Your Hayin' Rigs: Let's see 'em and let's hear about 'em!

[bsrfarms97]

Did you buy your baler new? We bought a 55XL brand new and if I could I would shove it up Vermeer's *****. It's the biggest piece of crap junk manufacturing joke of a machine I've ever ran. Those Vermeer engineers must have been smoking dope. Every issue that could go wrong has gone wrong from day one. Monitor, sensors, poor design etc. If you spit on hay then it's too dry to roll up and plugs it.

yeah we purchased it new several years ago. mine only has accu tie. so not as much to go wrong. but the biggest problems ive encountered was too many adjustments from tongue height, to pickups hitting twine arms, to how far the twine ties to the outside of the bale, and a couple dozen more. I will admit a JD or NH seems to be a much simplier machine to bale with. after much cussing and kicking the dust ive finally got it adjusted pretty good. IMO the biggest engineering flaw is twine arms hitting pickups and burning up the actuator motor.

 

[cre10]

yeah we purchased it new several years ago. mine only has accu tie. so not as much to go wrong. but the biggest problems ive encountered was too many adjustments from tongue height, to pickups hitting twine arms, to how far the twine ties to the outside of the bale, and a couple dozen more. I will admit a JD or NH seems to be a much simplier machine to bale with. after much cussing and kicking the dust ive finally got it adjusted pretty good. IMO the biggest engineering flaw is twine arms hitting pickups and burning up the actuator motor.

We've had so many netwrap issues it's not even funny. Then the monitor throws codes like crazy. The bale kicker is a joke and not even long enough or heavy duty enough to work. Last year we had the entire baler rewired and as far as electronics it's running like it should, now we just deal with the terrible design and engineering of it.

You're right on all the adjustments. I like how the books say one thing, the dealer says another, and then Vermeer says a third on how it should be adjusted. I like the monitor, but I will never buy Vermeer again. Our Deere and New Holland balers would run circles around this one.

My friends that run NH or Deere can blow me out of the water on speed and efficiency.

The thing I hate the most is how easy it plugs and how slow of ground speed you have to run. If it's higher moisture it will plug, then if it's too dry it spits it out of the belt chamber and clogs the front belts.

I will never ever spend a penny with Vermeer again. I saw a factory rep in Iowa at a farm show and he told me that I bought a lemon and it had sat on the lot too long even though I bought it brand new. He was well aware of all my issues and knew exactly who I was and where I bought it. Did Vermeer stand behind their product? NO!

 

[Grateful11]

Grateful- That 65M video was very reassuring to me. I can't tell from the video that there is any need for more power as it seems to be handling that thick stand with ease. I suppose if you were looking to cut at faster speeds, it may be more apparent.

I see your 65M is factory plumbed for a FEL. Do you have one?

Your old IH machine is also in excellent condition. Great job taking care of these oldies!

It is ready for a Loader, joystick, hydraulic connections and all but I know at least one person with the same tractor and he put a loader on it and ended up traded the entire rig on a 5083E with a loader. They had actually been looking at a Kubota M7040 but neither cared for the light feel to it. JD dealer was out here helping setup a new grain drill and she mentioned they were in the market for a small cab tractor and he said they picked 17 5065M's from the year model before and the cash price with a cab and power reverser was $32K, too good a deal to pass up. Wife and son have talked about possibly putting a loader on it but has also looked into possibly bumping up to a 5085M or a 5100M with a loader. The cattle here are hay fed year round in addition grazing and if something would happen to the Kubota there would be no way to feed them. The 686 was repainted before my FIL passed away. There was a guy here the other day and he couldn't believe that it's actually used in the field, said it looked to be near collector quality.

 

[bsrfarms97]

We've had so many netwrap issues it's not even funny. Then the monitor throws codes like crazy. The bale kicker is a joke and not even long enough or heavy duty enough to work. Last year we had the entire baler rewired and as far as electronics it's running like it should, now we just deal with the terrible design and engineering of it.

You're right on all the adjustments. I like how the books say one thing, the dealer says another, and then Vermeer says a third on how it should be adjusted. I like the monitor, but I will never buy Vermeer again. Our Deere and New Holland balers would run circles around this one.

My friends that run NH or Deere can blow me out of the water on speed and efficiency.

The thing I hate the most is how easy it plugs and how slow of ground speed you have to run. If it's higher moisture it will plug, then if it's too dry it spits it out of the belt chamber and clogs the front belts.

I will never ever spend a penny with Vermeer again. I saw a factory rep in Iowa at a farm show and he told me that I bought a lemon and it had sat on the lot too long even though I bought it brand new. He was well aware of all my issues and knew exactly who I was and where I bought it. Did Vermeer stand behind their product? NO!

I spent the better part of one entire hay season tearing my baler apart and readjusting almost every nut and bolt to get it even close to how it should be. I used to pull it with my Ford and luckily the factory setting was somewhat close. but when I changed to the Jd tractor with just 1 inch higher drawbar it threw everything out of line. It is definitely not a baler that you will pull with different tractors. Once you mate it with one certain tractor you best leave it with that tractor for as long as you have the baler. a couple of my friends use Jd and Nh balers and they dont out bale me as far as speed but where I lose ground is the twine tying. Mine takes forever compared to theirs and with the same twine spaceing also. And they can pull their balers with different tractors and not have to make any adjustments. My baler is working alright for me now, but ill never buy another Vermeer it will be a Jd or Nh.

 

[D7E]

D7E- Is that a tandem haybine which you are pulling behind your Ford in the second pic.? It looks like one cutter is arcaded behind the first.

Manitoba looks like a place of extremes in temperature. HOT Summers and COLD windy winters.

Who is purchasing your big bales? Cattle feed, mostly?

Typically good quality alfalfa in big squares goes to dairy farms in winsconsin , Second quality in rounds stays locally for horses , Poor quality has been going in big squares down to texas for beef feed lots .

 

[bja105]

This is our neighbor's operation. He hays his farm and some of ours.

He gathers hay with a haybuck. This brings it to the baler.

He bales it in place with a Deere 14t and a Farmall M. The loose hay is forked into the baler by one or two boys. Another boy stacks the hay on the wagon.

 

[motownbrowne]

Bja, I'm glad someone posted some low-tech pics.

We haven't cut anything yet this year. We don't actually make hay, but we cut last year's winter rye that was planted as a cover crop and use it for mulch. We cut by hand with Austrian scythes, then rake with an old side discharge rake with steel wheels, then load with an old hay loader. Then, to get it to a shorter more workable state, we feed it loose through a patz bale chopper.

Used to do it all with the 8ns, I guess the Kubota will look a little funny pulling a wagon and hay loader.

Might still be a week or two, but I'll try to get some pictures up.

On a side note, already having the rake and a decent old sickle-bar mower, I am tempted to get an old small square baler. So many people out here who move out to the country and fence off a third of an acre and put three horses on it. I'd be real happy to sell them hay. I bet I'd could get them to bid against each other. What do you think, should I find a JD 24t, or try to fix up my dad's old A-C 303?

 

[Bigfoot62]

This is our neighbor's operation. He hays his farm and some of ours.
He gathers hay with a haybuck. This brings it to the baler.
He bales it in place with a Deere 14t and a Farmall M. The loose hay is forked into the baler by one or two boys. Another boy stacks the hay on the wagon.

Thanks for posting. Great pictures! :thumbsup:

 

[tmac196]

Here are some pictures and video of our New Holland 255 Rake/Tedder which I affectionately call "Edward Scissorhands":



Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnkGWFRJhpE&list=UUI9EPMDqQwCnyYzoYM685UA&index=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AdZIaI6Kf8&index=2&list=UUI9EPMDqQwCnyYzoYM685UA



Our grass hay is typically very thick and tough to dry. I contract with a local farmer to cut my fields and I sometimes wonder of his conditioning rolls do and adequate job. As I am relatively new to this I have no frame of comparison. The second video shows me tearing apart 2 swaths. The first video is the second tedding of the first cutting in the same field.

 

[tmac196]

This is our neighbor's operation. He hays his farm and some of ours.

Great pics, bja. That Haybuck looks either new or freshly painted.