Best Used Round Baler for Kubota M6060

[cherokeefarmer]

I will be baling about 250 round bales of grass hay per year. Looking to buy a good used round baler. Want one that won't need a lot of maintenance. Gently rolling hills at most on the farm. Horsepower at PTO is 56HP.

 

[Farmer495]

Are you handling with the M6060 & loader, or something else, i.e. how big of a bale do you want to go with and what is your budget?

I've had luck with NH 630, 4x4 baler you can still get parts for, book says will run on 35 PTO HP (I wouldn't go less than the 42 PTO HP I run) and they still make/made a newer version, BR7050, 634, 638, BR730 etc are all similar + CaseIH RBX441, 442, 443, 444 etc, same machine in CIH decals.

 

[Bigfoot62]

Farmer495 is correct. Your M6060 will probably safely handle the 4x4. Maybe a 4x5, if you have rear ballast. (you can stop a 4x5 or 4x6 baler at 4x4, if one of those is what you find)
Also, you need to realize that minimum HP ratings are NOT ideal. It's just what is says, bare minimum. I run my 4x5 behind a 85HP tractor, (70 PTO) and sometimes wish I had more. HP will determine how fast you can travel, and that means how fast you can make a bale. It can be important when you have a bunch of grass on the ground and a chance of rain in the forecast.

He didn't mention them, but you can look at the Vermeer 504 series, and the 5400 Rebel.
Depending on your budget, the JD balers are an excellent choice as well. Models: 430, 435, 456, 457.

 

[blueriver]

Vermeer 5400 rebel with accu tie will be a darn good baler for you .. 4x5 twine bales ... And it makes an excellent bale.

 

[blueriver]

Also around here one with low bale count brings about 9k

 

[avillahdw]

I purchased and used a good used Vermeer Rebel 5400 twine tie to put up 207 5x4 bales so far this year. I pull it with an LS U5030 (55hp with 50 at PTO) with no problems. Net would have been nice but wasn't worth the additional $ for me.

 

[Tor Arne]

Whatever you buy used, so bring a crowbar and see if you can find any play in the bearings of the rollers as they realy are a pain in the A** to replase. Also be careful to check for cracks in the rollers.

 

[farmer2009]

As others have said the Vermeer rebel series would fit you. The 5400 or 5410. They are both 4x5 balers. We use a 5400 good baler bought used with about 500 bales on it for about 10k. Bought from the farmer. We now bale about 500 bales a year with it. Had it for 3 years now. Put one bearing in it plus twine and grease. Pull it with 65 pto hp. Good match in my opinion.

 

[Texasmark]

I have 56 PTO hp on my tractor and run a JD 375. I can feel it loading up near the end of the bale; not a lot, but you can tell the tractor is starting to tug against the load. Course the hydraulic ram pressure on the bale (to make it tight) has increased to around 2500# by then and that may be the source since it is only 900# before the bale forms and increases as does the bale and obviously the weight in motion has increased.

A 375 is a 565 (5x6) that only rolls out to a 4' diameter rather than a 6' so that you don't confuse it with the narrower 465 balers that roll a narrower bale, possibly up to a 4x6......not comparing the mechanics of the balers, just talking about relative bale sizes.

The 375 is all mechanical in that your pertinent information is on the front of the baler, mechanically driven. If you have outside mirrors on a cab, you can watch the level indicators and bale size indicator without having to turn around. Bale tieing requires a second hyd port on the tractor (gate the first) and there is an indicator on the front of the baler also to show you where the string is in crossing the bale.

In buying a bailer when I went shopping I essentially went looking for a 4xx of some sort; x5, 5.5.or 6 "gestimating" what this tractor could handle. None were available but with what I know now I would have stopped looking above a 4x5 if I were selecting a narrow baler for the PTO hp I have available.

You can do the math on volume to see what the corresponding bale weights would be considering everything else constant. 5x4 and 4x5 are pretty close with the 4x5 being slightly heavier.

I have mixed emotions about long (5') with a reduced diameter vs narrow (4') with a wider diameter. I like being able to see around the bale when on the FEL. A 4x5 would be ok too. A xx6 just gets in the way; did for me when I ran a 5x6 with a 100 PTO JD. A 4' wide would cure easier as it is narrower allowing the heat exit path to be shorter. When stacking you could put more bales in a given space. A 4 might tie faster.

Price and equipment condition are always up for grabs. I paid $5k for mine at an auction house which made retail sales before the auction, which is what mine was. It's a 1991 model with reasonable wear and tear. All the belts are 50% up to 95%. I think the 50's were OEM. I had no mechanical repairs to do. The chains were well rusted, but I got some Justin Bros chain lube (really a super chain lube) and have had no problems now in my 3rd season with it. Of my choosing I did replace the wires that tie the belt ends together and replaced the little rollers on the tensioner arms that tell you how level one side is vs the other. I shot Liquid Wrench Chain Lube on the ends of all the rollers and repeat every time I use it. Whether any of it gets past the seals to the bearings I don't know but all is quiet when running and nothing gets hot.

A little long winded, but you asked and here's how it went for me.

Mark

 

[bigbull338]

you can pull a 4 by 5 baler with your tractor.but if i was you id swallow hard and buy a new 4 by 5 baler.because unknown repairs could eat you up.or put the used baler in a dealership shop and tell them to get it field ready.