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The ideal baling tractor

O

olliekid

Member
Dad and I were talking about all the people in the 60's and 70's and what the "big farmers" used to bale with and it got me thinking...

What would you say would be the ideal tractor for square baling now from the 60s to mid 70's.

For me, I like an open station so I can see the baler and hear it as well as see and hear the person on the wagon stacking. The ideal tractor to me would be an 1855 Oliver. The 3 speed is really nice on turns and when the windrows get thin or thick you don't need to clutch. If it was a smaller operation like the one I live on I think the 1655 would be more ideal. For hills it is nice having a little bigger horse on the baler though.

Dad said he would like an 1850 Oliver or a Ford 5000 or 7000 without a select-o-shift.
 
I'd go with the 1655. 1550-1555 would do the job just fine too,but only have the two speed.
IH Hydro with infinate speeds would be OK.
 
706 international, gas or diesel, independant pto, TA, big enough for hills, you sit high enough to see everthing, and its comfortable to run.
 
we bale with a turned up 1066 at work and it is a great baler tractor. They have a lot of steep hills so it is nice having the extra power but there is still plenty of overkill.

I think a 1066 or a White 2-105 would be my ideal round baler tractor from that era.
 
In the flood irrigated hay here in Montana one of the problems I have is that in some parts of the field the hay is thick and in others not so much. This makes for windrows that change considerably. I have an 806 that does a fine job with a 336 baler, but I remember baling with a 4020 powershift for the farmer I worked for when in high school. The TA sorta' acts like the powershift enabling ground speed changes without stopping to clutch, but only one speed. The power shift is pretty handy when baling.
 
I never did understand square baling with a 6 cyl. I dont even understand round baling with a 6cyl.

More and more round balers are moving back to a highend 4 cyl to cut fuel cost by 30 percent. a 80 or 90 pto tractor with cab and a/c will do the job nicely. a 4wd with low pressure in the tire will do it in 5th and 6th gear now days if its a good smooth field.

back to question.. 5000 with dual power was great for the corners, but I used a 3000 for 16 years for square baling at 37 pto hp and never blinked. Had to replace it when I went to round bales. It would only run the smaller round baler in 1st and 2nd gear. (jd410 baler)
 
I am hoping that my new Farmall 300 will be ideal once I get it finished. I have been baling with an H and that is good but the IPTO and TA should make life much easier.
Zach
 
I think that might've worked for you, but when you need to bale faster its better to have more horsepower and also having more weight means the tractor is running the baler and not the other way around. Also there are a lot of hills and it is nice to not have to worry going up hills with the baler and 150 stacked bales.

Our Oliver 1655 is a 6 cylinder and it is better on fuel than the 4 cylinder massey we have. cylinders dont always indicate how efficient a tractor is.
 
When we still had the cows we baled small squares the 1650, now days with a few steers left, I round bale with the same tractor. The 1650 Oliver just seems like the perfect hayin tractor to me.
 
I have a 4 cyl Ford 6610, that snorts when the baler cycles, you cannot hear the difference in the 4020. The extra HP also gets rid of the speed differences in the forward motion.
 
JD 4430. Air Cond running, Back widow open to hear the baler, Big enough that the baler gives you a smooth ride. Plus neighbor let me use his since my 2640 was broke down. lots of gears. Win-Win.
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I bale 2500-3500 bales a year with an International 464 diesel and a John Deere 336 while pulling a wagon (about 100 bales) most of the time. It does fine and never lacks power. The live PTO is handy.

SF
 
In the very early 60's I rode the wagon and stacked the bales from 1st cutting in late May, straw and second cutting in July, and if I was really unlucky, we had a 3rd cutting in September. It has taken me a lifetime to enjoy the smell of freshly mowen hay as it has always reminded me of very hard work with chaff and leaves in my hair and down my shirt. I rode behind a John Deere baler of some kind and the whole parade was pulled by a John Deere 'A'. The model of the baler just wasn't important to me as I kept hoping it would pick up a big rock and stop. It never did. Snakes, yes but rocks,no.
 
We used da Fordson Super Major and a IH 50T baler with the engine on it. Some one had to ride the twin boxes because it would miss alot of knots. We got very good at tying square knots in a hurry!! Was very dirty riding there especially in the red clover
 
I really like my 770 on my round or square baler, great fuel economy and plenty of power for my 505 super I Vermere and it lets me know if a brg is out as she pulls enough harder to notice right away, I rented a 886 IH for a few years and really liked how the pto engaugement worked also cnt
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a79449.jpg
 
Our favorite baling tractor back in the early 60s was a 1936 John Deere AR (standard) pulling a NH 77 Hayliner with a wagon behind or free drop. Tractor was easy to get on and off and offered a good vantage point from which to aim and discharge the onboard fire extinguisher when the gutsy Wis V4 engine would catch on fire which was about twice per season.
 
Gotta ask, why did it catch on fire? What , why , how come? I have had my share of trouble with a 77 but catching on fire was not one of them. Really would like to know, thanks.
 
I think an early model because it has the two-speed hydra power and the pto lever is on the left side when seated, which is why I prefer it for round baling so I can run the pto a little bit as I lower the endgate on the baler.
 
We used a 2440 JD for many years and it worked real nice on the 65 NH baler pulling wagons up to 150 bales. Now I traded for a Case Farmall 65 and that works just as well. But----I always thought a IH hydro would be the ultimate on a baler. The smooth starting and stopping would be the best for the guy on the wagon.
 
Being an air cooled engine, it had baffle plates over each cylinder head set out about an inch or two to facilitate air flow over the cylinder heads. We used to bale a lot of red clover hay, which if a little too dry would get pretty chaffy and dusty. Chaff/dust would build up between the cyl head and the baffle plate and first start to smoke and if not noticed quickly enough, catch fire. With someone on a trailing wagon it would be seen right away. Free dropping with only one guy driving the tractor and going at a pretty good clip (that baler would put out 10 old long squares a minute) the smoke would trail behind and might not be noticed so soon. Made for some quick scrambling.
 
A case 830 comfort king with case-o-matic. Lots of gears and a shift, great power, heavy enough for any hills and very fuel eficient.
 
No such thing because depending on where you are what you may or may not need or want. Each state has different weather and soil and hills or lack of hills so it all depends on where when etc.
 
Was that similar to the one on a A-6 pull type CASE combine? My Dad once filled the gas tank after dark while it was still idling and left it run all night so we could get started combining in the forenoon rather than afternoon by the time we got it started.
 
A bigger tractor on the baler won't lunge as much every time the plunger makes a stroke, so riding the rack is a little easier. On the other hand, if the tractor driver gets a little jumpy with the clutch the bigger tractor will take off faster, so the guys on the rack have to learn to dance a little better. Sometimes if I had to pitch a bale up on the 5th or 6th tier while we were temporarily stopped I'd wait and throw the bale at the same time the driver let the clutch out. The rearward momentum would help me get it back a little farther. Jim
 
We bale with a Massey 285 and a #12 baler, and me on the rack stacking 6 high. The 285 is very good on fuel, more than enough power and weight to handle the baler and a full load, and easy to climb on and off of.

We ran the baler with our 1755 once, and the engine just runs so fast on those bigger 55 series for something as small as a square baler. We now have an 1855 and I wouldn't use it for baling unless I had to. Again, it'd never come close to working the engine and this one wet stacks easy enough cutting hay with a 14' haybine behind it. I like it for that because of the size, the canopy, and the little extra power though the Massey 285 can handle it just fine.

Our 1600 works good on the baler too, and was used on it probably 12-15 years ago before I rebuilt it, when the PTO was out on the 285. Smoked the whole time like you wouldn't beleive, burnt lots of gas (and oil) compared to the diesel 285, but it got the job done easy enough. We had the 1755 but Dad just didn't like it on the baler the one time we did it. Of course I wasn't driving, so maybe I would have thought different.

Donovan from Wisconsin
 
Dads 6000 commander has about 13000 hours on it and only had a problem once and that was the "wishbone", whatever that is. It has a turbo on it, but dad always babied it because he knew it wasn't made to handle the extra power. He still uses it a bit. He also bought grandpa's 6000 commander after he passed away a couple of years ago. It has less hours and has never been rebuilt. I guess it is what luck you had with them, or how you used them.
 
I was going to say my Farmall 400 is a pretty good choice on the baler. But, after reading Delta Red's post, I would have to say an International 544 Hydro would be the way to go. A Farmall 544 Hydro if you want a better view as they sit a bit higher. Nothing wrong with an 826 Hydro, either. I'm just speaking from experience, as I would assume Delta is too. Especially since the 826 in the pic kinda looks like his. ;v) The 544 I had the chance to use a few times was my Uncles. It did a fantastic job on his 430 baler & the 76 combine he had.

Mike
 


Anything with good brakes, PS and enough weight to control the taractor/baler/wagon going down hill.

Rick
 
the PO moved the light bars up higher on the cab I need to take time and move it back where it belongs so I added a light to the left side to aid in lighting up closer just never put one on the right cnt
 
Over the last 50 years I have used on the square balers a MM Z, Fordson Major Diesel, MF 85, MF 1100, MF 1155, MF 165, Oliver 1750, White 2-70 and IH 1026 hydro. None of the other tractors came close to the 1026 for hay baling. Each of the others had their strong points but the hay field belonged to the hydro. In fact I just Came in from cutting 3rd crop hay with the 1026 IH and 5212 New Idea discbine. Joe
 
When I got mine a Ford tractor mechanic said most of the problems with the 6000 trans was the operators,I always shifted it easily and let the tractor idle for a few minutes to cool the trans fluid before shutting it off per his instructions great tractor really.
 
I see lots of different answers. Kind of boils down to "whichever one works for you".

When my job had me on an airplane almost every day flying from state-to-state or province-to-province in the 70's, someone asked me what my favorite airplane was.

My answer was: "The first one going to where I need to go".
 
I had a 5000 selecto for a few years. It was real nice on the square baler and never had any trouble. By then they had most of the bugs worked out of the selecto but its reputation was tarnished. If they are in working order and you dont abuse them they will last. Only sold the tractor because the nephew of the origional owner wanted it.
Also have a 4020 powershift with a turbo.That tractor was my favorite tractor for chopping haylage.
 
IHC 300 with a 270 NH baler has been teamed up on this place since maybe 1960 or so.

Live pto, 5 speed with the TA hi-lo giving 10 speeds, select the TA n the go as you mention. Power steering, hyd hitch (up-down with the Fast Hitch) to work through the road ditches.

Not a high-capacity outfit, but you can do a lot of baling for the money. And is even a bit older than your timeframe. :)

--->Paul
 
Allis Chalmers D-19 and Allis Chalmers 444 Baler. We have found it to be the right one for us. Now the hills we bale we can only pull one wagon.

So wet last year we keep duals on and well we made it any where we needed to. One field baled 2nd cut with water running in the field. Sure did leave some ruts but didn't get stuck.
 
Did custom baling in the 50's with an Oliver 77.
Still my favorite tractor to bale with today.
Last year and what bailing I did this year was with a Farmall C. Works the crap out of it when you hit a heavy place.

Picture004-vi.jpg


This one take twice the gas to do the same amount of bales. Oliver 1650

3rdCutting2007007-vi.jpg
 
Back in the day, we baled with a John Deere 3010 gas and a Allis Chalmers 303 square baler. Back in the day, that ole girl was our "big" tractor, lol. It did handle the baler and wagon good.
 
Kind of like IH's TA, shift them right and and keep them in adjustment and they would last a lot longer.
 
My favorite tractor for square baling is a Ford 7710 with dual power. If I had to pick one from the 70's vintage I'd probably go with a Ford 5000 with dual power. Right now I'm using a '66 5000 with the crashbox. It works great but the DP would make it very nice.

Rod
 
One that runs when it's supposed to :oops: :roll: I really like my 730 Case for bailing squares, not too sure how it would be on a round baler....Shawn
 
I don't know what A-6 had for power unit but it sure sounds like it could be WI engine. They were odd fire engine with a distinctive sound. Kind of like a flathead Ford V8 missing on a few cylinders.
 
Dad has always been a hobbie farmer,when I was growing up he used 9n ford to pull NH 68 baler with the wisconson motor, then got a Ford 3000
BIG IMPROVMENT!! And P.T.O. for the baler, He still has all this equipment used the ford 3000 and NH baler this week 100 bales. He has JD 2555 to pull the round baler.
 
I bale with ford 860 and new holland 268 or an older 68 baler. Mostly on th flat. The tractor has plenty of power under normal loading but if something gets ito the baler it will most likely shear a pin or kill the tractor. I like that the tractor is not overpowered for the baler.
 
I have a few thousand bales with my Cockshutt 35 hi boy it's on a 60 frame with a 4 banger Hercules engine. Lots of good height to see the baler and plenty of power with great fuel mileage. Can run all day on 5 or 6 gallons of fuel.
Good ground clearance to get across the rows without tearing them up.
Walt
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