormick 45. I grew to hate that thing.

Most of the time we baled with the Ford and did OK. We dropped the bales on the ground and took our time. When the hay got real heavy, the Ford couldn't hack it. First gear was too fast and the baler clogged repeatedly.

Because we had nothing else, we tried the old JD and were amazed to find that it worked in the heavy hay. The baler definitely had the little Johnny Popper rocking, but first gear was so low that we could successfully bale the heavy stuff....even in one quite hilly field. It was not anything I'd recommend to anyone. When the whole rocking shebang headed up the hill, you were never quite sure what the outcome would be. The JD may not have taken the task "in stride", but it never let us down.

Later we got a compact Ford baler of questionable lineage. It always baled like a dream (compared to the old 45, anything would) no matter what was pulling it. That baler is painted red and lacks any discernable model designation. Based on the paint color, I'd guess it is a late '50s, early '60s product. I still have it, but the hayfields have been defunct for several years. I'm hoping to get one reseeded next year and try baling with the L4300.
Bob

 

[ahoude]

I really appriciate all the replys. Moving to where I have enough land to consider something like this has my mind racing as to what I can actually do with it. Sounds like 30 HP is enough to do everything OK with the actual baling marginal. I have access to 45 HP Kioti (about 2 hrs round trip) that may be the way to go for running a baler if I decide to do this.

 

[Banjo]

FWIW, I have a NH271 baler that I've used behind my AC 14 (~30HP, maybe 5500# with loader and filled tires) and IH674 (~60HP, likely ~5000# as no loader, don't think the tires are filled). Works fine with both. Never felt the AC was short of power. Had to go slow on some of the heavy windrows, but that was mainly because I don't really know how full I can run the feeder. I would say that the balers of this era would likely work fine with smaller tractors. Have used the IH this year. Seems to run a bit smoother maybe.

FWIW, Andrew

PS. Should have added. Made my first hay last fall, so this is all fairly new to me.

 

[Hard Knocks IV]

If you're into antiques Allis Chalmers made a small round baler back in the 60s that is easy to pull and easy on the drive train. Makes a bale from 35 to 70lbs. and can be had for under $500 usually I have bought several at auctions for $5 each.

 

[slowzuki]

The rotobaler, well hated by everyone who used it!

If you're into antiques Allis Chalmers made a small round baler back in the 60s that is easy to pull and easy on the drive train. Makes a bale from 35 to 70lbs. and can be had for under $500 usually I have bought several at auctions for $5 each.

 

[ahoude]

But at 5 bucks, can you beat it.

 

[Hard Knocks IV]

Those Allis round balers were a little hard to get used to but once you understand how they work they are really pretty simple and will run for years
for just a few $$$ in maintence costs. Nothing will put up better quality hay as the hay isn't damaged in the baling process like with a square baler. I baled thousands of bales of hay with a AC Roto Baler hooked to a AC
WD45 back in the 60s. There is a guy near me that has a flat he bales every year with a Roto Baler and a a small Yanmar that has about 20HP,I
have baled with 21HP Allis B.

 

[floridahay]

From what I have heard I would not recommend using compact tractors to run square balers. The local Massey dealer is a close friend of mine and his service manager has told me that several people has asked about running them with the 1500 series compacts and he has advised against it because he says the drivelines on these tractors are just not heavy enough to take the stress that square balers can place on the driveline. He advise them to use a 431 or 451 that is designed as an ag tractor with heavier rear end castings that are cast iron as opposed to the aluminum castings on the compacts.

 

[Hard Knocks IV]

Could always just buy an old WD Allis Chalmers and leave it hooked to the baler can usually pick up a good one between $500 and $1000 with the run in oil hand clutch they're a great tractor to square bale with.

 

[VistanTN]

Just the late night musings of a mechanical engineer .... square baler drive train has a LOT of mass being started and stopped twice for each packing cycle ... all the square balers I know of reduce the drive train stress by adding a bodacious flywheel. Biggest problem with lighter tractor/baler combo is the flywheel does nothing to change the large amount of momentum changes in the fore-and-aft direction. Net result is the tractor (and operator) is pummelled forward and back about once a second. Heck of a "massage." Wonder if some spring/shock absorber comb in the hitch arrangement would help that out? Still wouldn't want to operate an old square baler with a CUT without loaded wheels or even with loaded wheels on any significant hills. I pull my IH Model 46 with a Mahindra 6500 4WD and wouldn't consider smaller on my terrain.

 

[ToadHill]

I can't remember who made the baler we used years ago on the dairy farm I worked but it had it's own engine and the tractor just pulled it along in the field. We used a 35 hp tractor and while it was a rough ride. it got the job done.

 

[slowzuki]

Most balers had or have options for an external engine. It is still the rocking problem. The external engine really helps those with only a single stage clutch as well as those with no pto.

I don't know why but my JD 336 doesn't jerk the tractor as hard at our neighbours MF224 or the other neighbours MF228. Maybe our plunger is lighter.

These modern balers do kick the tractor at 90 strokes/min vs old balers at 60 strokes a minute.

 

[gf5205]

Most balers had or have options for an external engine. It is still the rocking problem. The external engine really helps those with only a single stage clutch as well as those with no pto.

I don't know why but my JD 336 doesn't jerk the tractor as hard at our neighbours MF224 or the other neighbours MF228. Maybe our plunger is lighter.

These modern balers do kick the tractor at 90 strokes/min vs old balers at 60 strokes a minute.

I think it's because your flywheel is larger.