If one of the roller bearings is going out should i be able to hear it? I was told by my local dealer that i could use an IR thermometer to check the bearings to see if they're getting hot after baling for a while. I also found a New Holland 650 for $5,500. I haven't seen it yet so i have no clue of the condition or if it's an auto wrap model. It's at a dealer that's about 60 miles away from me.
I need a round baler!
- Thread starter matt21
- Start date
RobJ
Elite Member
Of the ones I've seen a used baler is a coin flip. Of course the other option is a $25,000 new one. My BIL had a Vemeer and had nothing but problems, in the end it caught on fire! They found a used Case and after some work I think they have gotten a couple years out of it. But they only get a few hundred bales a year. In the proir years it was a mess, rool 3 bale then fix for a half day. Then it would rain, etc. Pure torture. These days I stay away from him when they are baling! I mean why buy it for $75 a bale when you can bale it youself for $100!! 
A John Deere 330 or 430, or 385 or 435, would all be solid choices. There are lots of 430 and 435's out there in reasonably good shape, and can be purchased, usually, at a decent price. You'll get probably the best parts support behind them of any baler out there, though Vermeer and New Holland stand behind their stuff EXTREMELY well also, and I'd have a hard time passing up a good 504 Vermeer if I were in your shoes.
Check the bearings, look at the pickup (is it bent, rusty, all the teeth there), how's the monitor (if it has one), ask the dealer to put it on a tractor and turn it on (if you buy at a dealer, they may get annoyed by this request, but I wouldn't buy a baler without running it at a solid 540).
Check the bearings, look at the pickup (is it bent, rusty, all the teeth there), how's the monitor (if it has one), ask the dealer to put it on a tractor and turn it on (if you buy at a dealer, they may get annoyed by this request, but I wouldn't buy a baler without running it at a solid 540).
chh
Veteran Member
matt21 said:
A lot of times you can hear a bearing making a noise. You will never hear while haying though
, too much other racket going on. I hadn't thought of the I/R thermometer. I bet that would give and indication long before anything else.So i went to my local dealer a few days ago to look at some balers and a new rake. Out on his lot was the nicest used baler he had burned to a crisp. He was asking about $21,000 for it only a few weeks earlier.
Everyone i talk to lately has told me to stick with small squares and put a bunch up to sell over winter. If i did this i would just keep my 12' discbine and try to lease one or two hundred acres to do in all square bales. It would be a lot of work but if it makes me more money at less expense then why not go for it, right?
Also been looking for a cab tractor. Is it better to buy new or used?
Everyone i talk to lately has told me to stick with small squares and put a bunch up to sell over winter. If i did this i would just keep my 12' discbine and try to lease one or two hundred acres to do in all square bales. It would be a lot of work but if it makes me more money at less expense then why not go for it, right?
Also been looking for a cab tractor. Is it better to buy new or used?
HayDR
Veteran Member, Approved Advertiser
Stay away from a baler that has burned. I'm not talking about one that had a bearing get hot and a small blaze and then putout. A baler that has burned will have every problem in the world and will never be right.matt21 said:
chh
Veteran Member
matt21 said:
If,,,, you can move it, you will make more money from squares. I am selling 4x6 netwrapped bales of cattle hay for $28 to $30 apiece loaded on the customers trailer. Weight is about 1000 lbs. 1000 lbs in 16 60ish lb bales x $4 apiece is $64. You do need to fiquire though how much handling and storage would cost you though. That could change the way those numbers would actually profit you a lot. I, this year anyway, am moving all the round bales I can make with very little interest in buying squares and zero interest in any of the custom jobs for squares.
I like to buy new tractors or demo tractors that are discounted. I have bought too many used tractors that were other peoples headaches. I'd rather pay up front than pay later, if I can keep my productivity up and headaches down. Of course it's how much you want to spend and how much tractor you want. I just picked up a demo'd Montana T7074 with cab, air, MFWD and FEL(70 engine hp and 60 pto hp)with a demo discount and a Montana promotional rebate to use as a mower tractor. It was considerably cheaper than a plain MF 571 cab without the MFWD and FEL. This is the second time I have bought a demo tractor and both times it knocked quite a bit off.
I know where there is most likely still a dud MF 5455 with 200+ hours on it that a dealer would really like to pawn off on somebody.
That is unless somebody already got suckered in on it.Where did you get the montana at? I've been looking at a TYM T603 or T700. The T603 is $29,000 with loader and the T700 is $37,000. I also looked at a Deutz agroplus 67 without loader for about $38,000. The Deutz is considerably higher but a much better tractor. If i could find a demo with a stiff discount i'd rather have the Deutz. I'd have to get a loader for it though.
Round bales would be easier as far as handling, but i would need more land to make the same amount of money. Plus i'd have to get a lot bigger tractor which would burn more fuel. I might just wait on the round baler till i can afford a newer one in excellent condition along with a newer 85 hp cab tractor. I've been looking at a few accumulator/grapple systems to speed up my square baling. If i could put up a lot of hay i wouldn't have any problem getting rid of it if we have another drought here in the next few years. I'd just have to sit on it for longer than i'd like.