Need help to choose best baler

[lacamo]

I need to buy a small, fix chamber round baler. The choice (based on availability) is between a Krone 125 (4x4) and a Claas 34S (3x4). Several folks around here have Krones and seem to like them; so far I haven't met anyone with a Claas. It would probably be easier to get parts/service for the Krone, but the Claas is cheaper, has nice features like an electronic monitor and hydraulics, is in somewhat better shape (at least visually), is less money, and comes with free delivery and instruction by the former owner. I've got to decide pretty soon as second cut is around the corner.
Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Birdman]

Unless you are talking a lot less money and a lot more features for the Claas, I would say go for the Krone, just for the ease of parts and service. They are all gonna break and to have access to parts is a big plus in my opinion.

 

[dixiedrifter]

My neighbor has I think a KR-230 baler which does a 4x5' bale.

Thing is about 8 years old and has put up a crapload of hay and even survived having a hayspike run thru the rear end.

He pulls it with a 60 HP tractor with plenty of power to spare.

Krones are definately good machines. My local dealer priced a KR-160 to me for somewhere around $15,000.

However, I can get a Vermeer Rebel Series 5500 for $14,250 according to one of the dealers on this board.

I'm still pretty much up in the air on which baler to choose.

Pros for the Krone include long life, no belts to break or worry about adjusting, 6 balls of twine vs. 4 on the vermeer, 72" inch wide standard pickup, optional net wrap, easy starts on stuff like straw due to the fixed chamber design, old cows with bad teeth have an easier time eating the soft cores, the bales are easier to "stick" and move with a spike, and with the "mini stop" as soon as you begin to let the tailgate down you can start eating into the windrow again before it latches thus cutting your baling time.

Pros for the Vermeer are extra 12" on the width of the bale, less intial cost, variable chamber means being able to pack more hay into the bale resulting in heavier bales and less storage losses, and I may cut into my neighbors baling biz cause I can put up a bigger tighter bale than his Krone.

All in all, I think the Krone may be a superior machine, but I'm very concerned with storage losses. If I had a barn and FEL to where I could store all my hay, I would go with the Krone before the Vermeer.

But I don't, so it makes more economic sense to try and put as much hay into a bale as possible.

Right now the Vermeer is my baler of choice.

 

[dancce]

The so called soft core and less density of the bale of a Krone fixed chamber vs. a "hard core" of a belt baler is a common misconception. As with any baler---it depends mostly on the operator--as to how dense the bales are. You can make a hard packed bale with the Krone (center and all) just by packing more hay into the baler. When this is done--you have a bale that is as dense as any---the difference is that the outer wraps of hay on the bale will be packed the tightest---which is where it is needed in order to shed water and better preserve the hay.
And yes, you can unroll the Krone bales to feed them. If properly baled--the center core is very small--the rest of the bale unrolls leaving just a small amount of unrolled hay at the end.
I have baled 10's of thousands of bales with the Krone 160's and 260's (both 4x5) on a custom baling basis and never had a complaint from customers.

dancce

 

[dixiedrifter]

What the heck is the diffrence between a 160 and a 260?

 

[dancce]

Not much. The 160 is made and assembled in Germany, the 260 is/was assembled and painted,with some minor parts made here in the US, by a third party.

dancce