Your Hayin' Rigs: Let's see 'em and let's hear about 'em!

tmac196 · May 27, 2014

There was an interesting thread earlier about posting pictures of your Hay wagons, so I thought it would would be entertaining to see pictures, videos and accompanying stories about the tractors, haybines, discbines, mocos, square balers, round balers, in-line balers, hay pick up vehicles of all types which all of you own and use. Tell us a story about the history of your rig in the process.

My rig is new (to me), in fact we haven't used it yet, but by next week this time it will be well broken in. The tractor is a JD 5065M which I acquired used with 135 hours on it this past winter from a broker in Ohio. The baler is a 20 year-old New Holland 565 with a lot of years sitting in a shed and very few years of use which I purchased this past fall from my neighbor who took great care of it. We pulled it out this weekend, limbered it up and had a shakedown cruise around the front yard making sure everything was working and ready to go. As I obtain pictures of the rig in action this coming week I will post some more.

tmac

Grateful11 · May 27, 2014

You mean something like this:

tmac196 · May 27, 2014

Grateful11 said:
You mean something like this:

Yes, sir. That is exactly what I mean. Somebody has taken immaculate care of that 23 year-old CaseIH 5140. Beautiful. What is it's story and what model round baler is that JD?

Grateful11 · May 28, 2014

Thanks tmac. My late FIL bought new in '92. They were still operating the Dairy here and he only used it for tillage. The Dairy shutdown in '03 and they went to beef cattle. He passed away in '08. It only has a little over 1500 hrs. on it, all original even the paint and tires. The baler is a JD 448 4x4'. The only thing we wished the tractor has was another set of remotes, he must have deleted one set to save money. They are needed to run a the New Holland H7220 DiscBine, have to use a hydraulic multiplier. Everyone is glad he sprung for the PowerShift transmission.

How's your 5065M doing so far? Ours is doing quite well. I think JD underrates the PTO hp on them because they've been using it to pull the NH H7220 in a pinch and it pulling it just fine.

cheoah · May 28, 2014

Nice gear guys. Here's my Kuhn mower conditioner, only a few years old now, replaced a green Moco. It's a great hay mower. Here it is laying down a first cutting of a new planting of improved fescue, alfalfa and red clover. This cutting for baleage, very high quality feed. We bale with a JD 457 4x5 baler, with hi-moisture kit added years after purchase. These chores done with the 6330, they are matched very well.

I've also got one of those New Holland sq. balers. I think it is a 575 but I really can't remember. We make 1000-2000 bales these days, mostly barley straw and some grass/alfalfa bales for occasions. Ours is shed kept too, but yours looks nicer!

tmac196 · May 28, 2014

Grateful11 said:
How's your 5065M doing so far? Ours is doing quite well. I think JD underrates the PTO hp on them because they've been using it to pull the NH H7220 in a pinch and it pulling it just fine.

Grateful-I have only used the 5065M on the snow this past winter and for a 2WD tractor with an 8 foot blade it readily handled the record 85" snowfall we had last winter which is about 2.5X our usual amount. I will let you know how it handles the baler and am pleased to see that you can run an 8 foot discbine with it's reported 58hp at the PTO. One day I hope to acquire a cutter (haybine/discbine) so I am glad to see you post your experience. Is yours a 4WD or 2WD? Would/does it matter in the dry flatlands of Michigan, I wonder?

tmac196 · May 28, 2014

Cheoah- If this isn't a postcard perfect picture (and an advertisement for Kuhn mocos), I don't know what is. The foothills of the Appalacians are beautiful. What a great place to work a field.

D7E · May 28, 2014

a few .

cre10 · May 28, 2014

Here's one.

cheoah · May 28, 2014

tmac, you are all kinds of better off without 4WD on that tractor for field work. I choose 2WD over 4 any day for most work. Only have it on my loader tractor, a farm like ours has to have at least one 4WD, and loader really needs it for traction when hauling baleage, gravel, etc. Less to break, cheaper tires, and tracks nicely without tearing up the field. I know that for most small farms one 4WD is a good way to go when you only have one machine. The picture above of cutting hay in one of my bottoms is misleading, we only have a couple hundred acres that are not steep. We mow our steep mountain pastures with 2WD, so you should be fine unless you start oversizing your implements.

I love our 85 M. It is a great tractor, out in the corn right now. Started my day at 6 somethin today on that machine, and it is really nice to wake up to.... Put 500 hours on it last year, has been down a couple of times for silly switches and the like. I do live in some fear, since I can't fix it like the others, but the difference between this and the other 5000 series I've owned over the years is huge. If it keeps on running, it is a dream come true. Please keep on running......

Here's the M running the Kuhn, but it is a much better match for the 6330

And the baler on the 6330. Coincidence with the ladies in the shots, don't get distracted