Which baler?

Hi all, first post here. I am wanting to get into some hobby hay making on my 25 acres. Figure its better for me to sell the 40-50 extra myself rather than have the neighbor do it for me and take 1/3.

I am on a small budget and wondering about a couple of balers. I found a Vermeer 505 Super I with spring tensioners and a Vermeer 605 Super J with the air tensioner system and a monitor.

Both balers are in really good shape. Not sure about the number of bales on the 505, but the guy with the 605 SJ said he is third owner. He put 300 bales through it and the guy before him 1500. Not sure about the original owner. Prices are $2500 and $3500 respectively.

Wondering if one of these is going to be a more reliable machine than the other. I'm also slightly concerned about the potential complexity and future expenses of having the air pressure system and monitor of the SJ vs the simplicity of the spring tensioners on the SI.

Anyone with any experience on either of them and educated opinions would be welcome......thanks.

Well, I have two Vermeer super I balers, and they are great. However, both are later models with the hydraulic tension assist option. Rather
than two tension springs on each side, mine only have one. Then there is a variable hydraulic valve that puts pressure on the bale via a closed
hydraulic system. I usually run mine at about 600psi and that makes pretty nice bales. On my original Super I, I have over 20,000 bales
through it with having never replaced a bearing or a belt. It is always stored inside, and that makes a huge difference in the life of the machine.
My neighbor has an older super I, with the spring tension like you mentioned, and his bales are not nearly as uniform as the ones I make. He
also seems to have quite a bit of trouble starting bales. (I never have problems starting a bale.) I don't know if it is operator error, or simply the
nature of the machine.
Another neighbor has a 605J, but has never used it. He bought it last fall, and ended up in a nursing home in June. His son is planning to bale
the hay this year,but so far, that has not happened. If/when he gets it out, I'll be watching to see how that machine seems to work.

I LOVE my 505SI I have rolled over 8000 bales with mine so far, mine just has spring tension, I make 900-1200 lb average bales
cnt

Thanks for the reply, and let me know how things go with the J. I have read that the Super J has 1 3/4" top rollers as opposed to the 1 1/2 on the SI and J.

Strange about the quality of bale on the spring tensioner Super I. I want to be sure bales look decent and hold up for sale purposes.

How are the quality of the bales? nice and tight, a bit shaggy?

also, how has maintenance/repairs been on it?

it makes very nice bales the other pic was a Grain bale that the crop was tall and heavy, here is a grass/alfalfa bale from this year, I sell all of my hay no complaints other than some like a heavier bale, if you want that 1500-2000lb ones I would go with the bigger baler,, I like to handle a 1200 lb or so max bale as they are much easier on equipment for my operation
cnt

Some of the older Vermeers had a very closed throat and if your hay was not dry it was hard to start a bale. We had an older 605 you had to start a bale by feeding in from the side and work your way across then take off. It made a great bale but was a pain if the moisture was not right would clog up at the feeder head.

I would leave the J baler right where its sitting.

Why do you not like the J??

(quoted from post at 07:33:05 07/20/17) I would leave the J baler right where its sitting.

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That J model was a different design , Vermeer didn't keep it vary long . The I model both 504 and 505 some people think they were the best Vermeers of all of them , especially the ones with the spiral roller.

The spring tension balers have a soft center (fixed bale chamber) so they will squat down over time. The hydraulic tension balers (variable bale chamber) the hay is "packed" the same from the center to the outside of the bale, they won't squat down after sitting over time. We had a Hesston 5540 (spring tension) gave us very little problems, now we have a Hesston 560 (hydraulic tension, the one I learned round baling on) it's pretty simple, been pretty reliable, and makes nice bales. The 560 doesn't bale as fast as the newer ones but since we don't bale big fields it works just fine for us.

Our 560 at work, it has the single twine arm, we wish it had the dual twine arm. The 5540 doesn't have kicker while the 560 has a kicker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEXZDGz8pOc

The balers you are looking at will very rarely have trouble starting bales. I have a 505 I and it works just fine, unless in very large windrows.

KEH

That Pic should be on a calendar. Really shows that Case and baler off, thank you for posting it. Keith

(quoted from post at 16:27:25 07/21/17)
The balers you are looking at will very rarely have trouble starting bales. I have a 505 I and it works just fine, unless in very large windrows.

KEH

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Does yours have spring tensioner or hydraulic? Wondering how the bales hold up with just spring