3 String small sqaure baler?

My hobby is Model Railroading, in my spare time. In a recent magazine article for a modelers magazine was a how to model a hay field. The model maker not a farmer had 3 strings and a small square bale. Another person wrote in next month to question the validity of 3 strings on a small bale and the author of the article posted back that Heston balers put on 3 strings.

I run a New Holland 275 2 string baler in the low ground. My neighbor makes small squares the same size as my New Holland with a Heston baler and it only has two knotters. So only 2 strings. Anybody know of a Heston 3 string baler sold in the US or Canada? I know nothing of Heston balers and have never in 40 years seen a 3 string small bale.
 
Wow I did a little google action after I posted this and came up with both New Holland and Heston offered 3 string balers, MUST be a left coast thing? I have yet to see one. What would be the advantages? Bad knotter run on two? More head aches?
 
I don't know. They seemed to be popular in Hollywood. lol
I don't remember if the discussion was on the Oliver forum or where it was,but there was some talk about those somewhere recently. It was said that they were real popular in Arizona for some reason.
 
I just can't wrap my head around adding another needle/knotter in the space of a small square baler. I have thrown enough tools at the 275 over the years and have never had the thought of having too much space. Or even thing "Gee I wish this pain in the a$$ had another set of picky rotating hardware to mess up".

Once the weather breaks this winter the New Holland is going to get it's knotter rebuilt as after 43+ years it's time for an overhaul.
 
Yes,there are 3 string balers.Mostly northwest US.NH and Freeman are the two popular ones.There were some Freeman balers up in Gunnison Co in the 70/80s.They would make likle a 23x16" bale.Think HEAVY.There some '3 stringers' at the TSC store in town 'as we speak'.
 
Deere also made a three string model, 323. The bale width is 23" instead of the usual 18" of two string balers. They were a west coast thing with some a little further east. Hard to handle by hand, to heavy.
 
I never heard or saw one till I came here in okla in 81. I know where there is a OLD stationary 3 string Case bailer setting out in the woods.
 
Lot of three string balers out here [west coast] All of the grass straw is baled in 3 string for export. Take a 110 pound bale and compress it to 1/3 it's original size to fit into a 40 ft conex. 3 times the weight in the same space.Your'e right can get very heavy. Have had alfalfa bales weigh in at 200 pounds.
 
Massey Ferguson / Hesston currently makes two versions of their 1844 3-string baler, one with a 15" high bale and the other with 16". Different markets require a slightly different bale size. Both are 22" wide and make bales 120-130 lbs. All markets for this size baler are on the west coast and most of the hay put up with these balers is either for horses or for export to Asia. Prior to exporting the bales are re-compacted to further increase density then packed into shipping containers.
 
I've never seen one either.

I believe they pack their bales tight, more hay on a smaller package, they ship long distances and space is as much a concern as anything for them in the west.

I think it was kinda a first version of a big square bale of today, much tighter packed and can put more hay on a semi?

Paul
 
Almost all 3 string bales in my neck of the woods. They stack nicer on a truck than 2 tie bales do.
Majority of guys here are running the newer MF 1843S model balers, or the Hesston 4690S. Motorized balers allowing easier controll of the number of flakes in a bale. Therefore more consistent size and weight. Most of the big operators are pulling them with the Isizu Cab-over trucks, so they can get down the road in a hurry, and they're cheaper than keeping a 100hp tractor around.
"S" indicates the smaller chamber. 15" vs 16" tall bales, allows em to get two "edge tiers" in each stack, which means 64 additional bales per truckload, as most hay is retailed on a per bale basis, even though it's wholesaled by the ton. Make sense??
The 15x22 bales make nice tight stacks for hauling down the road. Majority of our hay gets hauled 2-300 miles south. All the hay is picked up with Self propelled New Holland stack liners.
Not unusual for this outfit to make 15,000 bales a night during first cutting.
Picture was taken in the field right behind my house.

Ben
a183622.jpg
 
I wonder how they deal will killing the bugs, literally. Up here in the Northeast our environment is being overrun/ destroyed by imported invasive species that were mostly brought in on purpose for "decoration" in somebody's flower garden or they came in on packing materials (pallets and such). Many of our most desirable tree species are falling victim to one bug or the other. Here on the farm, we probably won't have a living Ash tree in the next 5-10 years.
 
I may be wrong on the wording,but Dads first cousins in Calif.still do or did bale with 3WIRE NH balers.I still have 1 barn with 150-200 3 WIRE bales done with a JD baler plus had 200-300 more that were lost in a barn fire.
 
That's a good question - I don't know how they deal with potential introduction of non-native species. All I know is that it is a big business. I have seen operations around El Centro, CA and other places in that region that operate 24/7 to compress bales and load containers with hay. From what I've been told the shipping cost from the US to Asia is very inexpensive since all those containers that come this way full of "stuff" have to get back there anyway.
 
You think two knotters is complicated, wait till you get into the midsize and big balers with four and six knotters and needles plus a few other related parts that make them work, then have one of them start giving you fits in the dark around midnight. Sometimes it would make a preacher cuss.
 
It would have to depend on what you call a small square baler. The normal small square balers only made 18" wide bales (some less) and with that could only use 2 strings. When you went up to the 22" wide bales (I would not call them small) then the 3 strings would work.
 

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