Fixed or variable chamber round baler?

[Winklepicker]

Thinking of buying a round baler but not sure what to go for, I've been told that fixed chambers are better for silage and belts are better on dry crops/straw
I currently make around 400-600 straw bales and 800-1000 silage bales, I do like to get the silage dry but late season grass can be damp and wet and seen contractors belt baler struggle.
Will a fixed chamber get as much straw into a bale as a belt baler?
If I go for a fixed chamber, rollers or chain and slats?

 

[icanshootwell]

When i switched from belts to fixed, i had the same thoughts about will the baler get enough straw in the bale, Not a problem at all, you can pack a lot of straw in a fixed chamber, i never have to have full pressure on the baler. The only downside is they need a bit more hp to drive than a belt baler and will use a bit more deisel also.

 

[Mursal]

Fixed rollers ............

 

[KB6930]

You'll get roughly 1 third more in a belt baler than a fixed chamber certain makes of belt baler struggle in wet conditions but others are fine.

 

[fermerboy]

A fixed roller baler will put as much in as a variable(belt) baler but you have to go slower to do it.
I have a Welger 220 assuming he's at the same size, I can match my mates Welger 435 weight for weight but he can really fly in straw but I have to be a bit more restrained. The baler would take it in at the same speed but you'd be left with sponges.
I have still a irrational fear of belts from using old IH and Farmhand belt balers in the early 80s!

 

[Horn&corn]

Belt every time. New balers don't really struggle from what we've seen. Do you want a third more to wrap, haul, stack and then feed/ bed in the winter? No brainer.

 

[icanshootwell]

You'll get roughly 1 third more in a belt baler than a fixed chamber certain makes of belt baler struggle in wet conditions but others are fine.

That may of been true in the 80s, when farmers didnt have enough hp on the baler to make a solid bale, but fixed chamber balers today make just as solid bales as a belt, in straw there fine, its just some farmers want 6ft bales and you would need belt baler then.

 

[KB6930]

That may of been true in the 80s, when farmers didnt have enough hp on the baler to make a solid bale, but fixed chamber balers today make just as solid bales as a belt, in straw there fine, its just some farmers want 6ft bales and you would need belt baler then.

Aye really??

So you're saying a baler that actually rolls the material from the centre won't put any more in a bale than one that the material just tumbles around until it's big enough to start rolling itself then the pressure comes on when it touches the rollers there's a reason you can see a soft star in the middle of a fixed chamber baler.

Tried and tested weighing straw bales roughly a 3rd more kgs per bale Silage around the same depending how dry it is.

 

[Mickeymatbro]

Bailed with a fusion vario in same field as mchale 550 he was doing 8 to the acre I was doing 5 , he was crawling and said he couldn't get anymore in the bale , same field same crop same time
That was in winter barley straw

 

[icanshootwell]

Aye really??

So you're saying a baler that actually rolls the material from the centre won't put any more in a bale than one that the material just tumbles around until it's big enough to start rolling itself then the pressure comes on when it touches the rollers there's a reason you can see a soft star in the middle of a fixed chamber baler.

Tried and tested weighing straw bales roughly a 3rd more kgs per bale Silage around the same depending how dry it is.

If there was a third difference as you claim, they wouldn,t sell any fixed chambers would they, Take the fusion baler, a very big seller, makes a very SOLID bale, i can only compare to what i have used so a vermeer and new holland belt baler will NOT put as much in a bale as a Mc hale. And thats silage and straw, maybe the mchale belt or vicon may add a bit extra, not sure cause not used either.
What baler do you run?

 

[fermerboy]

I buy in plenty straw from all sorts of balers and also bale our own. My own Welger 220 will do anything from 200-240kg in a bale, occasionally more sometimes less, I'd say my average bale over a 36 bale load is about 220kg. The belt balers I usually have are a McHale and a Welger and they don't weigh out any better, but they have done the job faster. And before anybody says it these guys arent baling for selling, they are making a good job, I guess that if they were going the same speed as me they would have more solid bales.
We did silage for the first time with that 220 this year so I weighed a random half dozen out of interest and the best was 890 the worst 740, most just over the 800kg. Wrapper man said they were as good as any. Given the grass I was happy enough at that.
As said, plenty ponies in the front, (and the roller Welger needs them), give it a little more time and there's nothing in it. The baler needs a little more time to allow the centre star bit to fold in on itself that's the key.
The other thing if like me you are a second user, is the running cost, I could probably change all the bearings and chains on mine for the cost of one McHale belt, they keep saying the belts are no bother but I see a few that have needed replacing.

Each to their own, I don't think there's that much in it nowadays.

 

[KB6930]

If there was a third difference as you claim, they wouldn,t sell any fixed chambers would they, Take the fusion baler, a very big seller, makes a very SOLID bale, i can only compare to what i have used so a vermeer and new holland belt baler will NOT put as much in a bale as a Mc hale. And thats silage and straw, maybe the mchale belt or vicon may add a bit extra, not sure cause not used either.
What baler do you run?

Currently running a McHale v660 but had 4 welger's before it after 4 welger fixed chamber balers and krone before that I can go into a field alongside a fixed chamber and roll more weight into a bale any day if I couldn't we wouldn't have changed from a fixed chamber as I rarely make anything over 4'6 but the savings in net wrap and silage wrap over a 10000 bales season is a fair bit when net is working out a 50p a bale

 

[Mickeymatbro]

I was fixed chamber fusion now vario fusion over season so far at home not work done out im getting bale count down by 2/3 bales to the acre on silage /Haylage , and I had the fixed chamber to the limit when I had it , as said less wrap less net and less bales to cart , no brainer . Do some out and customers don't want fixed chamber again

 

[KB6930]

There are downside's to belt balers but as long as you know how to drive them they good points outweigh the bad

 

[Muck Spreader]

IMO you use a VC for silage and a FC for hay, as the soft centre allows the bale to carry on sweating in the field were as the VC has a firmer centre reducing aerobic spoilage.

 

[BredRedHfd]

IMO you use a VC for silage and a FC for hay, as the soft centre allows the bale to carry on sweating in the field were as the VC has a firmer centre reducing aerobic spoilage.

That's why I fitted a soft core kit to my Kuhn belt baler

 

[Chips]

I bought some oat straw in the swath last summer and baled it with my Class 355 roller baler , I have run out of straw now so went and bought a load of oat rounds of the same farmer, that he baled with his own Vicon belt baler . There is a lot more straw in the ones I baled with the Class ! He doesn't normally sell his rounds so I can't assume he slackens the baler off because he's selling them , he does not have a straw chopper so maybe he slackens it off to make them easier to man handle , or the MPS system on the Class really does work well , who knows !

 

[KB6930]

I bought some oat straw in the swath last summer and baled it with my Class 355 roller baler , I have run out of straw now so went and bought a load of oat rounds of the same farmer, that he baled with his own Vicon belt baler . There is a lot more straw in the ones I baled with the Class ! He doesn't normally sell his rounds so I can't assume he slackens the baler off because he's selling them , he does not have a straw chopper so maybe he slackens it off to make them easier to man handle , or the MPS system on the Class really does work well , who knows !

We were a little bit short of straw this year and got some bales from a neighbour with the same baler as mine there was more straw in my 4'6 than his 5'6 just depends how it's set up

 

[Winklepicker]

What bale weights are people getting from a decent setup round baler in wheat straw? 4ft's (Both fixed and variable)

 

[Turra farmer]

I buy in plenty straw from all sorts of balers and also bale our own. My own Welger 220 will do anything from 200-240kg in a bale, occasionally more sometimes less, I'd say my average bale over a 36 bale load is about 220kg. The belt balers I usually have are a McHale and a Welger and they don't weigh out any better, but they have done the job faster. And before anybody says it these guys arent baling for selling, they are making a good job, I guess that if they were going the same speed as me they would have more solid bales.
We did silage for the first time with that 220 this year so I weighed a random half dozen out of interest and the best was 890 the worst 740, most just over the 800kg. Wrapper man said they were as good as any. Given the grass I was happy enough at that.
As said, plenty ponies in the front, (and the roller Welger needs them), give it a little more time and there's nothing in it. The baler needs a little more time to allow the centre star bit to fold in on itself that's the key.
The other thing if like me you are a second user, is the running cost, I could probably change all the bearings and chains on mine for the cost of one McHale belt, they keep saying the belts are no bother but I see a few that have needed replacing.

Each to their own, I don't think there's that much in it nowadays.

I agree totally , and in a year like this where straw is going to need turning if it's been rained , a stone from turner in the wrong place on belt baler and belts damaged , and it's a day for side off baler to change belt , plus price of belt