4x4 round balers - good ones?

AKfish · Mar 7, 2011

I don't know squat about round balers! Never used one or been around one in the field working, either.

But, I can very well appreciate how fast you can wrap up alot of hay in a very short time with 'em!

So, I'd like to find out more information and I'm looking at the smaller machines; 4x4 or 4x5.

We have NH and JD up here. Any thing else might be a challange to get parts and/or repairs.

Recommendations...?? Thanks for any advice.

AKfish

bigbull338 · Mar 7, 2011

i would talk to both the NH an JD about their balers..personally id go with the 4 by 5s but thats just me,because you can get more hay in a 4 by 5.do you want a loaded baler or a stripped down baler.

Verticaltrx · Mar 7, 2011

We use a JD 446 (4x4') round baler and it has been an excellent baler. It has the hydraulic twine tie and bale ramps. I would have also liked to have the windrow converging wheels, but with careful raking we get by. I don't know what the current model number is, but as far as I know they haven't changed it very much. It makes a very tight bale and takes the hay as fast as a 65hp tractor can feed it. Aside from a hydraulic hose and an idler pulley it has been very reliable for the last 10-12yrs making a couple hundred bales a year.

whodat526 · Mar 8, 2011

nh br 740a's are whatever the newer number is of that baler is a real good baler and has been around for the last 20 years all the have done is changed the sheat metal and the pto drive shaft so they will most likely always have parts for them and are simple to operate and work on with the auto wrap system.
i run a 648 nh and love it

jdbnh · Mar 8, 2011

NH roll belt 450 utility baler is the one to look at. twine and net options and a bunch of other features that other balers dont even offer are standard. Priced in the mid teens to twenty

blueriver · Mar 8, 2011

I am sure like me budget is an important issue ... there are alot of good 4x4 and 4x5 balers on the market, depending upon your PTO hp that will also help you decide. When I bought mine budget and hp both played a factor ... I needed a good baler that 40hp would handle ... So that lead me to the Case IH 8430 ... The John Deere shop had taken it in on trade and assured me parts would be available and it was a local trade and I got to talk to the previous owner ...

Its been a champ ... in the years I have owned it replaced one roller bearing, called JD from the field and it was in stock and they ran it out to me ... wish I had the gathering wheels and the bale kicker.

AKfish · Mar 9, 2011

Well... budget is a hurdle, definitely! I just signed the papers on a JD 5075M cab tractor. So, that pretty much limits how high a round baler price hurdle I can jump over...

I'm looking for a good, used machine.

Was thinking double twine wrap but now more inclined to go with net wrap. Not many used machines up here -- could count them on both hands -- seriously!

So, that likely means a trip over the hill and down the valley for a baler; 'bout 8,000 miles if I don't veer too far either left or right!

Very much appreciate the model numbers and sideline info regarding how your particular baler has worked for you.

I've got something to work from now and I can research prices and look for the differences in options, etc. between the machines.

AKfish

slowzuki · Mar 10, 2011

All I can say about 4x4 twine wrap balers is, if you've used a square baler, you will be frustrated by how slow they are. I wouldn't go under 4x5 with rounds, waste of time, there is almost 2 4x4's in a 4x5.

I estimate baling, picking up and stacking 4x4's with one person, if the stupid pickup doesn't clog on the baler (closed throat on the one I have used most) with one person doing everthing takes about 3x as long as baling squares with one person riding the wagon and the same two people unloading.

Going to 5x4 would cut half the time out as you tie half as often, handle half as many bales etc. The 4x4's are only good for making light baleage bales, and you can make 4x4's in a 5x4 baler.

The dreaded baler we used was a Case-IH unit, rebadge of a Hesston. Hard core. Only good thing is low hp needs, ran perfectly happy on my Kubota L5030 HSTC in the hills with AC on full blast.

MyJoBota · Mar 10, 2011

Not to Hi-Jack this thread but I have a simple question. How many remotes are typically required to run these balers?

MyJoBota · Mar 11, 2011

Let me take my question one step further and ask what is typically required on your tracter to make hay? For example I realize you need a draw bar and a certain amount of horse power but what about pto and pto spd., 3 pt. hitch, hydraulic remotes, 12v. electical outlet, ect... ???