Tractor Sizing Tractor for bailing hay

[Dewbie]

I'm looking to upgrade tractors. I do a lot of bush hogging and fel work moving trees for firewood and I'm always moving dirt around reworking farm roads with box blade. And I've got miles of fence to put up and maintain using a post driver. We've been reclaiming old farm fields on our land with a dozer then coming back in and planting grass and fertilizing. My L3200 just can't keep up. I'm interested in the M series Kubota. I've been looking at the M7060.

Here in the next year or so we plan on bailing most of our own hay. I've got a field about 8miles down the road that I'd like to use as my hay field. It's 20 acres of pasture with another 40 aces of woods that we might one day turn to pasture too.

My question is what size tractor could I get by with pulling a small round bailer? I know bigger is better but it comes at a price and the M7060 is pushing my budget. I'd like to be able to get by with smaller if I could. I'm not bailing for a living so I don't need the biggest baddest tractor and equipment!

Thanks.

 

[flusher]

Check out this website. Info on balers that produce 550 to 2000 lb round bales.

G1250 Large Round Balers | University of Missouri Extension

My experience is with a Massey Ferguson 124 baler (small squares, two-twine, 50-60 lb bales). This size baler can be run with a 30 hp (pto) tractor.

Good luck

 

[RedNeckRacin]

The baler isn't going to suck the horsepower, its your mower conditioner. What you are using for that could make the 7060 a good decision or a completely under powered one. A sickle mower doesn't take my pto hp but a discbine will work a tractor. Generally I have been told to figure 10 pto hp/ft of discbine.

We ran a small hesston 540 round baler for awhile that said max pto was 60, it was a good little baler, just didn't eat much hay!

 

[RPW]

Decide on the type of bale you want to do. Squares generally need storage where rounds do not. After that find a baler at the price your willing to pay. Then you can find a suitable tractor. As an example I run an older Vermeer 605C with a JD5103 on level fields and it works fine. But I have my sights on a Rebel 4420 net wrap. I'll need to upgrade my tractor to something with about 75PTO horsepower to run it.

 

[Dewbie]

I reckon I should of made myself more clear as far as what kind of bale I wanted and also spell check myself but I was in a rush while watching my two year old destroy the house!

I'm looking at round bales..4x5 or 5x5 is pleanty big for us. I took y'all's advice and looked up a few balers such as the Vermeer Rebel 5400 and the 505m among a few others and they all seem to be anywhere from 40-65 hp.

I'm not sure if I'll go discbine or just use a disc and go back with a rake. If I can find a discbine that will fit the M7060 for the right price I'll probably go with a discbine instead. I'll have to research some more on that.

I just started second guessing myself because I've had a few tractor dealers laugh and say I can't bale with anything less than a 90hp tractor. I guess they get more money out of the bigger tractor sales or something.

Baling is something kind of new to me. I've stacked my fair share of squares as a teen and I've put up a lot of rounds but never made my own.

 

[anthonyadams1]

i pull a hesston 530 with a kubota 3240,... its not fast, and it's working with a full bale, but it does a pretty good job

 

[BWfarms]

I have a New Holland RB450 Utility. Loaded, Bale Command, crowder wheels, both header wheels, oversized flotation tires, bale kicker, twine and net wrap.

The pto rating is 40hp and it makes 4x5 bales. I hear there's a new version RB450 with a crop cutter built into the supersweep header, don't confuse it with the 450 utility.

I have no issues pulling it with a 2wd 65hp tractor with 57hp pto. I bale on flat fields to rolling with a few sharp hills. I purchased new for 17,500 in 2014.

 

[foreman Etexas]

I used my 7040 for two years to pull a 5x4 baler put up around 600 rolls last year. Got tired switching one of the 7040 to do double duty so bought tractor just for baler and mowing without a loader and 2wd.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DMe5x1Y1fH0

 

[Dewbie]

I used my 7040 for two years to pull a 5x4 baler put up around 600 rolls last year. Got tired switching one of the 7040 to do double duty so bought tractor just for baler and mowing without a loader and 2wd.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DMe5x1Y1fH0

Thanks for the video. I watched the others you posted as well.

Thanks everyone else for the replies. I did some more research and I feel confident I'll be able to find hay equipment to meet my needs and be able to run them with a m7060.

 

[foreman Etexas]

Thanks for the video. I watched the others you posted as well.

Thanks everyone else for the replies. I did some more research and I feel confident I'll be able to find hay equipment to meet my needs and be able to run them with a m7060.

Yeah they wasn't anything special was just messing around the wife was videoing just never had time to try and make a new one that was a small patch about an acre had left for the year.
The tractor will pull it better than in video too,wasn't at full 2400 rpms at the time only around 2100. On open flat it will bale at 5.3mph I haven't really got into trying go any faster so if something goes south.The 7060 has the better option of a 12x12 to find a better gear.