First baler on a serious budget. Whats good whats not?

Cowabunga

Member
Location
Ceredigion,Wales
Before buying a Welger you'd need to find a way of getting parts that doesn't rely on Agco. If it was my money I'd buy a Vicon.
AGCO parts are cheaper generally, and in some cases very much cheaper than the parts were formerly through RECO and Lely.
Vicon have some very good contractor's balers but are very much more fiddly, requiring more maintenance and repairs than some rivals. Rollers are prone to collapse on some models and very few indeed of their belt balers were sold around here. Their parts are now sourced through Kuhn dealers.
New generation Vicons, since the earlier models were sold off to Kuhn, are Italian made and not my cup of tea. I would choose an old model Vicon before the Italian made Vicons personally.
 

Boohoo

Member
Location
Newtownabbey
AGCO parts are cheaper generally, and in some cases very much cheaper than the parts were formerly through RECO and Lely.
Vicon have some very good contractor's balers but are very much more fiddly, requiring more maintenance and repairs than some rivals. Rollers are prone to collapse on some models and very few indeed of their belt balers were sold around here. Their parts are now sourced through Kuhn dealers.
New generation Vicons, since the earlier models were sold off to Kuhn, are Italian made and not my cup of tea. I would choose an old model Vicon before the Italian made Vicons personally.
The problem with AGCO parts is availability. I had Lely tedder parts on order for 6 weeks and what eventually turned up came from Kramp.

I wouldn't want an Italian made Vicon either, but I couldn't see the £5000 budget buying one.
 

Cowabunga

Member
Location
Ceredigion,Wales
The problem with AGCO parts is availability. I had Lely tedder parts on order for 6 weeks and what eventually turned up came from Kramp.

I wouldn't want an Italian made Vicon either, but I couldn't see the £5000 budget buying one.
I have no doubt that parts supply for older Lely models have been, and in some cases will continue to be problematic. That's what happens when factories are shut and new companies take over brands. Parts is not a simple business. However, fast movers are available for most popular brands from a surprising variety of third party sources that even your main AGCO dealer will almost certainly have access to.
 
Location
lincs
Ago have upped there game regarding parts supply for lely welger this season in my experience....MUCH MUCH better support and some prices have actually reduced from when it was lely welger supplying .can only say what I've found
 

egbert

Member
Livestock Farmer
I'm shopping for a baler, don't have a lot of baling to do and will likely upgrade in a few years but to start with I need something under £5k that's a good machine. Don't mind a bit of work to get it right but a machine that's reliable and simple would be good. Bear in mind that although I have worked on farms and in farming all my life somehow I made it through having never run a bailer.

My main question is what to avoid and what is or was a good machine?

Spec.
- Round bailer
- Must do wrap not string
- Will be doing Hay/Haylage/Silage
- Run on 140hp 6 cyl (don't expect that to be an issue)
- If I could id have a variable chamber belt bailer but don't expect to get one for the cash.

a vote for JD 4' belt balers here, unless you're needing to handle a lot of soggy silage.

Don't know about their wrap systems - i'm on string, but dependable and make good bales.
Go for model with 'packer finger' things, as older machines had difficulty starting bales at a certain moisture point...lovely looking bit of haylagey stuff could have you tearing your hair out.
But the next gen hardly ever falter starting bales.

Your tractor will power it fine as long as it's firing on at least 3 cyl.
 

Cowabunga

Member
Location
Ceredigion,Wales
a vote for JD 4' belt balers here, unless you're needing to handle a lot of soggy silage.

Don't know about their wrap systems - i'm on string, but dependable and make good bales.
Go for model with 'packer finger' things, as older machines had difficulty starting bales at a certain moisture point...lovely looking bit of haylagey stuff could have you tearing your hair out.
But the next gen hardly ever falter starting bales.

Your tractor will power it fine as long as it's firing on at least 3 cyl.
JD's belt balers with net wrap had a terribly unreliable system. I seem to remember some bulk fine chalk powder being recommended to get it to work at some time in the 1990's.
 

glasshouse

Member
Location
lothians
I'm shopping for a baler, don't have a lot of baling to do and will likely upgrade in a few years but to start with I need something under £5k that's a good machine. Don't mind a bit of work to get it right but a machine that's reliable and simple would be good. Bear in mind that although I have worked on farms and in farming all my life somehow I made it through having never run a bailer.

My main question is what to avoid and what is or was a good machine?

Spec.
- Round bailer
- Must do wrap not string
- Will be doing Hay/Haylage/Silage
- Run on 140hp 6 cyl (don't expect that to be an issue)
- If I could id have a variable chamber belt bailer but don't expect to get one for the cash.
Claas 250
 

egbert

Member
Livestock Farmer
JD's belt balers with net wrap had a terribly unreliable system. I seem to remember some bulk fine chalk powder being recommended to get it to work at some time in the 1990's.
ne'er used netwrap - current baler bought new in 2001 was - I recall- £1200 cheaper without.

There’ll be a few folk still wake up in middle of night in cold sweats having tried baling silage with them back then!
If yer grass is wet, go home. If you have to bale it and its wet, phone Mr fixed chamberman.

I do about 1000 a year with mine, and simply put a contractor in where conditions aren't conducive. There's always plenty to be doing, why stress.
 

glasshouse

Member
Location
lothians
ne'er used netwrap - current baler bought new in 2001 was - I recall- £1200 cheaper without.


If yer grass is wet, go home. If you have to bale it and its wet, phone Mr fixed chamberman.

I do about 1000 a year with mine, and simply put a contractor in where conditions aren't conducive. There's always plenty to be doing, why stress.
How do you find a contractor to bale only when its shyte?
 

egbert

Member
Livestock Farmer
How do you find a contractor to bale only when its shyte?
I didn't say shyte.
If the weathers catchy, and we want to pack it before the rubber band machine would want, make the call.

They get some better work as well, but I understand both the guys i use regularly are happy to work here mostly because the bill is paid without issues.
 

Sharpy

Member
Livestock Farmer
String only balers are for people with time on their hands, hobby farmers etc.:oops:


Liken string only round balers to
Indians b4 they replaced bows and arrows with guns... :sneaky:
It depends on the baler, had a deutz gp230, reasonably quick stringer, reliable too. The netter was quicker but needed fiddled with so not much difference per day. Tidy bales with string too.
Jd 575 for the last 15 years, had current one for 7 ish years, it too has stringer and net. Stringer is sloooooww. Bales disgusting looking on string as well, net they are very neat.
Don't write off string is what I'm saying, plus its about a quarter of the price per bale.....
 

Tomtrac

Member
Location
Penrith cumbria
a vote for JD 4' belt balers here, unless you're needing to handle a lot of soggy silage.

Don't know about their wrap systems - i'm on string, but dependable and make good bales.
Go for model with 'packer finger' things, as older machines had difficulty starting bales at a certain moisture point...lovely looking bit of haylagey stuff could have you tearing your hair out.
But the next gen hardly ever falter starting bales.

Your tractor will power it fine as long as it's firing on at least 3 cyl.

My son bought a JD550
Had a little trouble with feed on some wet 2nd cut but went other day to some old growth hill silage and tried 8 plus times diferent pto speeds and diferent size rows etc couldnt get it into chamber had to get other person to bale it he at his wits end with it
Any idea wats to try
Just read last few posts lol
Think its best sold to a straw man
Any one got a net baler for 3k
Lol
 
Last edited:

egbert

Member
Livestock Farmer
My son bought a JD550
Had a little trouble with feed on some wet 2nd cut but went other day to some old growth hill silage and tried 8 plus times diferent pto speeds and diferent size rows etc couldnt get it into chamber had to get other person to bale it he at his wits end with it
Any idea wats to try
Just read last few posts lol
Think its best sold to a straw man
Any one got a net baler for 3k
Lol

It was at that kind of stage that I traded a 545 for the new one. (572?)
Never could get a handle on what the problem was...it'd bale hay as fast as you could stay in the seat, but starting the bale at just that haylage stage.....
 

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