How big a tractor for making roll bales?

[Gale Hawkins]

I saw on classifed.vci.net there is/was a 105 PTO HP AC7000 for $4600 located in Anna, IL.

Not suggesting this tractor but just an option/class of option of old iron.

If one has good access to a custom baler in the area that will be the cheapest option about 110% of the time.

Locally we have some good options but not so in all areas.

 

[cowski]

i think a used jd 2355 55 hp would be plenty of tractor.it would handle a 3pt 8 foot bushhog and 4x5 baler.if you want to go bigger and newer a 4x4 jd 5410 would be real nice.a 444 ih would handle a 6 ft hog and a small baler if is in good shape.

 

[foreman Etexas]

Thanks for the replys! This is the kind of information I was looking for, real hands on experience. As we get more into farming we are going to need a bigger tractor so this gives me more of an idea of the size we will need. Any one know on these smaller roll bales what their equivalent would be in square bale? It seems to me it may not be worth it to get such a small baler for our 444 due to how difficult storing small round bales would be. At least with the squares we make now, they can fit into the loft for storage. Also, on a side note we are going to need a bigger bush hog mower soon, we have a 5' mower right now and it takes countless hours to clip the fields. We have about 40-50 acres that we would need to mow any where from 1-2 times per year. What size mower would be reasonable with this amount of acres and what kind of pto hp requirements would it have? Thanks.

There is around 15 to 20 squares in a roll just depends on your bale weight.
I suggest something in the 60pto HP range for a 5x4 baler and depending on how tall you let the grass get before you shred it,could go up to a 15ft batwing and wouldnt go any lower than a 10ft. I run a 8ft,12ft and 15ft batwing. A 8ft on 40acres,can say around 20/24hrs mowing time,depending on conditions of the field.

 

[Birch Hill Farm]

How many square bales does it take to make a 4x5 roll bale? Our old massy 12 square baler makes about a 45-50lb bale. Also, is a 8' bushog a bat wing?



edit, never mind I post slow you answered my question

 

[foreman Etexas]

How many square bales does it take to make a 4x5 roll bale? Our old massy 12 square baler makes about a 45-50lb bale. Also, is a 8' bushog a bat wing?



edit, never mind I post slow you answered my question

8ft is not a batwing they come in either 12ft/15ft/20ft If you have really good,open pastures you may get across it in half that time,with an 8ft. My 5x4 bales weight is around 1,000lbs so that would be 20,50#squares,the weight of a 5x4 can vary,same as squares..

 

[foreman Etexas]

My question is can you get some of the 40/50 acres you have under hay also,instead of just mowing it or graze it? I spray my weeds but do also mow some,on my cattle pastures.
I use 2.5gallons grazon p+d or 2-4d to 20acres. grazon cost is $80 and 2-4d is $45
I have a 300 gallon tank with 21ft boom,I can make up some ground and not use near the diesel by just spraying.

 

[Birch Hill Farm]

The hay fields I only need three cuttings off of to meet my current hay needs. Right now the hay fields probably could be cut again but, Im out of storage space and have enough hay. It would be nice to clip them right now so there is not the thick dead grass left in the spring. Also, I need to cut the fields the goats are in about once a year to get the weeds cut before they reseed. As our herd grows the need for more hay and the heavier stocking rate may negate the need for much mowing.

 

[Lou66]

2.5x2.5x3.14x4/(14"x16"x32"/1728)=18.91566

second question/// No.. if you have a center section and both sides lift,, then it is a bat wing,, most starts at 12'

 

[JHK Farms]

If you are already baling square bales, are you cutting the grass with a Brush Hog or Disc mower. I would look hard at getting a 8ft disc mower, keeping the old brush hog. Disc mowers do such a better job at cutting for hay. One advantage of net wrapped round bales, you can store them outside. We also square bale our Bermuda fields for horse hay, so you could still store the square bales inside the barn. For round baling, I wouldn't use anything less then a 100hp 4 wheel drive tractor. Why buy a round baler based on what your tractor can handle. That leaves you with few option. I think in a few years you would be disappointed in a smaller 4X4 round baler.

 

[PMA]

I had a NH 644 baler and used my John Deere 5325 which is 50hp at PTO. Had no problems making a 4 by 5 bales. Purchased a new CI 454 silage baler and that tractor would not begin to run that baler. Use a CI Farmall 85U which is 70hp and have no problems. Just depends on the baler. Good luck.

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[D7E]

Generally we favour the 3x3 square and run that on 155 hp ford but this year we had lots of orders for round bales . I did 575 with our old NH 650 this year on a ford 7600 which is 80 odd pto hp and my mf 390 which is smaller but i like the reverser. Personally i think neither are big enough to run niceley at an acceptable speed to make a perfect bale ...100hp at the pto is what i would want .

 

[popsie]

Massey(hesston) model 1734 makes 500 pound round bales spects say 30 pto hp. They have a video on utube explaining product. Good luck.

 

[deadmoose]

Massey 1734 is same baler as Case Ih 8420 (i think). Also Hesston 5530 530 and 730. I have a 5530. I baled with 28.5 pto hp Kubota L3400. A bit small. A bigger heavier farm tractor would do fine. Need to have enough weight. I now upgraded to a 7040 and it doesn't even know it's there.

 

[schmism]

in my neck of the woods, guys with 5' wide bailers will run a 50hp PTO which is usually a 60-65hp engine tractor.

my neighbor who uses a 5x5 runs it with his 75hp case and you can hear it bog down when he hits large clumps. If you didnt rake your rows real heavy then its easyer on the HP. you can really bog down a machine if your sucking up a big thick windrow.

 

[SoonerLS]

My dad didn't have some of his equipment ready for the first cutting this year, so he had someone cut, rake, and bale for him. I don't know the baler model, but it was a John Deere that produced 5' diameter bales, and he was pulling it with an early-model JD 3020 (the hydraulic controls were on the dash), which is a 71-ish PTO HP tractor. He wasn't in a hurry and the property is flat, but it didn't have any trouble with the baling.

 

[JoeBuyer]

100 HP JD dedicated to the baling and mowing. We like to have the power to avoid bogging down.