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Implement Alley Discussion Forum

Most square bales made in a day

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Smithfields

03-20-2005 11:44:43




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Whats the most square bales you pro's have put up in a day?? What do you use to get them up?




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willyz

03-27-2005 06:32:26




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 Re: Most square bales made in a day in reply to Smithfields, 03-20-2005 11:44:43  
When I was a teenager my 2 brothers another guy and I worked for my Uncle and Aunt. She would bale with a 3010 John Deere and a 24T baler on the ground and we would pick up the hay, haul, and stack it in the barn. We had a 3 mile haul and we could put on average 2100 bales a day.
We had three wagons hitched together and put 100 bales on a load. It took 10 minutes to laod a wagon and 15 minutes to unload. We would stack the mows to the rafters and didn't use an elevator. One man on the wagon would throw the bales to a man in the mow who would throw the bale up a 4 tier step to the next man and so on till it got to the guy stacking it.
We were in pretty good shape by the end of summer.

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albertapete

03-22-2005 19:14:38




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 Re: Most square bales made in a day in reply to Smithfields, 03-20-2005 11:44:43  
My hired hand & I baled & stacked 7500 65# timothy bales in 1 day with a 1069 wagon, 6125 white tractor, tandem hitch & 2 NH 575 balers.This was starting at noon on one field, moving 11 miles to the next field and baling to 1:00AM and stacking to 7:00 AM.Our best day with a single baler was on wheat straw. 4500 50# bales in 10 1/2 hrs baled and stacked.Not bad for 2 guys.



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Leland

03-22-2005 08:29:22




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 Re: Most square bales made in a day in reply to Smithfields, 03-20-2005 11:44:43  
I used to work for a custom slave driver I mean baler,and it was not uncommon for us to do 3-3400 a day usually on the 1st cuttings and this was with about 10-15 people and 2 balers and lots of wagons. And we always dropped them on ground so we could fly with baler and had 4 guys on both sides of wagons. we loaded them in 10 minutes or less .



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Roy B

03-21-2005 11:00:11




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 Re: Most square bales made in a day in reply to Smithfields, 03-20-2005 11:44:43  
Our biggest day was 1250 through a NH Super68 and a NH 268 between 1:30 and and 6:30. That included a short but frantic stop to extinguish the engine fire on the 68. We were pretty tired boys after doing 1100 the day before. I remember being some glad to see the field cleaned up. All set to go again come the end of June. Take care. Roy



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mk4020

03-21-2005 07:22:15




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 Re: Most square bales per acre? in reply to Smithfields, 03-20-2005 11:44:43  
I've had 105sq/acre in red clover and 100sq/acre in alfalfa once or twice over the years with no irrigation. What's your high per acre? I've done up to 1800sq/day with a JD 337 and a NH 1033 bale wagon.



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kyhayman

03-21-2005 12:30:17




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 Re: Most square bales per acre? in reply to mk4020, 03-21-2005 07:22:15  
I have to get at least 100/ acre on 1st cutting alfalfa or alfalfa mix; 130 on orchard grass. Timothy normally runs 160; 182 was my best on a 12 acre timothy field in 1995. Irrigation isnt the problem, getting mother nature to stop irrigating is.



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mk4020

03-21-2005 19:52:30




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 Re: Most square bales per acre? in reply to kyhayman, 03-21-2005 12:30:17  
Wow! kyhayman, must be your summers are hotter or something. Around here 100sq/acre is something to brag about. We get two cuts of alfalfa per season, the first averages 65/acre, second cut 50/ac if your lucky. I would love to make hay in a field with numbers you're saying. How much did you say land costs in Kentucky?? lol mk in AB



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Hugh MacKay

03-22-2005 14:13:18




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 Re: Most square bales per acre? in reply to mk4020, 03-21-2005 19:52:30  
mk: I think you will find soil type and profile of soil under the topsoil layer, will have more to do with alfalfa yields than heat. Here in Canada I have seen 400-500 50# bales come off an acre in a growing season. Alfalfa likes a sandy loam soil with a water table that remains constant.



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hayman

03-21-2005 08:48:06




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 Re: Most square bales per acre? in reply to mk4020, 03-21-2005 07:22:15  
Well the most square bales an acre we've ever gotten on one cut was 128/acre on a field of alfalfa timothy. It was a new field and it really produced though the quality was not top notch as it was on the course side. We dry land farm here and only get 2 cuts. Typically if we get 70-90 on 1st it thats good or say an average of 125 bales/acre for 2 cuts. That field that did 128 on 1st cut did another 70 on 2nd cut that year. Can't remeber what we were charging that year for hay but at 200 bales an acre with no fertilizer costs it was a profitable field!

On the flip side a few years ago in the drought we only got 15 squares and acre 1st cut and like 5 squares and acre 2nd cut. Pretty terrible to say the least but then squares were selling for $6 to $10 a piece!

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WyoDave

03-21-2005 06:37:14




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 Re: Most square bales made in a day in reply to Smithfields, 03-20-2005 11:44:43  
We do about 500-600 acres of hay a year in all small bales and can routinely do 60-80 acres a day with 3 people. Out in the west you have to bale in the moring or at night with the dew. We run 3 John Deere 348 balers in the mornings than cut and stack all afternoon. New Holland 1475 16 ft hydroswing and New Holand 1037 stackliner stacked outside. Which means we do between 3600-4800 bales everyday for about 7 days unless it rains which it rarely does here.
David

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kyhayman

03-21-2005 03:57:16




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 Re: Most square bales made in a day in reply to Smithfields, 03-20-2005 11:44:43  
My record was 1900 a day, 4400 in 3 days with a JD 336 and 5 boys handling, me baling. Now my best days are a shade over 1500 with a 336 JD and a NH 1034 stackliner, but I can do that with 2 men (my dad (hes 81) and me). By myself 1000 with the same rig, less the baler operator.



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Hayman

03-21-2005 00:03:14




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 depends on what you all call a day's baling in reply to Smithfields, 03-20-2005 11:44:43  
Last summer one day we baled up 6500 or so bales with 3 balers going in a heavy crop. Lots of times we can't get going till 2-4 pm, depends on condtions and have to quit at 7-8pm. Rarely it seems we can get in 8 solid hrs of baling. Couple years ago in a decent crop we made around 5000 bales in 6-7hrs or so with 2 NH278 balers. That day I picked 3680 bales with a NH super 1049 balewagon. Again it depends on how heavy the crop is and how far you got to haul to stack it. I don't like to have too much hay laying down a head of the balers with our weather condtions.

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msb

03-20-2005 18:56:16




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 Re: Most square bales made in a day in reply to Smithfields, 03-20-2005 11:44:43  
Back in the old days(1950s) when I was a kid and there were mostly only custom balers in the area, it was not unusual at all for 1 man to bale 3,000 a day.But that was dropped on the ground and then picked up by hand.And these were the old New Holland motor driven balers that put out an 80# + bale.



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ErnieD

03-20-2005 18:13:23




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 Re: Most square bales made in a day in reply to Smithfields, 03-20-2005 11:44:43  
1200 bales in 1972, behind a JD 14T, stacking by hand. Had 3 others, trying to beat a hurricane coming up the coast. Had a big chunk of 1st cutting, for us down. Rained for 2 weeks after that day.

Burned out the hay elevator motor. The local hardware store opened that night to sell me a motor. Of course the shaft was smaller. Tapped a 3/4" close nipple onto the shaft, plugged the motor in and power filed the threads to accept the roller chain cog.

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Hugh MacKay

03-20-2005 17:28:01




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 Re: Most square bales made in a day in reply to Smithfields, 03-20-2005 11:44:43  
Smithfields: In 1976 I went to a round baler mainly because I couldn't find enough labor for doing squares. In the early 1960, had a NH Super 69 with thrower, 4 - 20' thrower wagons, 9' NH haybine and two rakes, tractors were Farmalls 300, 130 and a Cockshutt 540. With enough help we quite regularly got 3,000 bales per day, all stowed away in barn. This was also on a barn dryer air flow system so care had to be exercised in packing to keep air flow uniform. A few days we mnaged to do 4,500 bales per day and one one ocasion did 9,000 in two consecutive days. That only ever happened once. 4,500 happemed quite regularly but quite often the next day would be 2,000. However with enough help 3,000 was just a good average, for that system.

Interestingly enough I later had Farmalls 560D and 656D added to the tractor list, But we never did the 9,000 bales in 2 consecutive days again. I wiil admit the 3,000 average increased a bit.

Haying square bale style, (small squares) has always been more about manpower than horsepower or tractor power. I remember once, my brother and I were away from farm on other business. My dad who was then about 50 and two young teenagers, milked 40 cows morning and night and put in 1,000 bales each day for 3 days.

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thurlow

03-22-2005 15:01:14




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 Re: Most square bales made in a day in reply to Hugh MacKay, 03-20-2005 17:28:01  
Hey Hugh, did you get in on the mule/horse driven balers? My Dad brought a liberated German Luger home with him from the war; swapped it for a mule driven baler/press, which he did custom baling with for a year or two. I was too little to help, but my "job" was to keep the mule going round and round. Have got a couple of wooden blocks (got 'em when a neighbor was tearing an old barn down) stored in my shop which were manually inserted between each bale in such a baler; can't remember (everyone locally who ever did this has passed on), but I seem to recall that 100 bales per day was very acceptable..... ..

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Hugh MacKay

03-24-2005 19:38:03




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 Re: Most square bales made in a day in reply to thurlow, 03-22-2005 15:01:14  
Thurlow: I never had any experience with the horse or mule driving device. Did see one in operation at a museum. I can remember the stationary baler driven by a gas engine or tractor belt pulley. Tieing was all done by hand on the one I remember. That might even have been better than the IH No.45, you had to tie half of those bales, just never knew when that half were coming.



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ChrisL

03-20-2005 17:18:05




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 Re: Most square bales made in a day in reply to Smithfields, 03-20-2005 11:44:43  
on my own the most i have ever done is 17 - took most of the afternoon - but i think the baler works better for this next year -

we shall see

i hate to do it all in one day - what i do the rest of the year



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Old Time Farmer

03-20-2005 16:04:52




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 Re: Most square bales made in a day in reply to Smithfields, 03-20-2005 11:44:43  
Most we did was 1800 bales in a day with a NH 273 baler with thrower, three wagons. Me, my son (he was only 12) and a hired man. All mowed away in a barn except two loads we left on, but we had to stop for night chores and milking.

About 45 years ago, I loaded, unloaded and mowed 1200 bales by myself from a 68 New Holland on a day when it was well over 90 degrees, and that pretty well took the p*ss and vinegar out of me.

It's tough to get the big days when you lose 3-4 hours of haying time to chores and milking.

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BradB

03-20-2005 15:47:59




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 Re: Most square bales made in a day in reply to Smithfields, 03-20-2005 11:44:43  
My dad helps a farmmer who has done over 12000 one day. Running five balers and three bale trucks



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Ken Macfarlane

03-20-2005 16:39:59




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 Re: Most square bales made in a day in reply to BradB, 03-20-2005 15:47:59  
Well, I'm not up there at all!

Most I've done in a day would be hmm, 2400 bales or so, picking off the ground by hand loading 2 wagons, stacking in mow by hand with 4 people doing it all. Oh and starting at 1 pm after it has dried. One tractor on the wagons, the other was busy baling.

This year the best we did was ~800 starting at 5 pm after work baling. Same 3 people loading the wagons and doing the unloading and stacking in mow. Not sexist but sometimes up to half the crew help is female. They don't have the strength to show off but they don't wear themselves out showing off either.

I'd like to look at cutting time and labour. I'm looking at an accumulator and grab system and looking at getting the thrower fixed and some thrower wagons.

Also looking at doing more hired bushhogging for people as opposed to haying it on trade for the hay. The small weedy fields kill ya.

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Brian in NY

03-22-2005 14:00:24




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 Re: Most square bales made in a day in reply to Ken Macfarlane, 03-20-2005 16:39:59  
As a teenager and hired slave, myself and a crew of 4 others (excluding the guy on the tractor and the other with the truck jockeying wagons)put up around 2200 bales in 6 hours and considered that quite a feat! This was with a John Deere kicker baler (not sure what model) and smaller hay wagons than they use today. Not sure if we were slackin or what....that is the only time we ever kept track....I think there were other more productive days in years to follow.

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