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Advice on small round baler

Tom in TN

Tom in TN

Well-known Member
Location
Southern Middle Tennessee
I bale small square hay bales. I do 20 acres of mixed grass each year, two and sometimes a partial third cutting. I do it all by myself. My dilemma is that I am now 77 years old and am ready to move from small squares to relatively small round bales.

I don't want a mini baler, but I'd like to get one that would make 4 foot by 4 foot round rolls. I'm going to start looking for a used baler, but I have no idea what to look for that would make the 4 by 4 rolls. Can you give me any advice on brands and models that would accommodate the relatively small rolls?

Thanks for any advice.

Tom in TN
 
We have a Case/IH 8420, which is the same baler as a Hesston 530 (later 730). Massey also makes a version of it, and so did New Idea, at one time. They are simple, mostly trouble free machines and make a 39 inch by 48 inch bale. They have either manual(rope pull), electric of hydraulic twine threaders. On a good stand of fescue, we rake two windrows together, and the resulting windrow ends up as wide as the pickup. No weaving usually required. This is raked with a New Holland 56 Rolabar rake. Ours has gathering wheels which help to feed the pickup, especially in turns. They use four large springs for bale compression. For a more dense bale, you have to drive slower. They can be operated with as low as a 35hp tractor. Good used ones will bring $3,000 to $5,000 around here.
The next step up in a Hesston is a Model 540, they make a 46x48 roll and have hydraulic bale compression. Otherwise same basic design as the 530

Garry
 

I'm not exactly sure of the size they make, but there are a lot of Hesston 530 balers making fairly small sized bales around here. I think they might be something like 3x4 maybe. I know they have a super reputation in my area and they hold their value very well. Hesston makes GOOD hay equipment!

Have you thought about how you are going to move them once you make them? On small, light bales you need a small diameter, sharper pointed bale spear if you are going to use one. There's also the question of do you want twine or net wrap? Twine is less expensive but net tends to make a "prettier" bale and they shed water a bit better. Neither one is fun to take off when the bale is iced over! With a twine baler you could use sisal and that will rot away, whereas plastic has to be cleaned up or it winds up around axles and stuck to stuff.
 
You might want to consider a 430 or 435 john deere. It makes 4 foot wide and 3 foot to 6 foot diameter. You can select the diameter you want. They have hydraulic twine wrap and monitor for bale shape and size telling you when to stop. They are more plentiful than the 3x4 or 4x4 balers.
 
New Holland 630 is a good simple easy to operate round baler. Makes a 4 x 4 twine only bale. Can be run with 40 hp and lower pressure (1600 psi) hydraulics. Ran one for several years. Nothing wrong with it when I sold it, Moved to a net wrap baler.
 
Are you baling to feed to your own livestock or to sell? If to feed, many balers will make a reliable bale, but will not make a PRETTY bale. The livestock don't care if the bale is pretty. But if you are baling to sell, you must have a PRETTY bale..even from side to side, and consistently solid, and only a 4 foot bale will sell. Most buyers like netwrap...but I hate it on my farm.
 
Hey Roger,

The tractor that I hope to use on the baler is a Ford 4000, 4 cylinder diesel. I have a front end loader on it but the truth is, I've never measured the hydraulic pressure. It sounds like I need to do that before I get too deep into finding a specific baler.

Thanks for the tip.

Tom in TN
 
Hey Hay,

I sold off my herd of black Angus cows a little over a year ago. Formerly, I used most of my hay (small squares) to feed them through the winter. I've always had some horse owners and goat owners who buy from me, but none of them uses round bales. When February rolls around, I also get quite a bit of interest from cattlemen who are running short of hay. I'm still selling my small squares but I'm pretty sure I want to reduce the number of them that I have to handle.

Pound for pound, the round bales are much cheaper than the squares, but I'm more interested in a reduction of labor than I am concerned about a reduction of revenue.

Thanks for your insight.

Tom in TN
 
mtf,


My current equipment is virtually all Ford/New Holland stuff. I have a good dealer and a not so good dealer in the area. There's also a rather large John Deere (Tri-Green) dealer near me but I've always felt that JD equipment was too expensive for me. I also have a good used equipment guy and pretty good tractor junkyard not too far away. There's a very small Massey Ferguson guy about 20 miles away but I've never done any business with him. I'll have to look into the availability of specific dealers when I start searching in earnest for a baler.

Tom in TN
 
Learned about the hard way (almost). Neighbor bought a NH 648 twine only baler and was going to run it behind a Farmall 656 (1600 psi hydraulics). Would not fully lift the tailgate. Had to put it behind a JD (2250 psi). Had I not had a JD 2955 when I bought my 648 baler, I would have found out the hard way
 
exactly. I make some small squares here (limited by available hired help) to feed to my own track horses and sell(my excess). But to save wear and tear on my old body, I make round bales to feed to my farm horses. It works fine and the horses devour the high quality hay I put in round bales. BUT: the baler I use makes a big, ugly soft core, twine tied, round bales that I think would be unsaleable even if I tried. If you want to sell round bales for anything close too your cost, they need to be small (4ft), dense , pretty and netwrapped (I think).
 
If the loader will lift your round bales, be very careful as a bale rolling down the loader arms can kill you! You need a back stop or something to restrict bale out front.
 
Tom it may be too far away but I have aNew Holland 648 with net wrap and twine. Im going to trade it for a new baler whenever the new one comes in. Has between 5 and 6000 bales through it. It will make bales from about 32 up to 60. If this one is too far away I would still recommend a 648 I just need more capacity when doing custom work. Tony
 
I make small 4x4 bales with the soft center and sell them easy enough. Twine tied and not ugly looking bales. I do put a bit more twine on so they look better than some that are just wound on a few turns to hold it till fed. It is a New Idea 484 they have not been made in 30 years though. If you look at one check the big sprocket on the right side it is about 2 feet in diameter and if it wiggles sideways plan on doing some work on the hub and shaft. It is splined and slips on with a bolt in the end of the shaft. IF the 1/2 inch bolt is loose or missing it has a problem with that spline and hub. I already had to fix ours. It runs fine when baling and that model has endless belts in it so no splices to fool with.
 

A Ford 4000 will handle a Hesston 530 just fine. Parts will be readily available through Messicks by using the Case 8430 designation.
 
Thanks for posting this. I'm considering going to rounds myself. I physically can't stack the wagons or in the barn like I used to and had it custom baled the last two years. My guy just told me this may be his last year for that. I have no animals and most of my hay goes to horse people so I my be difficult for them to use rounds and I have a bank barn so it may not work out for me. I appreciate all the opinions on the balers.
 
A Vermeer 5410 is a good small baler and you can bale a 48 inch bale and any size from 30 inch to 60 inch. Net wrap works very well. But you will have to get some manuals and make sure that the baler is set to company specs. Best to educate yourself on any baler and learn to set and maintain the baler yourself. Most baler mechanics have never baled a bale and are pretty ignorant as to how the baler makes a bale.
 
I use a Vermeer with net wrap ...look for a Vermeer dealer near you, upkeep on baler is money well spent. I take mine in every year and let Dealer service and adjust it less than $200.00
 
Here is my set up I have the 504R Signature, it makes 4 foot wide by 5 foot tall bales. Net wrap or twine
cvphoto96288.jpg
 
How does the revenue from renting out the hay ground compare to the revenue form selling round bales? Will the difference pay for your equipment and still give you decent wage for your labor? If you are farming for the heck of it, skip the value of your labor, LOL.
 
(quoted from post at 18:36:40 08/02/21) How does the revenue from renting out the hay ground compare to the revenue form selling round bales? Will the difference pay for your equipment and still give you decent wage for your labor? If you are farming for the heck of it, skip the value of your labor, LOL.
Click to expand...

In my area a little over half your hay will barely pay the fertilizer and herbicide bill. This leaves the other half for labor and equipment. I have found when you add fuel labor and equipment not to be profitable unless you can do custom work for neighbors.
 
Hi Tom. I have had 4 round balers over the years. A NI 4x4 soft core, a CaseIH RB 454 and I have now my second Kubota. All worked well enough , but advancements in equipment has kept me changing up. The NI soft core balers requires horse power to make a good bale that will hold its round shape. Your Ford 4000 wont have enough HP to make a decent bale. The hard core balers like JD CaseIH Kubota and others dont require as much guts, but many newer balers do require to sets of remote hydraulics. Net wrap is slick but, rolls of net wrap are very heavy, and not easy to install. I have many older friends that cannot begin to put a new roll of net wrap in their baler without help. Just something you need to be aware of. My CaseIH baler could use both net and string, something you may want to consider. You could use the net wrap, and if you ran empty, and found changing the roll to be a job for two. Then you could switch to using string and keep right on baling. Net wrap bales do turn water better than string bales.
 
I have a New Holland 634. Makes 4x4 rolls. Bought at estate auction and knew previous owner. Always took good care of all his equipment. Has really been a good baler. Bale with a 3930 and does good job.
 
(quoted from post at 15:13:39 08/01/21) I bale small square hay bales. I do 20 acres of mixed grass each year, two and sometimes a partial third cutting. I do it all by myself. My dilemma is that I am now 77 years old and am ready to move from small squares to relatively small round bales.

I don't want a mini baler, but I'd like to get one that would make 4 foot by 4 foot round rolls. I'm going to start looking for a used baler, but I have no idea what to look for that would make the 4 by 4 rolls. Can you give me any advice on brands and models that would accommodate the relatively small rolls?

Thanks for any advice.

Tom in TN
Click to expand...

NH 630/634/638 etc.

The 630s are all around 30 years old now (89-95) Can run on 30 PTO HP , 12V and one remote. Make a nice 4x4 hardcore bale, parts still available.
 
Don't sell that square baler. Come winter time unwind a round bale, fork or using your bank barn, gravity fed through a chute, rebate to small bales. Customer calls, rebale and sell!!! I use a bale spear on my bucket of my 1540 gas Oliver. Build up back of bucket and use a chain so you don't bend the lip of your bucket.
 
Our old dairy barn are set up so small round bales can be hand rolled in. God only blessed me with 3 girls. So a Hesston 530, Case I-H 8420, or New Idea 4643 is what we run. Yes, we run 3 balers. 1st. was bought in 99 and 3rd. last summer. We make between 1200 to 1600 1st cutting rounds each year. These balers make a 39x52 bale. 500lbs. I am lasy, so I will not keep something that requires me to fix it much. These balers just go and go. They are pretty cheap to buy used also. Last one was 1400 bucks. I do keep them under a roof when not in use. Pretty basic machine, only option is electric, or hydraulic tie. I like the hyd. the best myself. I do have ramps on the rear of one, but dont think it is much good. I dont even use crowd wheels anymore, just rake it narrow. Al
 
You and I have a lot in common, small time operators and age.

I've been running a 1991 JD 375 for about 10 years. It rolls like the larger JD 5x6 rollers, just stops when the diameter gets to 4'. Weight of bales on a quid quo basis is between a 4x4 and 4x5...around 700# for a number. I run it with a 57 PTO hp tractor and its a good match. Bought it for 5k from an auction house because it wasn't a popular 4' wide model....his loss, my gain there. I like the 4' diameter as I can see around it when on the FEL and being the weight it produces I can move bales with my unweighted Ford 2000. I wouldn't trade it for anything.
 
I am in need of part# 700101864-624 called strap, I believe it stops hay from rapping on roller, can this be made from strap steel and how is it adjusted, any info appreciated...
 


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