Heston 5580 round baler

JayinNY · Jul 1, 2021

How good are the Hesston 5580 round Balers? What size bale do they make? What are the pros and cons of
them, I was looking at this one for sale but know nothing about it other than it comes with new belts and it
works, can I run it with a Ford 4610 tractor which is about 62 hp? Thanks

caterpillar guy · Jul 2, 2021

I can't remember just all the details now since it was more than 30 years ago. New Idea.Heston and the IH balers were a bunch of them made back and forth by Heston or NI back then and not all models were that way. Looks to be about a 5x something bale. I have used our 674 to run our 4x4 484 NI baler. Didn't like it as your down in the dirt and hot setting doen around the transmission. I like to bale with our 806or 856. Both are in the 90-100 hp range. They will also easily run our 5x6 baler. the 674 would also I belive. So I guess depending on terrain and need you could run it with your tractor. They don't take a god awful amount of power to run. More about the weight to keep things from being shoved around up and down hill.

Bret4207 · Jul 2, 2021

I think they are kind of an updated, modernized 5500, which makes a 5x5 bale. They won't do green hay at all (IIRC), and they are twine, not wrap. I run mine with a pretty tired DB990, but I've run it with a Cockshutt 30 and Ford 800 too, just didn't make real big bales. A 4610 should be enough tractor. They make a fairly solid center bale, but not like some of the NH's and Deeres that make rock hard center bales. Hesston make GOOD equipment IMO, solid and fairly simple to work on. IIRC that 5580 is an all manual machine, no computers to worry about. My 5500 has 9- 4" belts, that's the weakness IMO, along with the time it takes to tie them. In good hay you spend more time tying than making a bale. Nature of the beast. That 5580 looks to have 8, not sure if they are 4 or 6". Look the belts over good, it gets expensive fast putting new belts on. Check the gear box too, and the bearing in the main bottom roller. Not horrible to replace, but a pain to get them off the shaft sometimes.

Texasmark · Jul 2, 2021

I think mine was a 5580...just measure the belt aras width for bale width and diameter can be as high as 5'...plus an inch or two.....making for a 5x6 and needing 70 PTO HP to run in hilly terrain. I didn't like mine. I understand that there are open throat and closed throat balers and this must be closed throat.....extremely difficult to get a roll started. The X cross tie arms gave me problems. The 4 or so belts were a problem.....went with a JD 530 and all problems solved. Been with JD balers ever since.

Destroked 450 · Jul 2, 2021

5580 makes a 5 ft wide bale and up to nearly 6 ft tall
Youll probably have enough power to run it but weight wise on hilly terrain a 4610 is a little light
I pulled a 5540 with my 4000 for a number of years without issues but that as much baler as Id want behind a tractor that size

Those bales have a square starter roll inside to get the bale started, if the hay is to green or damp from ground moisture hay will wrap around that roll and lock up the baler, otherwise they are pretty decent older balers with open throat design

I later traded mine for a NH 640 that was more forgiving as to hay condition, those older Hesstons if the hay wasnt in proper condition it wasnt going to bale

For a tractor the size of your 4610 I would look for a 4x5 baler

Texasmark · Jul 8, 2021

My baling tractor at the time was a JD 4020...96 hp either draw bar or PTO, forget which.

Heston 5580 round baler

JayinNY

Well-known Member

caterpillar guy

Well-known Member

Bret4207

Well-known Member

Texasmark

Well-known Member

Destroked 450

Well-known Member

Texasmark

Well-known Member

Similar threads