In search of a Round Baler...

[5030]

Yea I know that why I said, "If buying in the $3000 range you're not going to find very much that's ready to go."

My reply was to show that chain/belt and slat balers are not dead.

Around here they are. BTW, how's Haytalk doing? Haven't got there this year yet. But then, all the machinery is in the barn for a while yet. I'm not even thinking about hay other than maybe some granulated urea.

 

[jdtractor]

Hi I will have to disagree with the do not wash comment, I have been doing hay for more years then I care to admit and I have had, owned 3 round balers. I have used both air and pressure water to clean all 3. after I pressure wash I let dry and then go back and oil ,grease and lube everything that's needed. I then store or park the machine inside out of the weather, the machine is I might add serviced for any and all damage if there is any. I do very little of that ,maybe a pickup tooth replacement at most. When it is in shelter It is ready to go for next years work ,but as a precaution I regrease , and lube ,oil etc everything again, before I start to use again including the chains etc.I then turn it a few times by hand with a large wrench etc to make sure everything is working correct. I have been in the hay sales business for 25 -30 years and not one bearing failure . I have baled as many as 600 bales 4x5 ,1000 lb the first time around and average 250 -300 the second time of second cutting. I no longer do that much because of land issues etc but I still bale on average of 350 a year. not 1 bearing problem! I my self like to maintain my investment and I have had others say no water ..... its will ruin the bearings ..... well I will have to disagree big time .I like clean equipment ,it looks good ,easier to service when needed, and when sold it sells better. Just my .02cts. have a good 1

 

[glockky]

I agree with you on washing equipment. It really let's you get all the crap out of the baler.

The problem I have is most of our equipment has sealed bearings. I personally hate sealed bearings. If the seals leak and let water in you will never know it until you have a mess.

 

[5030]

Hi I will have to disagree with the do not wash comment, I have been doing hay for more years then I care to admit and I have had, owned 3 round balers. I have used both air and pressure water to clean all 3. after I pressure wash I let dry and then go back and oil ,grease and lube everything that's needed. I then store or park the machine inside out of the weather, the machine is I might add serviced for any and all damage if there is any. I do very little of that ,maybe a pickup tooth replacement at most. When it is in shelter It is ready to go for next years work ,but as a precaution I regrease , and lube ,oil etc everything again, before I start to use again including the chains etc.I then turn it a few times by hand with a large wrench etc to make sure everything is working correct. I have been in the hay sales business for 25 -30 years and not one bearing failure . I have baled as many as 600 bales 4x5 ,1000 lb the first time around and average 250 -300 the second time of second cutting. I no longer do that much because of land issues etc but I still bale on average of 350 a year. not 1 bearing problem! I my self like to maintain my investment and I have had others say no water ..... its will ruin the bearings ..... well I will have to disagree big time .I like clean equipment ,it looks good ,easier to service when needed, and when sold it sells better. Just my .02cts. have a good 1

Clean and wax it before you sell it then "Myself ' I never use a pressure washer, might use a low pressure garden hose, but never high pressure water on any implement.

I just turned in my last years accounting to the USDA for forage crops. All totalled, I ran 10,500 small squares and 400 rounds not including wheat straw, just forage crops. Not bad for a one person operation with 2 tractors. Still ain't rich though.... but having fun nonetheless.

I am like yiu in one respect, I service my equipment prior to winter storage because.... "It never breaks in the barn".........

 

[MORRISONSTEEL]

Not washing implements is a new one for me as well. What about machines with incredibly high bearing counts like combines or forage harvesters? I guess I know folks that regularly wash balers and on avg pump out 20k - 30k bales a year. I would be more suspicious of a seller not washing, makes me think they are hiding something. But for the OP price range he IS going to have a bearing failure regardless if the machine was washed daily or never at all so is probably a moot point. Good luck

 

[quicksandfarmer]

I recently went through a similar search. My observation is that small square balers are a mature technology, while round balers are more recent and still evolving. At that price point you're looking for something that is "fully depreciated" -- in other words, old and close enough to the end of its useful life that it's not of interest to someone who bales for a living. That doesn't mean junk, it may still give years of service to someone who has limited needs, but it means a machine that isn't going to run from dawn to dusk from May to September. Which probably means 20 years old at least.

My observation is that they figured out the square baler about 50 years ago, but round baler design has evolved and is still evolving. You can get an old square baler that has as good a design as one you'd buy today, it's just old and mostly used up. The old beat-up round balers weren't as good when they were new as today's round balers. As the round baler design evolved there were some evolutionary dead ends, and there are ones out there that were never highly regarded. So keep that in mind.

 

[tessiers]

I'll just throw my 2 cents in here. I bought an old McKee round baler for $1500, changed 2 bearings costing $60 total and 2 hrs. labor and baled 25 acres with it last year. It is very simple, makes a nice bale and was cheap. Dry hay only, fine for me. If you are handy I would not hesitate to buy off brands. JD and NH are nice, but several points higher on the price scale. In todays day and age you can order virtually any parts on line and get them delivered to your house within a few days. I looked long and hard for a round baler in my price range ($3k +-) and settled for this, couldn't be happier. Just saying my opinion is an off brand in decent shape is better than junk with a big name on it.