baler recommendations

[5030]

Have fun, I'm done and you get to find out all by yourself.

 

[Hay Dude]

I made thousands of 4x5 hay bales with 50 PTO HP (Kubota M7040) about 20 years ago. It’ll work as long as it’s flat or almost flat. Kid of tough to say which one to buy. If it’s used, the most well cared for baler is the one I’d pick over any specific brand.
Hay kind of works like this: If you aren’t going to be upset if it doesn’t get put up in a timely fashion and you don’t care if you make money, just buy what you can afford. Just don’t get upset when your old stuff breaks.
If you want to make money, that’s a completely different story. You need quality equipment or very well maintained older equipment. I just delivered my thousandth ton of hay for the year and we went into the black after about 550-600 tons.

Next year could be a completely different story. lol

One personality characteristic you must possess to make hay is optimism. Without it, you’ll be finished quickly.

If I were in your shoes, I would get someone to cut your hay for you, then rake & bale for a couple years and save your spare dollars for a disc mower. Even the worst disc mower cuts better& faster than the best haybine.

That’s about all I can think of at the moment. Just keep asking questions and avoid ANY ill-tempered, negative people with bad attitudes.

 

[Hay Dude]

String tie is good if you are feeding right away or can get the bales out of rain danger quickly.
Net wrap is beautiful for withstanding rain. Buys you time for gathering bales up.

When you get used to baling and ready to buy a disc mower, get a center pivot and pull it with an old 2WD 100HP+ tractor, like an old Ford TW or an old Case. They are perfect for flat land and will pull the shorts off any 50HP compact or lightweight [AFFILIATE=1, nofollow=true, newwindow=true, title="Kubota"]Kubota[/AFFILIATE] anyway.

 

[Hay Dude]

Older Big 2WD tractors are stupid cheap.
They will do an excellent job on flat ground, and are really easy to fix.
I see too many guys concentrate money into a tractor and too little into the hay equipment attachments.
I’d put more into a baler than anything.
I have a well used Krone square baler I spent more on by quite a bit than the tractor pulling it.

 

[gonefishin1]

I actually have an older 80ish hp belarus tractor. it's been sitting awhile, but was running and driving when it was parked because a hose busted. I tried getting it running the other day and the injection pump has the rack stuck. I need to take it apart and I can use it if i really need to...

 

[RustyA]

5400 Rebel rated for 40hp minimum. We used sisal twine at first but switched to synthetic. It weathered better and didn't freeze to the ground or rot on the bottom. A little messier to clean up after feeding but two year old bales still didn't fall apart when feeding.

 

[Tx Jim]

I made thousands of 4x5 hay bales with 50 PTO HP (Kubota M7040) about 20 years ago. It’ll work as long as it’s flat or almost flat.

I own a [AFFILIATE=1, nofollow=true, newwindow=true, title="Kubota"]Kubota[/AFFILIATE] M7040(64 pto HP) & when my JD 4255 had no operating air conditioning(faulty AC comp) a couple yrs ago I utilized my M7040 to pull my JD 467 rd baler for a few weeks. [AFFILIATE=1, nofollow=true, newwindow=true, title="Kubota"]Kubota[/AFFILIATE] M7040 made 4X5.5 on virtually level soil with no problems.

I chuckle at all the nay sayers about not having faith in used equipment to be reliable to harvest hay. My '07 JD 467 rd baler with over ""29,000 bales on monitor"" made over 600 rd bales last year without so much as a ""hiccup"".

 

[Hay Dude]

I own a Kubota M7040(64 pto HP) & when my JD 4255 had no operating air conditioning(faulty AC comp) a couple yrs ago I utilized my M7040 to pull my JD 467 rd baler for a few weeks. Kubota M7040 made 4X5.5 on virtually level soil with no problems.

I chuckle at all the nay sayers about not having faith in used equipment to be reliable to harvest hay. My '07 JD 467 rd baler with over ""29,000 bales on monitor"" made over 600 rd bales last year without so much as a ""hiccup"".

Used or well worn equipment can work, you and I are living proof. I have a Hesston 4910 with 47,800 bales on it still making bales.
But if you buy used equipment with unrevealed or unknown problems, it can be a headache and sometimes expensive to fix!
Once you work the bugs out, those older pieces of equipment can be fine.

Gonefishin1, Listen to Tx Jim. He lives in similar climate and terrain as you. I respect his knowledge immensely and he knows round baling. If you buy a Deere baler, he might even be able to help you select the right model.

Farming is very “regional”, even local. It’s done somewhat differently in different areas.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

A NH630 worked great with our L5030. Even on hilly land.

 

[Hay Dude]

I actually have an older 80ish hp belarus tractor. it's been sitting awhile, but was running and driving when it was parked because a hose busted. I tried getting it running the other day and the injection pump has the rack stuck. I need to take it apart and I can use it if i really need to...

Put an older center pivot behind it and you can cut a lot of acres real fast. Don’t bother with the 9’ cutters, go right to an 11‘ or 13’. Believe it or not, they aren't much more expensive because the hobby guys like the small ones and that drives up the price of them.

There’s nothing wrong with hobby hay making, it’s just that the demand for the smaller equipment drives up the price on it. Make hay for money, to break even, or lose money. Its still hay making.