Haying with compact tractor

   / Haying with compact tractor #41  
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/haying/300231-haying-compact-tractor-5.html?highlight=baler see pictures post #49

I would like to disagree, politely, with the folks above on the windrow size. Windrow size directly relates to the power needed to bale. So what if it is 30 plungers to a bale - it works. I am usually at 15 to 20 as I run smaller windrows. I judge my speed based on the sound of my diesel - if it is loading I slow down. I know whith a gear driven tractor this can be a inconvenience to speed up and slow down. Having a hydro-static tractor I have the ease to speed up in thin windrows and slow down if things get bogged down. I am lucky my baler is within the weight limit for towing, but I am shy on HP - thus run a lighter windrow. I discovered I can also bale well at less than 540 PTO speed too which saves on the rocking.

The key is to be sensible and understand you are at the limits. I dont speed or pull a hay wagon behind the baler (I use a grapple and my goose neck deck over separately) I manage my patterns to be easiest on the tractor such as going side hill versus up. I also use all of the safety equipment, seat belt (yes a pain) ROPS, etc. I shut down if dogs or kids come around. Number one - be safe and have fun....when the fun stops, I stop.

I know folks will disagree, but my inline has less impact on my tractor, Yes it is rated at 35 HP min, but there are round balers rated at 30 HP min out there I can also use. In some literature they dont say PTO hp, so my 35 HP diesel fits. I checked with Bobcat before trying this as I did not want to hurt the tractor. Was told as long as I do not exceed the pull or hitch weight I was fine and running a baler was cool - regional manager has pictures of my unit and others.

Hope this helps

BTW my Kubota dealer where I get most of my equipment is now carrying the STAR brand mini balers etc. They must be OK or they would not be handling them.
 
   / Haying with compact tractor #42  
May have been mentioned by now but it will be fine on an ordinary small square baler IF the plunger blade and station blades are sharp and have proper tight clearance. .
 
   / Haying with compact tractor #43  
I will agree with others that the mower would not do the job very well. I picked up a JD350 9ft sickle bar for around 500. Replaced belt and all new blades. It has worked great. The only issue is it doesn't like heavy first cutting. After a couple of years of doing this I finally bought a NH489 haybine. It worked fine but I found that I needed to replace the belts and chain.
 
   / Haying with compact tractor #44  
Putting a 770 kit in a 77 is a whole different deal than getting 50 PTO HP out of a Super C and making it run all day.

True, but the weak link then in the Super C would be the tranny and PTO gearing as the engine just has components from a bigger tractor made to take the HP. Not to mention it looked like he was probably just baling a very small field. I doubt he ran it more than a couple of hours, not saying it isn't stock, but the odds are good it might not be.
 
   / Haying with compact tractor #45  
I look at that video and I see the baler pickup tossing and tossing the hay. I have always wondered why balers didn't run a pickup more like a combine pickup so that it gently just fed a stream in.

To me it looks like the hay was cut with either a flat sickle mower and raked into a windrow or it was cut with some kind of drum/rotary cutter and possibly raked from there. If you use a windrower it does a better job of aligning the hay, especially with a draper head. We have a 15 foot head with canvas that allows the hay to feed into the baler smooth. The windrow is criss crossed with the heads and tops of the plants all facing the same direction. We then bale in the direction we cut so the heads are picked up first.

When I watched the video I noticed how bad it was feeding in myself.
 
   / Haying with compact tractor #46  
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/haying/300231-haying-compact-tractor-5.html?highlight=baler
So what if it is 30 plungers to a bale - it works. I am usually at 15 to 20 as I run smaller windrows.

Too many plunger strokes not only knocks the leaves off of the alfalfa but it will make light squishy bales. We run about 8 per bale. If we were going to have something as high as 30 we would rake windrows together. Yes it will make a bale, just not of the best quality.
 
   / Haying with compact tractor #47  
Too many plunger strokes not only knocks the leaves off of the alfalfa but it will make light squishy bales. We run about 8 per bale. If we were going to have something as high as 30 we would rake windrows together. Yes it will make a bale, just not of the best quality.
With the belt kicker on our NH baler, high stroke counts will also cause the bale to push out just enough that the string is hitting the end of the belt, but not enough to grab it and pull it through.
That can cause the belt to wear through the string and weaken it (so it blows apart when it lands) or cut it in two so it blows apart in the kicker.
Either is exciting if you have someone in the wagon stacking.

Aaron Z
 
   / Haying with compact tractor #48  
To me it looks like the hay was cut with either a flat sickle mower and raked into a windrow or it was cut with some kind of drum/rotary cutter and possibly raked from there. If you use a windrower it does a better job of aligning the hay, especially with a draper head. We have a 15 foot head with canvas that allows the hay to feed into the baler smooth. The windrow is criss crossed with the heads and tops of the plants all facing the same direction. We then bale in the direction we cut so the heads are picked up first.

When I watched the video I noticed how bad it was feeding in myself.

Agree. I grew up with a windrower with canvases and cut a lot of acres with three different ones. But who uses a windrower for hay these days - everyone has gone to a crimper which spits it out and spreads it so it needs raking.
 
 

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