Need to go to Round Bales. Questions?

I'd like to stick with NH if I could, just because that dealership is closer to me than some. When I stopped in for parts this afternoon I spoke with the salesman for the first time about these balers and he suggested a used but newer baler would run in the neighborhood of $8000-11,000.

So I've got a handful of questions:

Is a baler designed to do haylage bales a better baler even for dry hay than a baler designed only for dry hay? I figure a stronger system all together in that case. Would that be a point to consider?

When push comes to shove, is the size of the bale all that important, especially as I have no other equipment for round baling at this point? My knee jerk reaction is that of course the size of the bale is important, but when I stopped to consider it I'm not really sure. It seems almost as a matter of getting used to whatever size bale you produce. A neighbor who has done some round baling for me has a older baler that makes a 6 x 5 bale, so to a certain extent I'm used to a larger bale. How much consideration should I give bale size? What do other people like for bale size?

Is there a baler, NH or otherwise, that I would be well served to stay away from? Models that are known trouble?

The dealer does have a John Deere 530 available for $8600. Anyone have an opinion on this model?

Anything else I should be considering about round balers to help me decide?

Thanks for any help you can offer. It's kind of scary thinking of leaving one system for another when I've used it for so many years successfully, so any advice appreciated!

JJL

We had a JD 530 that was an EXCELLENT baler compared to this %#*&! 535,wish I had it back.

Lanny

To clarify, I need to go to some other haying system because there isn't time to do every operation, mow, rake, bale, and draw and get the haying done on a timely basis. Even if you get a good 12 hour day in the field, it's too slow when you work by yourself. Each load takes 45 minutes to pick up, store, and return to the field, and I need to do it 100 times. So I need a system that will cut at least one operation down, and by storing the hay a few weeks after it's baled, would find me that time. Believe me, if time weren't a factor I'd be sticking with the stack wagon, as it's the nicest way I know of to store small square bales without touching about 98% of them. Heavy bales, too, so you get a lot of hay in the barn in each load.

The points everyone brought up were good. This barn is set up for round bales about as well as for square bale feeding. That shouldn't be a problem. The round bales can be stored in the stack barns, too, so they can be under cover most of the year.

As far as getting my neighbor to bale for me, he's always really busy, so you can imagine where my baling would come as a priority. And I'd rather have the control of when I do my work, anyway. His baler is old and has it's own problems, besides. He's broke down a lot with it. Having my own makes more sense to me even with the cost. Sure would be nice though, if I could contract ahead and get something done by such and such date assuming the weather were cooperative.

I've read good things about Vermeer but there are few machines around due to the dealerships being 100 miles away in every direction. I'd not like to go that far for parts.

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. It's sure nice to talk to folks like you. :) You've given me some things to think about and made me rethink a few others.

JJL

All the while we were doing round bales in the '80s, we still did all our wheat straw in small squares because we had a large customer who bought almost all our straw and would come every week throughout the winter to pick up a large truckload of it. Then in the early '90s we simply couldn't get reliable help to put all that straw in and the JD round baler and new NH square baler were gone, replace by a CaseIH large square baler (we now have a NH baler that has given us constant knotter trouble since we got it). It takes a fairly good-sized tractor to handle the large square balers (we're using a JD 4450 with MFWD that handles it very well), but we've adapted and so did our market. The square bales can be handled by a loader with forks just as easily as round bales (or easier) and they stack better. Some customers have said they prefer the big squares, because they can easily cut the strings and pull some of the large flakes off (then retie the bale if necessary) and don't have the hassle of unrolling a round bale. The square bales don't waste storage space as much as round bales.

Pros/Cons:
- The big square balers will cost more than a round baler, because there are more parts.
- Square balers have knotters to mess with, round balers don't.
- The square baler doesn't require you to 'weave' to fill the chamber equally, and there's no stopping to wrap and dump the bale.
- Square bales won't roll down a hill and through your neighbor's fence.
- You can handle round bales a little faster than the large squares (I first stack them 2 high and then load them on the truck in pairs like that).
- Square balers don't have belts to wear out (compared to most round balers with a variable chamber based on belts).
- The 3x3x7 bales have less crop in them than large round bales, making it easier to get out only as much hay or straw as you need.
- Round bales are usually either unrolled somewhere or placed in a feed ring, so the entire bale is compromised at once. Large squares can stick together after they're cut, allowing the flakes to be pulled off as needed (a couple flakes are comparable to a small square bale, the entire large bale compares to about 15 small squares).
- You can get more crop into a storage building with large squares than with round bales, because the round bales are harder to stack and waste space between the bales.

I realize there's a huge cost difference, but big squares are worth adding to the discussion. Depending on your operation, big squares may be a better choice (you'd have to do the figures and decide that for yourself). We don't have any livestock, all our hay and straw is sold. The squares are better for us to handle and store, and our customers who switched from round bales say it's packaged better for them to use as well (better storage options, handling, feeding, less waste, etc...). If you can store more in your buildings and save some waste with feeding, the initial cost difference might fade away.

You're probably going to go with a round baler though. Based on our experiences, a variable-chamber, belt baler is preferred for the tighter bales they make. Net wrap is a nice option (had that on the Claas Roto-Cut). I can't speak for Vermeer, but we used a John Deere 430, then a 435 and spit out many trouble-free bales. Good luck with your switch.

JJL

John

We borrow the neighbors Gehl Silage Special Round Baler( Acouple years old) and their Wrapper(built in Britian I believe)..... ..

Now when you compare this to a guy raking and another baling with a small square baler, I think that it is just as fast if the hay is dry to square IMO. Especially when you have alot of Kicker wagons or in your case a NH bale wagon. I think it would make just as much sense to update to a newer, bigger bale wagon. So you could bale in the afternoon and pick them up in the evening.

As something to consider, do you want to be out in the slop feeding round bales in the fall, winter and spring? IMO, it is alot nicer to get what you need in a nice dry barn then mud around with a loader tractor. Also, we have found it is ALOT easier to sell squares than baleage around here. Nobody wants the big rounds because they have no way of moving them, even if we practically give them away..... ...

Like I said, both systems have good and bad points..... .....I'd just give it some thought before you jump head first into a new system, especially considering that the old way works just fine.

TP

I am with Gary,hire the neighbor to do the baling. I did the cutting and turning the hay and the picking up of the bales.

steve