Why not pull a wagon behind a baler?

[Robert_in_NY]

I have looked at some of the automatic hitch systems but never could see it working well for me. My friend gave me a brand new hitch system for my baler that you pull a rope from the seat of the tractor and it unhitches the wagon. This way you only have to back up to the new wagon and hop off the tractor once to hook up. Of course I have not hooked it up yet but with my new situtation I am going to have my friends at the machine shop hook it up for me as the hitch was designed for a different setup and I am going to need some fabrication work done to make it work with mine.

I can't complain with the price either as the hitch is new and was given to me free of charge. So the only cost is going to be buying another hitch pin or two so that each wagon has a pin without stealing the pins from the trucks and tractors (you can never have too many hitch pins )

 

[CATMAN]

Just a little info on the speed improvement that these hitches made. The best normal cycle times for corn silage or good alfafa was 3 loads per hour before auto-hitch with myself unhooking the wagons, move tractor, hookup empty wagon to the chopper as Dad backed up, then I hooked up to full wagon and went to the silos. Last May, We chopped winter rye(heavy) and achieved an average of 4 loads per hour with the Attach-matic auto hitch system. No one has to ever get off of the tractor out in the field. We did 44 loads(JD 112 Chuckwagons) that day with 2 minor breakdowns(shear bolts). I do have to get off at the silos to hook up the wagon PTO and start the silo blower which is the same as before. It really does save time.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

We use trucks to haul our wagons as we take all of our hay to a storage barn down the road or to customers barns. The hitch system is a good setup for operations like you describe where everything is farm based but there are times where we have wagons going multiple directions at once with our trucks or customers trucks pulling wagons so hitch pins are the best setup right now.

Do you happen to have any pics of your setup though?

 

[CATMAN]

Robert: They have a website with two videos: Attach-matic

 

[charlz]

Around here the big operations are big square bales... which sometimes go onto a 'drop' table/trailer... they hold it there and end up dropping all the bales more or less in a row. Next is semi's with trailers and a loader tractor. I guess having the bales lined up is worth the cost of the drop table/trailer?

Smaller operations run small square bales and either self-propelled stackers or pull stackers.

Hay has doubled here in the last year or so. I see people trying to get rid of their pet horses on Craigslist. I wonder how long the small bale market will last.

Charles

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Around here the big operations are big square bales... which sometimes go onto a 'drop' table/trailer... they hold it there and end up dropping all the bales more or less in a row. Next is semi's with trailers and a loader tractor. I guess having the bales lined up is worth the cost of the drop table/trailer?

Smaller operations run small square bales and either self-propelled stackers or pull stackers.

Hay has doubled here in the last year or so. I see people trying to get rid of their pet horses on Craigslist. I wonder how long the small bale market will last.

Charles

The tables behind the balers are called accumulaters. They make versions for small square balers also. With large squares it is much easier to have bales lined up instead of driving all over the field for each bale.

The small square bale market will always be here. The thing that is going to disappear are the smaller baling operations that don't provide good hay or a good service. I know a lot of my customers are looking to either sell some of their horses or all of them. The stables are doing just well though as the people looking to sell are generally people who keep their horses at their place but don't do anything with them. The people who ride their horses still are keeping them so there is always going to be a market for good hay.

 

[sammyd]

70 HP to pull a baler and wagon???
We never had a 70 HP tractor from 69-90 and got along just fine.
We used a JD A G and 720, a Farmall M and 460, a Cockshutt 50 and Allis D17 and 170 at various times and never had a problem. (Besides the non live pto issue with the really old Deeres).
Some wagons only held 120 or so bales and some we could pack over 200 on.
From 79-85 we worked with a neighbor and had about 7 wagons to fill, 4 flat racks, 2 thrower racks and 1 old rear unload chopper box. Someone would drive and someone would load. In the morning I would help either dad or the neighbor unload the wagons while it was still relatively cool and in the afternoon we would fill them up again.
Not the easiest way to make hay for sure, but I do not like unloading thrower racks or the amount of broken bales from that system.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

70 HP to pull a baler and wagon???
We never had a 70 HP tractor from 69-90 and got along just fine.
We used a JD A G and 720, a Farmall M and 460, a Cockshutt 50 and Allis D17 and 170 at various times and never had a problem. (Besides the non live pto issue with the really old Deeres).
Some wagons only held 120 or so bales and some we could pack over 200 on.
From 79-85 we worked with a neighbor and had about 7 wagons to fill, 4 flat racks, 2 thrower racks and 1 old rear unload chopper box. Someone would drive and someone would load. In the morning I would help either dad or the neighbor unload the wagons while it was still relatively cool and in the afternoon we would fill them up again.
Not the easiest way to make hay for sure, but I do not like unloading thrower racks or the amount of broken bales from that system.

You don't need 70hp to pull a baler and wagon and has been discussed over and over you can get by with less if you use your head.

However, a 70pto hp tractor will handle the baler and a full wagon in just about any condition with not much trouble. So from a safety factor a bigger tractor is better.

As for a NH 575 baler you need at least 75pto hp to run that baler efficiently. Anything less and the tractor strains to keep the baler efficient. You have to slow down and watch the windrow carefully to see if there are any changes as if you get to a thick section you have to slow down a gear or else you will plug the mouth of the baler. A stronger tractor will allow the baler to eat the hay without plugging. Having run three different tractors on my 575 I know this, the more power and weight the better. The TN65 was undersized hp wise and I had the issues I discussed, I put a TL100A on it and it baled perfectly. Now I use the 7710-II on it and I don't have to worry at all, plus I can see the wagon better as I sit up a lot higher.

 

[CTW]

Minimum paid help is zero if I do 200 a night to her place, 1 if they are full and I need to load into my barn, 2 if its not for a committed horse barn. I pay $20. per hour for a helper if they are not from a local client. A case of cigarettes (from your Reservation) is even better. (Winstons). This ensures the help will show up when called. If you pay minimum wage, they show up for a night and its too dirty, too hard, or too tough.

Wow, we used to get paid .10 for each bail we picked up which increased to
.25 by the time I was in high school, that was big money right there! These pay rates of course were paid by "other" farmers/ranchers, when Dad or Papa bailed we were "free" labor. Great memories!

 

[slowzuki]

I'm one of those ground drop idiots. But with hills and a small tractor, I'd tear it up trying to pull a wagon too. Also my thrower is missing its hydraulic pump and other parts so it would be almost 2000$ to get it back in service. I don't make enough margin on my squares to pay for that right now.

I would sure love to get a bale wagon or get a bigger tractor for a thrower, maybe someday in the future.