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

Hfd Cattle

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Hereford
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.
Your 'new Holland ' offers seem to be your best bet . I ran one for years no problem baling anything .
 

debe

Member
Location
Wilts
654 for sale here, only because we've bought a newer one.

Great little balers, though the pickup isnt as wide as newer balers, and you can't push on quite as hard, but makes a lovely bale.
IMG_20200411_093554.jpg
IMG_20200411_093708.jpg
IMG_20200411_093541.jpg
 

8100

Member
Location
South Cheshire
@Cowabunga How long have you had the SAME Titan and has it been ok ? I had a day mowing with a demo one around the early 90s i think ! .It was better than the new gutless 110 laser which i had some days on the 307 but i could not get the hang of the electric throttle thingy on the cab pillar i think it was. It was a tad to big for the mower though as i thought the mower was going to start hovering when brought up to speed :)
 

Cowabunga

Member
Location
Ceredigion,Wales
@Cowabunga How long have you had the SAME Titan and has it been ok ? I had a day mowing with a demo one around the early 90s i think ! .It was better than the new gutless 110 laser which i had some days on the 307 but i could not get the hang of the electric throttle thingy on the cab pillar i think it was. It was a tad to big for the mower though as i thought the mower was going to start hovering when brought up to speed :)
Bought new in 1993 and still chugging along. Get along OK with electronic throttle control and memories but it is an acquired taste. Quite an economical tractor for its power on fuel. The main thing that nobody likes is the sharp clutch take up. Great in every way in the field though.
 

steveR

Member
Mixed 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:

Pah! Get a good string tie machine then! ;)

I do both, fine, bitty stuff is always netted, but long straw or hay, string every time. Double feed string takes a bit longer, but well worth the reduction in net to get shot of or always gets into muck/silage rings.
 

steveR

Member
Mixed 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.

Krone, chain and slat baler. Go forever, simple to work on. Only downside on older machines is the pickup cam.

Can even run on an old MF35 at a pinch..... :) Well, maybe another 15hp would be nice...
 

Cowabunga

Member
Location
Ceredigion,Wales
Pah! Get a good string tie machine then! ;)

I do both, fine, bitty stuff is always netted, but long straw or hay, string every time. Double feed string takes a bit longer, but well worth the reduction in net to get shot of or always gets into muck/silage rings.
The extra time taken at feed-out to remove the string is most unacceptable to many farmers. Leaving the string on, to contaminate the muck is even more unacceptable and getting rid of string is just as much of an issue as getting rid of net.
The NH balers will work with string just fine for those that insist on using it. It has two twine arms for reasonably fast tying. The net wrapping is so reliable and easy to use though, I never bother with string.
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
Pah! Get a good string tie machine then! ;)

I do both, fine, bitty stuff is always netted, but long straw or hay, string every time. Double feed string takes a bit longer, but well worth the reduction in net to get shot of or always gets into muck/silage rings.
Net makes a better 'thatch' to keep the rain out, takes a belt baler to the no. 1 position in that respect imo., one of the best modern inventions ir.
Just need dry weather to make and bale it in ...:banghead::banghead:

P.s. my small 'dry ' whole crop trial went completely pear shaped yesterday aftefnoon after just under 2 inches of rain :poop:
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
Net makes a better 'thatch' to keep the rain out, takes a belt baler to the no. 1 position in that respect imo., one of the best modern inventions ir.
Just need dry weather to make and bale it in ...:banghead::banghead:

P.s. my small 'dry ' whole crop trial went completely pear shaped yesterday aftefnoon after just under 2 inches of rain :poop:

Agree on net for outdoor storage, right up to the moment when you try to take some frozen-on netwrap off the bale!!!

Very sorry to hear of the issues with the Trial.... Berluddy rain in teh wrong place... again! Spring Barley?
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
The extra time taken at feed-out to remove the string is most unacceptable to many farmers. Leaving the string on, to contaminate the muck is even more unacceptable and getting rid of string is just as much of an issue as getting rid of net.
The NH balers will work with string just fine for those that insist on using it. It has two twine arms for reasonably fast tying. The net wrapping is so reliable and easy to use though, I never bother with string.

Funnily, I prefer taking off string every time. A quick slash with a stanly knife, a quick gathering of string, and Pull. I always find net bits unless I unroll the net off the bale. The Contractors Fusion is a bitch as the net always seems to have been baled up a bit... :unsure: I can do a better job netwrapping with the Krone actually.
 

8100

Member
Location
South Cheshire
Yes i remember when i was still green at vaci tanking getting covered in a mixture of silage leachate run off from a liquid fert plant and cow plop when pulling net wrap out of the mucky end of a vaci tank ...🤮
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
Yep! Now I know what I'm doing with my John Deere 545 it worked perfectly.
Ah well thats good then (y)

remember tweaking that little dial only small amounts each time to fine tune it to what you want, the twine arm can alsobe adjusted in different ways as well, but probably its best to get hold of an operators manual on ebay or somewhere..they are not that expensive/willsoon payforthemselves....
 

Deere342

Member
Location
Derbyshire
Ah well thats good then (y)

remember tweaking that little dial only small amounts each time to fine tune it to what you want, the twine arm can alsobe adjusted in different ways as well, but probably its best to get hold of an operators manual on ebay or somewhere..they are not that expensive/willsoon payforthemselves....

Yes probably a very good idea. Looks a simple enough machine, but ought to know how it works properly. With all that space on the inside of those covers you could nearly print the manual there!
 

balerman

Member
Location
N Devon
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.....

I had one back then,I came to the conclusion if there was any damp on top of the row and dry underneath it wouldn’t bale it,normally damp underneath and dry on top was ok unless short grass.Life is too short to be messing about with machines like that...
 

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