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Too Much HP For Baler?

B

Bryce Frazier

Well-known Member
Considering running my NH 68 hayliner this year with my Super M (55 Horse). I'll have to be easy on the clutch so I don't blow shear pins, but is there any reason I shouldn't do this?
 
You won't hurt a thing. Just go a little easy engaging the PTO but that's something we need to be careful about anyway. Lots of guys pull a baler with a 100 horse tractor without problems. If the baler is pulling a hay rack with men on the rack the bigger tractor will make it easier for the men standing on the rack because of less lunging every time the plunger makes a round.
 
Bryce.......thats what sheer pins are for, protecting yer bailer. Sheer pins are meant to blow, donna be substituting something stronger 'cuz you'll really cussin' about broke parts.......the amazed Dell
 
Funny you should ask that. Most people think they need at least a 5 plow tractor for jobs like that anymore.
 
Bryce, I've run a JD 24T baler with a tired Super A at ~16hp. I've run a NH 73 with a 185 Massey at ~68hp. I've seen much bigger tractors used on small squares. As is noted above, as long as the shear bolt isn't over rated or the slip junction rusted solid the baler will be fine.

Just yesterday, my helper was running the the '44H with IH #46 baler and a grade 2 shear bolt (needles jumped going through a rut and popped the grade 5 one, and couldn't put my hand on the spares because it's been a long while since I last needed one, and no tool box on the baler, yet).

It's all a matter of not beating up what you are working with.
 
I've done thousands bales with an NH 68 and a JD 4440 (140+ HP) with no issues.

Just use common sense - especially when engaging the PTO. And have a few spare shear pins handy.
 
That's what I thought! I KNOW I need a 100 horse diesel!! :p

Usually I pull it with a worn out Super C, but I do hills and would like the bigger brakes and bigger tractor. And I also have a lot of driving in between fields, and the Super M Hauls!! :p

I ONLY use "New Holland" Shear Bolts, and take very good care of it. I need to make it last as long as I can! :p
 
We usually bale with 4020, but use my 6610 if 4020 is not available, the 6 cylinder is a lot smoother baling than the 4, and the extra weight of the 4020 helps going down the hills.
 
A Super M is just a good size for a NH68. Like others have said, you need to be able to engage the clutch slowly to get the baler moving. I never square bale with a live PTO, so when you get the baler plugged you should be able to ease the plunger into the bale to cut the plug over several tries without busting a shear pin. Starting with an empty bale chamber won't be the issue, it's starting after you've plugged it and are trying to restart it. I prefer an M over an H just for that reason. You'll be able to bale larger windrows with the M.

You won't wear out the NH68. You'll just have to replace wear parts and keep the knives sharp. The biggest load on a square baler is a combination of dull knives and a loose plunger.
 
Hey now! LOL when we used to bale our rye straw,(when we used to grow it) our 1066 was the only tractor that would go slow enough not to push the windrow in front of and over the front of the baler. That rye would grow over 6' tall, and them windrows would be 2.5-3' high and 6-7 feet wide. Baling hay with the NH 268, we baled with our small tractors like usual. But with that rye, had to run the 1066 low first with TA back. Glad we haven't done that in a long time!
 
Ran a phase 1 Super M with a 24T John Deere baler when I was your age, paid for a few terms at Michigan State University doing custom hay with that rig. Must of worked okay as the other day I was coming back from Carroll Iowa and saw what looked like a Super M Farmall lugging around a 24T John Deere baler, had a tall kid with glasses stacking on the wagon. Looked like us 40 years agao
 
Anything smaller than a 4020 around here and you will either lose traction on the sand hills or run out of power. Some of our wagons hold 150 bales. I like using the 4230 or 4250 since there both Power shift. As far as the comment about using a tractor with out like power how can clutch and ease through a tiff spot. I have never sheared a pin starting a baler with the hydraulic pto.
 
(quoted from post at 20:19:12 06/18/17) Anything smaller than a 4020 around here and you will either lose traction on the sand hills or run out of power. Some of our wagons hold 150 bales. I like using the 4230 or 4250 since there both Power shift. As far as the comment about using a tractor with out like power how can clutch and ease through a tiff spot. I have never sheared a pin starting a baler with the hydraulic pto.
Click to expand...

I made that comment because his SM doesn't have a live PTO. One way you make it through heavy spots is you pop it into neutral and let the baler clear then back in gear and go on, a lower gear if necessary. Baling with a Farmall in third gear if you want to downshift before it lugs the tractor down you can ease it into neutral without using the clutch and on the next baler stroke go right into second, still no clutch and no gear clash. My dad taught me that and it's slick as snot. Got to clutch to get back to third, however. I imagine it's a little faster with a live PTO, and I've tried it once, but didn't like it. If you're paying attention (and you don't have anything else to do) you can bale without live PTO quite nicely. I don't use hay wagons because I have no help, just use a NH bale wagon, again behind an M. I was doing about 15,000 bales per year. I'd usually go all year without breaking a shear pin, then with a worn adjustment I'd break two or three in one day.
 
My JD 5055d - PTO from Nebraska tests is 50hp. I run my 68 on it, no problems. I'd put it on my Farmall 756 without hesitation. IMHO, the key to not shearing flywheel bolts is running the baler at 540 PTO, not the hp in front of it,
 
just learn how to windrow the hay avoid bunches and huge size of the windrow as the baler wasnt built for them. That baler was built for single windrow from a 7ft mower.
 
When I first bought my NH 277 I ran it with one of my Oliver 1850's. I have sheared shear pins using my Farmall C on it. I ran in a couple year with my Oliver 1650. Shear pins shear when you have a slug the knife has a problem getting thru not from high horse power.
 
Back when the yields were smaller along with the wagons it was the Oliver 88 on the NH 270. When I was old enough to operate the machinery it was the 4010 diesel on the JD 347 baler and I would not have wanted a smaller tractor especially pulling basket wagons carrying 150 sixty pound bales. 3.5 ton per acre first cutting and going fast enough to get 10-15 acres done in an afternoon requires some power ahead of the baler.
 
Hi, I don't think a baler needs a lot of HP to operate.The small squares made by NH66 we had was run by a 2 cyl Wisconsin. I baled thousands of bales with the 66 and towed with a MF35D. Although it had the 2 stage clutch. If the hay is really dry it goes easier and don't make the windrows too thick you will just breeze through it. Ed Will Oliver BC
 
I've run a MHF #3 on a 225Hp tractor. Biggest problem was you about had to run the tires down the middle of the windrow. The slip clutch on a baler is there to protect against too much power. The shear pin is for sudden stops of the plunger.

If you got plenty of money to play with, a tractor with CVT is sweet on an old baler.
 
Back in the 1950's-1970's every pto baler in the neighborhood had a 3 to 5 plow
tractor on it.....Some I remember were an A John Deere,3020 John Deere,M Farmall,44 Massey,WD-45 Allis,
Super 88 Oliver,1800 Oliver,175 Massey,180 Massey,460 Farmall,5000 Ford-etc..I hauled hay for lots of
these guys and I saw no problems..
 
If you've got a high capacity baler pushing 6-800 bph... you pretty well do need that. For a 68 doing 2-300... not so much lol 55 horse on it would be just about right.

Rod
 
Where did you get the number of 55 for Super M HP? That's a bit high for a Super M. Even on PTO it doesn't have that HP.

Considering the NH 68, I run one with a JD model 50 at 27 drawbar HP (slightly more on PTO) and it works just fine. No wagon behind though, just bales dropping on the ground.
 
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