Silage special Round Balers

We have been a McHale Silage Bale Wrapper distributor since 1991 and have demonstrated these wrappers with every baler sold in the USA. If you want a roto-cut head in your baler then the Claas or Welger are the best balers. If you don't want the roto-cut feature then Vermeer or New Holland are the best because of the bottom drum roller that supports the weight of the bale. JD & Hesston use the same vertical chamber design and will bale haylage but will not come close to the density of the bottom drum roller balers. Dense tight bales with less Oxygen in the bale is the foundation of making good haylage.

But....

The number ONE thing effecting the quality of wrapped silage is maintaining the plastic, free of holes, after the bales are left to sit.

The second most important thing effecting quality is the time frame in which the bales are wrapped. They need to be wrapped as soon as possible after baling. Anymore than 12 hours, and you can expect results to go down hill fast.

The third most important point is forage dry matter content. This should be in the 40-60% range, with the best testing bales I've seen in the 50-55% range. If they're too wet, they turn to crap, or leach out, and too dry, they will not ensile.

To this end, the baler that will clean the field off at the right moisture content, ahead of the rain, and get a wrapper running quickest, or free up labor is the baler to have. The density of the bale is no doubt a variable, and denser is better.... but the above three points all have the ability to effect the bale quality far more adversly than the bale's density.

I make these remarks because the local crowd that had to have a hard core bale often didn't get their bales wrapped in time because they were still trying to get the field baled before it rained (we've all done that), or didn't look after them after they were wrapped, or they baled them soaking wet with the NH chain balers.... and they all got the same result. Sh!t. But they had a denser bale, for all that it mattered. We've wrapped probably close to 10000 bales on this farm, and bagged a couple thousand more before we wrapped any, and I've seen a lot of good bales. I've seen a lot of bad ones too.... and most of the bad were a direct result of one or more of the three reasons above. In real world conditions, it would be a figment of one's imagination to say that a hard core bale is a better silage bale, denser though it may be. In my mind making 25 dense bales per hour is an awful price to pay over 50 almost as dense bales per hour when the other half of the field didn't get baled. I'll go with speed of harvest every time, and for that, Claas is the only way to go.
If a person is not doing a whole pile of baling, and speed isn't a big factor, then mabey bale density is more important...

I still believe that the key point to remember is that of the variables that effect silage bale quality, bale density is well down the list.

Rod

You can not cut briars and expect 20% protein but you can expect 20% protein or more from orchard grass or a grazer rye. If one is harvesting Sudan grass the roto-cut option will do a better job than just baling Sudan grass as if it was just cut down but either will work. It is a given if you do not have a good seal on the plastic, you wasted your time and money. The Wrapper being set correctly with a good high quality plastic is a must. One of our best customers uses a Vermeer 554XL baler & a 991b McHale wrapper. The Wrapper was sold to them new in 1994 and they wrap 3000+ bales a year. 50% is alfalfa and 50% Orchard Grass & Rye mix. They also do another 1000 dry bales a year.

I shouldn't go on too long about balers tonight... Wrote enough below... However, I can't say enough about the Claas 44S that we've been running. It's baled a lot of silage over the years. We had a demo from Agmar not long after they started bringing them in. We saw NH's of that vintage working (848), and it wasn't really a question. The Claas was about 4 grand dearer... I think in '87 or '88, but it was well worth the money. You might even look into the newer Rollant 250's or 250RC's. These balers start the bale easily, and keep going. The density may not be that of a belt baler, but that doesn't really matter anyway. Personally, I want an open throat, fast pickup, fast running, high capacity baler. Class fills the bill. To the point that the others should be ashamed to be in the field. Not sure on who the dealer is in your area.... mabey Hall Bros.? It would be worth a look.

Rod

You might take a scoot over to Kensington some day too. I've seen some green in their list from time to time, if you can deal with them. You could also shoot over to Port Williams.... VanOostrums are the dealer down there. You're sure right about the new price. They are dear. Another thought... if you are ready to buy. Call the sale barn in Truro. They're having an auction this Saturday. I doubt you'll find a Claas there, but there's often a few balers in the yard... sometimes a real nice one... and nicer gear usually gets stolen there. There was a really nice clean one last year.... fairly new NewHolland. Seems like it went for about 6g.... Just call Frank, see what's coming in. You need the number, let me know.

Rod

I don't know if the age of the balers makes a lot of difference in terms of speed or not. Like i said, I'm running a '88 model Claas Rollant 44S, equipped with a simple single twine tie system. I run the twine wand at full speed. That said, I do need to be careful not to bust up the bales if they are handled too much, or too agressively. They are under tied. But I'm cheap, and I hate waiting for them to tie. In terms of BPH, 35-40 is pretty average in a decent crop. We do rake with a 14' Kuhn rake, so I've got the big rows. That baler, with me running it, powered by a TS90, 12x12, at 6 mph has topped out at 55 bales in 60 minutes in silage, and 58 bales in 60 minutes in hay. That day I was helping a neighbour who had lost his old Hesston to a breakdown. He borrowed and old Massey of similar vintage, and was having trouble with it. He still had 50 acres flat, and rain on the way that night. Those were both 5x6 balers... mine is a 4x4. When he was working steady, I outbaled the massey 4 to 1, or probably about double the tonnage per hour. I would say the best I've done, on a daily average, in heavy first cutting dry hay, was 50 bales per hour. I've never seen nor heard of a NewHolland 848 being pushed beyond 35 bph on a darn good day. Comparing the Claas to those old closed throat balers like I mentioned above really isn't fair. They're just old old technology. My guess about the current line of Vermeer, NewHolland, or Deere balers is that they would not like being pushed in the same manner as I'm accostomed to, particulairly when starting the bale. You would generally take more time, and use more caution until it gets spinning. Your bale density and shape would probably go downhill at high speed too. The Claas suffers starting problems at high ground speed too, but under 5 mph it usually isn't a problem. I've baled as fast as 10 mph on lighter rows. Anyway, I've said enough. I already sound like a salesman.

Rod

Rod

When it comes to tonnage per hour the Vermeer will have the greatest capacity of any round baler made in the World. The direct feed pick-up on the Vermeer coupled with the bottom roller design can bale at 10+ MPH without bale quality suffering. In fact the Old 1988 model 605 J is yet to be unchallenged by any of the other colors. The new Vermeer M balers dominated sales for 2005 when it was even a down year as well. Round balers sales for 605 balers were 10% below the 10 year average sales figures but yet Vermeer gained a substantial market position. In the Fall of 2006 the New Vermeer Rebel baler likely will be shown at the Sunbelt AG Show. Another New 5'x5' round baler design "The Big O" is slated to be released in 2007.