Square Baler and Tractor size limitations Thoughts????

[nwut05]

Thank you again for the awesome videos, and comments, yes the horsepower thing is a difficult mental block to overcome.....for some anyway....sometimes it takes more using your head than just hooking up an putting it in gear and off you go never mind what you tear up or break in the meantime..I grew up with us using a 2000 ford and a massey 120 baler it always done the job just fine believe me i know i have picked up many, and i mean many ...bales it spit out just like it wasn't even trying:laughing:. keep giving me insight any help on what to look for on the NH269 as far as normal wear and tear or junk would help too. i am really considering it i may just need to know some opinions on what to look for before i decide to buy it or not. i do not mind fixing normal wear and i know its an old baler. just any advice would help.

 

[flusher]

My baler was a Massey Ferguson 124 (two-twine, small squares, variable length bale from 30-50 inches). The manufacturer's minimum PTO hp is 35 and I pulled it with my 2008 Mahindra 5525 (55 hp engine, 45 hp pto).

Balers this size have been operated with much smaller tractors. Here's a YouTube video showing a small squares baler pulled by a Farmall Super A that has less that 20 hp (pto). The baler portion is about 6 min into the video.

FARMALL Super A - YouTube

Good luck

 

[Texasmark]

I hooked a JD 14T (older, regular pto driven square baler, twine wrap) to a Ford 2000 with tranny PTO, no slip clutch on the PTO. Tractor is about 30 engine hp and weighs around 3k#. Everything went ok except as you would expect with a tranny pto and no slip clutch the flywheel on the baler kept the tractor moving forward if you had the baler running when you tried to disengaged the pto, shift int N, and or stop the forward movement of the tractor.

 

[powerscol]

nwut05
Welcome to my world. I have been baling hay with my Bobcat CT235 for 5 years now. Its very close to you unit. Is yours hydro-static? The trick is to find matching equipment. You can not run just any baler. Look for ones rated for 35 HP or less. I run a Hesston 4550 inline with ease, but I need to go slow and control my windrow size. I have 26.5 PTO HP . I think your tractor is slightly less. I am also hydro-static, so when things get heavy I can just back off and the the beast recover. If you go this route, get a good used baler. Inlines put much less dynamic loading on the tractor. I know as I have tried both. My one concern is you tractor weight. Your light. I am at 3600 lbs when baling and even I fell I should have more. LOOK up my posts on what I went through. Also for getting the hay out of the field consider a small hay grapple. I have the 2005 model from these folks Specialty Grabbers. One key thing is also look for someone to help maintain your equipment. Knotters can be a real pain. I'm glad to help
Keith

 

[nwut05]

powerscol , we are so close on weight that it i'snt even funny, approximate weights of mine are, base tractor 2350# + fel800-1000#, + loaded rear tires300# we are really close, mine is gear driven 2 stage clutch and i really like the hesston idea but the Price....its way more than i can justify for my operation at this time..

 

[powerscol]

powerscol , we are so close on weight that it i'snt even funny, approximate weights of mine are, base tractor 2350# + fel800-1000#, + loaded rear tires300# we are really close, mine is gear driven 2 stage clutch and i really like the hesston idea but the Price....its way more than i can justify for my operation at this time..

Not really - mine was under 10K. By the time you take and older one and get it running you will be close, and remember the inline will put much less stress on your tractor. The inlines were sold under lots of different names - new idea, Massy, Hesston, and others.Parts are still available too which cannot be said for other older models. Somewhere in one of my posts is a list of models. In any hay equipment, the baler is most important, so spending a bit more on a good used unit can pay for itself. I got mine from a dealer as a trade in on a new Massy 1840. I have not turned a nut on mine in 4 years. Just service well and treat it well.

Be ready for some hard work, but the reward is worth it. One tool I recommend is a hand held hay moisture meter too for checking bales, Good luck