How big a tractor for making roll bales?

D7E · Nov 28, 2012

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 · Nov 30, 2012

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 · Dec 1, 2012

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 · Dec 3, 2012

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 · Dec 4, 2012

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.