Low HP big round balers question

--->Paul

I'd look for 4x6 baler. Then you can make 4x4 bales, which you should be able to handle. In light stuff or if you feel confident, you can make bigger.

Gehl, JD, NH are all familiar around my part of Minnesota. I really like the Vermeer I picked up last year, but they sold a lot of big balers, not so many 4 foot models.

It's really nice to have wide belts on the outside of the baler, if not all the way across. Makes starting a bale _much_ easier. Also hyd tension is really nice, but my 300 hardly has enough hyd pressure to keep up with some of the stronger balers? The spring tension works, but hyd is more uniform, packs a better bale.

Are you storing inside or outside? For outside storage, the tighter you can pack that bale, the better! Tight, tight, tight!

There's a start. :)

--->Paul

Summary of Hesston 5800 Rounder Overall Performance: Overall functional performance of the Hesston 5800 Rounder was good in most crops. Ease of operation was fair while ease of adjustment was good. Operation of the twine wrapping mechanism was fair.

Capacity: Average field speeds varied from 8.0 to 10 km/h (5 to 6.2 mph) while average throughputs varied from 4.7 to 12.3 t/h (5.2 to 13.5 ton/h). Ground speed was usually limited by pickup loss and not by baler capacity. Feeding was aggressive in all crops but was reduced somewhat in long, coarse-stemmed sweet clover due to sluggish compression roller feeding.

Bale Quality: Bales were well formed and neat in appearance. The Hesston 5800 produced bales with an average length of 1.5 m (60 in) and an average diameter of 1.8 m (70 in). Hay bales weighed from 780 kg to 895 kg (1720 to 1975 lb) with an average density of 225 kg/m� (14.3 lb/ft�).

Power Requirements: Peak power take-off requirements were about 19 kW (26 hp) in hay and 14 kW (19 hp) in straw.

Leaf Loss: Leaf loss was comparable to that of other large round balers. In heavy windrows, at optimum moisture content, bale chamber loss was less than 5% while in light, dry alfalfa, average bale chamber loss was 16% and pickup loss was 11%. Heavy windrows, proper conditioning and baling at the maximum permissible moisture content all were important in reducing bale chamber loss.

Operator Safety: The Hesston 5800 was safe to operate if the manufacturer's recommendations on operation and adjustment were closely followed.
I found a web site that rates these older balers and has pdf files with photos :-)

JB