speed of an inline square baler?

[Marshall R]

I just purchased a used Case 8545 small square baler. What kind of numbers of bales per hour can I expect from this baler. I have it attached to an 85 hp tractor and my bales are around 3ft long and weigh around fifty pounds.

I baled with it today and in 2 hours, I baled 370 bales on the counter. I had some break open and I had to rethread a needle once due to the twine breaking.

Is this the norm for an inline baler, I thought it would be a little faster?

Marshall

 

[MattLynch]

I have a Case inline baler and I do need to bale fairly slow with it. Baling too fast will cause the edges of the bales to not be tight and square. I don't really keep track of bales per hour as I use a bale wagon and thrower so I'm not constantly baling. I would guess I bale around 240 per hour in a good field though.

 

[art]

Marshall your bales seem to be soft for 50lbs at three foot! I've never worked with bales per hour but I don't think you are out of line with your numbers but with out issues you should be another 100 per hour. What twine are you using, 7200 or 9000? Sisal or plastic?

Matt you might want to throw some wedges back in the chamber to slow the hay down and tighten up your bales!

 

[powerscol]

Marshall
Get Briden 9600 and your twin issues will go away. Your bale count is pretty good. I have the Hesston 4550 - smaller version of yours and running it with a 26.5 PTO HP Bobcat CT 235 compact tractor, and I can hit right at 200 and hour, but I need to go slow so as not to overload. I tried some Tightan brand twine and had the same issues and remembered posts that these balers are vary particular to the twine diet. The Briden 9600 solved my similar problem. I also bale at 36" 50# to 60# size with no issues

 

[bjr]

I'm a newly purchased Hesston 4550 owner but haven't taken delivery of it yet. I'm reading every bit of material that has 4550 in it. I won't be able to see the fruits of my purchase until next year and it's killing me. I needed maneuverability and being able to transport down the highway. There appears to be a need for someone to do small baling jobs in my area. Now if these people feel like paying for the small job with a move in fee I'll find out. Any how good luck with your Hesston 4550. bjr

 

[CNeubauer]

We have a Hesston 4590 and in good hay 250 bales an hour will be no problem. We usually shoot for 12-15 plunger strokes per bale. Our hay racks hold 170 bales and one day with three guys stacking we were loading a rack every 20-25 minutes.

 

[Marshall R]

Baled my last field today and put the square baler in it. I rolled the ends so I would have an easy go of it when turning the square baler. I rolled 650 square bales in 2.5 hours. That is approximately 260 bales per hour. The hay was pretty good, as far as consistant windrows, but at times it got thin. I ran the tractor, witch is a John Deere 4030 in A3, or A4 at 2000 rpms. I busted open 6 bales. One side of the bale didnt get wrapped with the twine and / or tied.

I was pretty happy with its performance today.

By the way, 9000 plastic is the twine that my local supply store has.

Marshall

 

[mkreitler]

You are using the wrong BALER, SELL the CASE and go with the BEST GO NEW HOLLAND!!!! If you don't think so try one the same size as the case and see for your-self. If still in doubt just ask onelonelyfarmer...

 

[simon2130]

It's simple to work out your bales per hour, you just multiple the plunger strokes per minute by 60 then divide the answer by 12 to 15, the 12 to 15 represents the slices in the bale.
Like my BC5070 does 93 strokes per min so to work out bales per hour is; 93×60÷12=465
And I do agree with mkreitler!! New Holland small square balers are the bes

 

[Hay Dude]

I have nothing to add, but welcome aboard to all!
We need to keep this forum going!

 

[5030]

Kind of surprised, you usually have a comment, germane or not.

 

[Tx Jim]

5030

Kind of surprised, you usually have a comment, germane or not.

That reminds of the old saying "kettle calling the pot black"!!!

 

[zzvyb6]

I run my 1950's JD 14T at 1 stroke per second with 15 flakes (that's 1 flake per stoke). so, 4 bales per minute or 240 bales per hour. Another twist to this is that I'm all by myself, and pick them up with a NH 1012 stackwagon that I can retrieve 64 with 56 on the last table and 8 in the second table and shut down before that load tries to stuff it (no room for more than 56). So that means I bale for about 15 - 20 minutes. Because I mow with a 9' NH479 cutter at the same speed/gear as I bale, this means I cut for 15-20 minutes at a time and stop. After it's dry, I get a stacker load, customers are waiting in line and I'm done for each segment. If a customer can handle more than 64 at a time, I adjust the cut time accordingly. The 1012 has a self unload feature designed for feeding an elevator, pu truck or trailer. All I have to do is run the unload lever, the gals toss it into their truck and trailer.

BTW: most horse hay purchasers are not fans of 50# bales because of their own handling needs back at their barn. Been doing it this way for 30+ years and just about the same customers as when I started out. Before this, loading a barn was an awful job. Toss 20 on the elevator, run upstairs and stack then back for more unloading in spite having a mow elevator running the length of the barn. I wanted tractoring, mowing, raking, and baling to be fun for all, not hated. That's the way it is. This system also keeps me out of weather problems, too. Worth the gamble. No more winter purchases, too ! All sold at end of 2nd cutting.

 

[5030]

I never have any left over myself. All sold.

 

[Tx Jim]

Y

I never have any left over myself. All sold.

You're lucky or don't make many bales. I inventoried my rd bales in early part of Jan & had 297 4X5+ bales on hand. I didn't want a lot of added income in 2022 so I haven't advertised my hay. Since 1st of year I've sold 100 rd bales.

 

[Hay Dude]

5030

That reminds of the old saying "kettle calling the pot black"!!!

Indeed, Jim. So true.

Hope you are well and going to keep haying next year? You keep me (and probably quite a few others) inspired with how you keep on going!!

 

[5030]

For the last 5 years, I've had one customer than buys all of them. I run them and load them on his semi trailers and off they go. He'd take even more if I did them. I don't want to actually. They all go to his feedlot operation no mushroom hay here.

 

[Tx Jim]

Indeed, Jim. So true.

Hope you are well and going to keep haying next year? You keep me (and probably quite a few others) inspired with how you keep on going!!

Thanks for words of encouragement
The jury still out on if I'll continue harvesting hay this year or put my hay equipment up for sale. It's very difficult to find competent hay equipment operator that's willing to show up & operate hay equipment.

 

[ovrszd]

I just purchased a used Case 8545 small square baler. What kind of numbers of bales per hour can I expect from this baler. I have it attached to an 85 hp tractor and my bales are around 3ft long and weigh around fifty pounds.

I baled with it today and in 2 hours, I baled 370 bales on the counter. I had some break open and I had to rethread a needle once due to the twine breaking.

Is this the norm for an inline baler, I thought it would be a little faster?

Marshall

Using your numbers, and estimating 10 minutes for rethreading the needle, that's a bale every 18 seconds. I don't see how to expect anything better than that. Maybe increase ground speed?

Each bale should have 12-15 "strokes" or "leafs". Figuring 15, your plunger is making a full revolution every 1.2 seconds.

So, I'm guessing your bales have a lot less strokes per bale. Break one and count them. I've saw bales with many less, such as 4 or 5 strokes. They are functional bales but nothing pretty about them. And very hard to handle without breaking the bale.

Sure wouldn't want to be the stacker guy on your wagon pulled behind your baler.

 

[sea2summit]

Using your numbers, and estimating 10 minutes for rethreading the needle, that's a bale every 18 seconds. I don't see how to expect anything better than that. Maybe increase ground speed?

Each bale should have 12-15 "strokes" or "leafs". Figuring 15, your plunger is making a full revolution every 1.2 seconds.

So, I'm guessing your bales have a lot less strokes per bale. Break one and count them. I've saw bales with many less, such as 4 or 5 strokes. They are functional bales but nothing pretty about them. And very hard to handle without breaking the bale.

Sure wouldn't want to be the stacker guy on your wagon pulled behind your baler.

He hasn't been seen since two months after he posted that....8 years ago.