lastcowboy32
Well-known Member
So, I recently had a golden opportunity to compare.
I had a field all raked up and ready to do in small squares. I screwed up my baler... my neighbor round baled it for me to beat the rain.
Starting with a field raked into double windrows (double NH 56 rake windrows... so about 18 feet of swath per windrow)
In two hours, the round baler did 32 bales a little under 5' in diameter. My neighbor says that it's equivalent to about 800 small squares, give or take. Seems about right. I was guessing about 600 to 800, when I started baling.
Old small square balers, like a NH273 can do about 300 small squares an hour.
Newer and bigger balers, like a NH575 can easily do 400 small squares an hour. I timed by brother with his once, he was spitting out a bale every six seconds...
So... baling-wise... it's about a wash, between my neighbors Krone round baler and a modern small square baler.
As far as getting the bales under cover... a lot of variables there. I put his bale spear on my tractor-loader... and.. by the time he was done baling, I had all of the bales moved to rows at the end of the field. But, if I had to load them on a bale wagon... haul the wagon... unload... that takes more time.
With a crew of about six people unloading, you can keep up a pace of about 300 to 400 small squares an hour and keep the person baling fed with empty wagons.
This was interesting to me, because I've heard a lot about how round bales are much faster. I think in the end, it really depends on other factors, like available labor, equipment and storage facilities, when it comes to the absolute question of: "How much dry hay can be harvested and stored under cover in an hour"
I think that the wildcard with round balers is baleage. If your farm can use baleage... I think that starts to give an edge to the round baler.
I had a field all raked up and ready to do in small squares. I screwed up my baler... my neighbor round baled it for me to beat the rain.
Starting with a field raked into double windrows (double NH 56 rake windrows... so about 18 feet of swath per windrow)
In two hours, the round baler did 32 bales a little under 5' in diameter. My neighbor says that it's equivalent to about 800 small squares, give or take. Seems about right. I was guessing about 600 to 800, when I started baling.
Old small square balers, like a NH273 can do about 300 small squares an hour.
Newer and bigger balers, like a NH575 can easily do 400 small squares an hour. I timed by brother with his once, he was spitting out a bale every six seconds...
So... baling-wise... it's about a wash, between my neighbors Krone round baler and a modern small square baler.
As far as getting the bales under cover... a lot of variables there. I put his bale spear on my tractor-loader... and.. by the time he was done baling, I had all of the bales moved to rows at the end of the field. But, if I had to load them on a bale wagon... haul the wagon... unload... that takes more time.
With a crew of about six people unloading, you can keep up a pace of about 300 to 400 small squares an hour and keep the person baling fed with empty wagons.
This was interesting to me, because I've heard a lot about how round bales are much faster. I think in the end, it really depends on other factors, like available labor, equipment and storage facilities, when it comes to the absolute question of: "How much dry hay can be harvested and stored under cover in an hour"
I think that the wildcard with round balers is baleage. If your farm can use baleage... I think that starts to give an edge to the round baler.