Krone round balers

[Charley brown]

Looking to buy a krone round baler I am not mechanical minded looking at krone I make around 400 bales of silage mu contractor has Kuhn it’s 3 years old a lot money spent on it. I need a baler that’s easy to work at bearing easy to replace and quick to get going is there such a baler on the market a bit of advice would be appreciated

 

[Yale]

All depends what models and age?

We had the choice of Kuhn or Krone and went Kuhn. No regrets yet but we only use it for our own bales so not high bale counts.

 

[welger rp 220]

You wont go far wrong with an old welger to be fair..The krones are easy to change bearings but they half aint noisy when running

 

[thorpe]

You wont go far wrong with an old welger to be fair..The krones are easy to change bearings but they half aint noisy when running

yes , our neighbours used to keep me awake at night!

 

[wdah/him]

Krone round pack is old now, a bit of a hassle setting up the net but when you get it set it works a dream on good net, much like any other baler. Have put 18000 bales through one now and replaced it with a mchale 5500. I kept the krone as it is quite reliable as easy run, has Probly cost less than my mchale deposits them both haveing about 40000 bales on them. Mchale or kuhn will be quicker, more power hungry make a bigger/better bale depends on the driver to be honest, my krone was making heavier bales than a local fusion and better chopped, but I would say the mchale bales now are heavier. It I was for my own I would t worry which baler I took out but haven’t baled with the round pack for 5 years now as it is in a shed 14 mile away as no machinery sheds at home.

The newer comprima I know nothing about.

 

[steveR]

Looking to buy a krone round baler I am not mechanical minded looking at krone I make around 400 bales of silage mu contractor has Kuhn it’s 3 years old a lot money spent on it. I need a baler that’s easy to work at bearing easy to replace and quick to get going is there such a baler on the market a bit of advice would be appreciated

On my 2nd Krone 4ft Baler, my first was bought new, and was 25 yrs old when I sold it here to @Dave W who moved it on to a hill guy in Derbyshire, and I hope it is still going. Only reason I changed, was I wanted a modern feed intake for bigger combine swathes. Only problems was the poor slow intake mechanism. but easy fix if required. Very few bearings ever needed, and easy to swap. Maybe one drive chain replaced on the feed as it was had to oil. I was shown how to maintain it by teh factory mechanic when I bought the first one, which paid dividends.

Now have a Bellima, it is more or less the same baler, with some improvements. Both will run on 50hp, but 80hp is optimal.

Noisy and not the highest output, so best suited to an owner Operator farmer.

 

[nails]

On my 2nd Krone 4ft Baler, first was 25 yrs old and I sold it here to @Dave W who moved it on to a hill guy in Derbyshire, and I hope it is still going. Only reason I changed, was I wanted a modern feed intake for bigger combine swathes. Only problems was the poor slow intake mechanism. but easy fix if required. Very few bearings ever needed, and easy to swap. Maybe one drive chain replaced on the feed as it was had to oil. I was shown how to maintain it by teh factory mechanic when I bought the first one, which paid dividends.

Now have a Bellima, it is more or less the same baler, with some improvements. Both will run on 50hp, but 80hp is optimal.

Noisy and not the highest output, so best suited to an owner Operator farmer.

Krones are the only round baler i have used and for the numbers referred to by the OP they are ideal . They really are simple little balers and will bale anything.

 

[Charley brown]

Thanks you all for all the years of experience hard to beat the farmers that used and experience the ups and downs has anyone had comprima the are belt driven going to look at one next week looking for good advice

 

[johnboy87]

We have just finished our 3rd season of grass with this 2014 krone which is the variable chamber version. It might be a big ugly thing to look at but it makes a hell of a bale and seems to bale anything it's offered

 

[DrDunc]

Thanks you all for all the years of experience hard to beat the farmers that used and experience the ups and downs has anyone had comprima the are belt driven going to look at one next week looking for good advice

Had a comprima 150 here. Excellent baler that made a solid bale from anything you could drive over, be it wet grass leaf or shattered straw dust

Belts have a lifespan, and it's not cheap to replace them I'm told (unless you do the labour yourself). Mine was traded well before the anticipated 40,000+ bales before the expected demise though

Cleaning all the nooks crannies needed a good blower and patience. The belt guide rollers were the worse if it had been in sticky long stemmed grass. The scrapers need adjusted accurately, or a lot of forage can bind up on them

Net wrap works well when set, but it can be fiddly if the two brake bands aren't adjusted correctly. Generally they'll not net the full width for a half turn or so if out of adjustment, but once set for the type of net, they'll not need touched

Pickup reel can wrap long stemmed grass inside the bands. There's krone supplied modification fix for that though. Underneath the outer most bands there should be a steel hoop about an inch wide around the bars. Think the xtreme version had them s standard, either way they're easy enough to fit and make a big difference

As with most balers, they're designed for a European tow hitch, and over here the pto shaft often gets clattered by inconsiderate drivers who don't adjust the tractor lift arms clear

Back door kicker arms often get twisted, and then thrown away (mine were, never did get to the bottom of why it did it) It'll still eject the bale without them unless you're doing silly pressure in sticky stuff. Then a wee jerk was sometimes needed

Though not as simple as the older chain and slat running on bearings in tracks, the comprima is a far better baler, and will happily run with little more than 100hp up front