small sq baler input HP

riptides · Apr 3, 2006

Do you have a business plan? I am curious as I let yet another season get away from me. We would eventually like to start our own haying operation. So I have been following to see how others have started up.

Thanks!
-Mike Z.

cowboydoc · Apr 3, 2006

Ours is all done with hay stackers and stacked outside. A one man operation.

Robert_in_NY · Apr 3, 2006

Last year was a bad year but I baled up 180 acres. I am cutting back on hay ground and will only do up 100 acres this year and turn the rest over into corn and oats.

It is common to have large tractors on small square balers. The big dairy farms here have a big Magnum and the other has a MX200 on their 575's.

My market is horse owners so rolling does not do much good around here. I do some rounds but they are for the grape farmers to lay mulch in their vineyards to protect the roots from freezing on the gravel ground.

I am building a new barn this year that will house at least 10k bales as storage has always been my limiting factor to where I couldn't get a second cutting one year because I had no more room.

Robert_in_NY · Apr 3, 2006

( Ours is all done with hay stackers and stacked outside. A one man operation. )

Stop rubbing it in Doc /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

slowzuki · Apr 4, 2006

For comparison our JD336 asks for 35 pto hp on the plate. My 43 pto hp on the L5030 w hydro runs it great without a wagon behind. The neighbours 52 pto hp tractor, gear model, has no trouble powering it but only has two gears around the correct baling speed and it is a wide gap between them.

If I was pulling a wagon behind the baler, I would want my tractor to weigh at least as much as them which puts you up in the 75 pto hp range or ballasted 60 hp range. A neighbour pulls a baler and big thrower wagon behind a Ford 3000 (about 40 pto hp) and has no problems on the flat. It is a squirely rig on hills though.

Robert_in_NY · Apr 4, 2006

I talked to the JD rep about the ratings for the JD balers and he said they are the minimums but that the owners more or less need to know the proper hp and size tractor to put in front. Even the guys I know running JD balers want 90-100 horse tractors in front of them to take full advantage of their capacity. Yes, you can get by with less as I have been with my TN and 575 but when you put a 90 horse tractor in front of that baler you see a huge difference for the better.

dgl24087 · Apr 4, 2006

When I was a teenager, 25+ years ago, I worked for my uncle and cousin in the summers in the hayfields. We pulled a NH 310 and a wagon with a JD 1530 (45 PTO HP) on some fairly steep ground in WV. We typically baled 5-7000 bales each summer, tractor and baler did fine.

slowzuki · Apr 5, 2006

The 336 I have runs out of capacity before I run outta power. The 5030 can run it in enough hay to stall the pickup and feed auger and produce bales with a half dozen or so flakes per bales. The problem becomes dragging a wagon behind on hills. I don't have enought weight or power to do this.

My L5030 weighs in around 6500lbs so to haul itself, 3000 lb baler and a 5000 lb wagon up a decent hill is impossible on its 42 pto hp.

( Yes, you can get by with less as I have been with my TN and 575 but when you put a 90 horse tractor in front of that baler you see a huge difference for the better. )

cowboydoc · Apr 6, 2006

You are 100% right slowzuki. You can run a baler with a lightweight tractor but it's not smart and on anything but flat ground it is not going to work. If you put hills into the equation there's no way those tractors do it. I don't care what's being said here. We usually bale with the 6415 and there are times it gets hairy on the hills so I know that a 30 hp tractor is not going to do the job.

scott_vt · Apr 6, 2006

Hi Robert,
That a good question, and one that I dont have an answer to. I know the fella was using his Super M and the tractor died and he had to get that hay in. He had 100 bales on the wagon and that little A just kept clawing away, he even had to steer with the brakes at the end but it got the job done /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I believe the guys name is Ken Koch out in Illinois I believe.

The photo came from Yesterdays Tractors, antique photo section.

scotty