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| We're looking to add a good used round baler to the fleet. Have experience with most of the major brands, have my own opinions on each but want to pick your brains for a while.
Looking at a budget of around 15k, absolutely need net wrap, capable of 2000lb bale, must be able to handle cornstalks.
Color wars ok with me. We have dealers for NH, Vermeer, JD and CIH nearby so service and parts are not an issue.
Based on your experiences, what color and model would you choose based on experience?
Dave |
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| I'll let thepicture's do the talkin. 
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| You talking 2000 lb wet or dry? In my experience, the guys who think they are making a 2000 lb bale are making about a 1600 lb bale. We are on our 4th year with a CaseIH RBX 462. It has been a good baler. Ripped a belt on it last fall doing cornstalks. That's the first belt replacement in 4500 bales. I also belive that the CaseIH/NH balers have the best Netwrap system on the market. No talc, no fuss, just put the roll in and go. If you are going to be shipping hay, go 4ft. Hell, if you're not, I'd go 4 ft just because they are so much easier to handle and feed. Most of the guys around here with the new 5x6 balers are only making them 5ft anyway because the bales get too heavy for their trucks, so you might as well get a 4 ft baler and be done with it. I've put out plenty of 1400 lb bales with this baler in good conditions. The #1 downfall on the CaseIH/NH balers is very dry hay. Wet hay, tough hay, no problem. But dry hay you will have to gear down a gear to get it to start then rock on. |
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SCPA | I have a CASEIH that is a rebadged New Holland. I had run New Hollands before.
FIAT "gutted" a very good product. My next one will either be a Hesston or a Deere. And anybody that knows me, knows just how strong that comment actually is. |
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| "FIAT "gutted" a very good product"
What's different?
Got a freind that has owned NH balers since the 851's were new. He's had 660's, 664's, a 654, and now a 658. We got the RBX partially because of his reccomendations. Having run beside greene balers, I really don't see much issues. Oh, and I'll outweigh the greene baler pretty much every time.
Edited by Pofarmer 6/1/2008 08:58
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| Deere makes a great baler and one of the tightest bales I've seen, but I HATE coveredge.
Had a guy come help out one time with some baling and his was a coveredge baler. What a pain in the butt to take off. We still use a couple ring feeders, try taking that net off after you drop it in. Doesn't work too well.
I adjusted, took the net off while the bale was in the air, over the feeder, then dropped it in. Just one more step that I can avoid. I've also heard that coveredge bales are discounted by around $5/ton at a local hay auction for the same reason.
Nice pictures, hope they are from this year. It's been too wet to bale here, rain in the forecast for every day next week too.
Dave |
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| We`ve had excellent luck with ours. |
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| 2000lbs dry and I'm sticking too it. Yeah, yeah, honestly the heaviest bales that I've made dry are usually 18-1900lbs, we've made some tough ones that were 2200, but they kinda "shrunk" over the winter. That mystery storage loss ya know.
I'm considering a smaller baler for the reasons you mentioned, but I like to handle as few bales as possible. We can truck two wide on a wide bale with no problem, just have to remember to put on my wide load banners, we're already licensed for it due to hauling machinery.
Dry hay isn't an issue here, it's usually a bit on the tough side and hoping it cures without heating.
Seeing fewer and fewer CIH balers around here, not sure why, they always seemed like a good baler. Is it pricing??
Dave |
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| <i>Seeing fewer and fewer CIH balers around here, not sure why, they always seemed like a good baler. Is it pricing?? </i>
I don't have a clue Dave. When we priced ours in 2004 it was in the ballpark with everything else, and several thousand cheaper than a Hesston. If I had to pick another baler right now, it would be the Hesston balers, man, those things will make a bale. I don't know what problems Russ has had, but, personally, ours has been an excellent baler. |
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|  You can run either edge to edge or coveredge in the same baler. We love them when stacked end to end, look get and dont weather. The bales above are from the same baler. |
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| Ahhh, thanks!
I didn't know that you could run the same baler both ways. Good to know. I'd written off a good used baler because it was a coveredge and the salesman didn't know they could be run edge to edge.
Thanks for setting the record straight!
Dave |
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| Our dealer sold me these little spacers for each end of the edge to edge to space it out properly, but I dont use them often. |
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| That's one thing I like about the CaseIH/NH. I can run any net between 42" and 52" with no mods other than centering the roll, which involves moving a hairpin clip. |
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North Cental Mo. | They need a bigger truck, everybody up here makes them as big as possible, and a lot of guys haul two at a time on their trucks. I really don't know much about net wrap, other than I have bought some hay that had it on. We use sisal twine, and I know we get some loss, but that's what we do. I have a friend who runs a deere with wrap, and he just made the comment, do not get one that wraps over the end. His reasoning was that any little nick on the sides would catch it and then you would get wrap , wrapped around rollers and bearings would soon go out. Kinda made sense to me. For my area Deere and Vermeer pretty much have the market, or at minimum 90%. And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying other balers are not good, but for out dealer support that's what is here, and they are both pretty good. Oh, and on the belts, I don't know how you ripped one, I'm guessing a stick or something, but I bet I put 12000 bales through a deere 535 before I replaced my belts. But when it's time to do, it's time, saves a lot of heartache, kinda pricey though.
Roy |
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West Union, IOWA FLOLO Farm 52175 | I run a 567 megatooth with coveredge, I'd like to try the mega wide since I think it'd be easier to pack the sides.
I've heard some complaints bout the Mega tooth breaking off and taking a bunch with it but can't say I've seen it, I will say it makes it easier to pack the sides.... Biggest thing to watch on the baler in my eyes is the sidesheets and splices.
Most custom guys don't run the pressure up high enough so they're easier on the splices. I tend to run on the high side pressure wise and creep right up to oversizing the bale.
I sold a bunch of bales right out of the field last year,2050# avg on a hundred bales(pure dry grass)--loran |
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Brazilton KS | How in the world do you get the net off after you set the bale down in the ring, regardless?
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Brazilton KS | I'm with you Roy. It takes just as much work to feed a 900 lb bale as it does an 1800 lb one. If your equipment won't handle the bales, that's an equipment problem not a bale problem. Fix the equipment. A bale bed will haul three 1800 lb'ers unless there's something wrong with it. If it won't lift them, there's something wrong with the hydraulics.
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Brazilton KS | We can pretty consistently get 1800 lb out of our 664. We probably should have replaced it last year. We did a little pricing and one of the CIH dealers gave a price for a new one that wasn't much different then what we paid for the 664. The 664 just came home from being rebuilt after a fire, so we decided not to do it, but I bet we won't have that opportunity again. |
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Kansas | We bale over 10,000 round bales per year with a 605M Vermeer with netwrap, it works very well. I believe the NH baler works well also.
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| My bet is if your looking at resale value. Deere an Vermeer would be at the top off anybodies list. Deere being first an Vermmer second. |
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WC Iowa | I agree with the Vermeer M comments above. I got one of the first ones and am running two of them now. One is an 05 and the other is an 07. These are my 6th and 7th ones. The rubber mounted teeth for the pickup are almost maintenece free. The net system is the best one that they have come out with yet(no rubber feed rollers, narrow feed belts, or spring loaded knife. The bale sits on a bottom drum which takes a lot of the weight off of the belts. Feeding doesn't seem to be as much of an issue compared to other balers. Deere and NH are the other balers you see a lot of in west central Iowa, but I'd say Vermeer has a pretty good market share in this area. Machinery is only as good as the service behind it, and the service that I get is second to none.
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| I'd second the Claas. We have had ours for close to 10 years now and have had no major repairs- only repair was the replacement of a chain link. It has the net wrap and we love it. The wrap can be a bigger bapin to take off than the twine but it seems to hold the bales together really well and helps them shed water too. |
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| I drop them in over the top, on their end. Now comes the fun part.
As I'm talking to the cattle and gently pushing them out of the way, I pull it out over the top and wind it onto my hand. Which then grabs my glove. After I remove the mess that's cutting off my circulation, I have to fish my winter glove out of the middle of the rat's nest.
Fortunately, I only have one ring. The rest of them I put in sideways in a cradle-type feeder and cut it off.
Dave
Edited by Dave-ECIA 6/1/2008 17:00
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| Cheapest one I found is a first year model with 12000 bales through it for $19k.
What about an L model? I've located a number of good L's in my price range.
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| No dealers close that I know of.
I looked at them online. Interesting.
No belts? Does hay ever wrap on the rollers?
Might be worth checking into further. |
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Kansas | The netwrap on the L and XL Vermeer uses little rollers to start feeding the net and it does not work as well the M. I had six of the L, XL and have had five M balers.
If the M Vermeer was not in my price range I would look for a 664 NH, they are nice balers with a very good netwrap setup.
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Kansas | I know what you mean about Vermeer service ours is also exellent. We also had an 605M when they first came out and finished baling at 2:00 am one morning,was oiling chains and thought a bearing was going out.(turned out it wasn't) Thought I would call the dealer's cell and leave a message so he would know,he answered the phone. I said I was sorry was going to leave a message, he said no problem offered to come right then. Exellent Dealers.
Edited by nwks baler 6/1/2008 18:16
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| I had the regular edge to edge wrap and I always cut it off before I dump the bales in the feeders. One slice across with a sharp knife and its off. Can't imagine trying to get it off after its in the feeder. Just traded for a 567cover edge, and I am looking forward to using it.
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| That is one of the reasons we bought the one we did- no belts to mess with. The downside to that is that each roller has two bearings but that has never been a problem for us. As far as the rollers wrapping; never been a problem for us. We have used the baler in Alfafla, clover, and grass. The only problem has been in straw. It was a little slow and hard to get the bale started but I put part of the blame on the fact the straw came out of a Axial Flow combine- most rotors aren't the best to make straw behind. |
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| We've been having our hay baled with a 567 but this year some is going to be done by a Vermeer (405 maybe?) so we can have some 4' bales and I'm interested to see how the bales compare between the two balers. Deere has most of the market around here but I think alot of that market share has come from aggressive marketing and financing as opposed to having a far superior product. There are a few Vermeer balers around here but our closest dealer is 45 miles away and we are only 70 miles from the factory.
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| I haven't noticed the cover edge being much harder to get off after two seasons with one and I think it holds the bales together alot better. I usually pull the wrap off when I get off to open the gate, just grab the loose end and unwrap it wrapping it up around my hand as it comes off.
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North Cental Mo. | You aren't very far from the Deere factory either, are you?
Roy |
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North Cental Mo. | What does every body do with their wrap? Do you burn it, put in the trash, leave it lay on the ground? I ask this question because I helped a friend of mine poor some concrete the other day. As I was leaving I noticed his chain link harrow, and it had net wrap all over it, so I'm guessing his falls where it get's cut off.
Roy |
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North Cental Mo. | Ya got me there, I don't think I've seen anybody try three. I assume they put the third one on top? But I'd think they would have to have extra long arms to put one on top. All our cattle are within two maybe three miles depending on the day, so we just use tractors to feed ours.
Roy
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| I know some guys around here who are pretty die hard CaseIH or New Holland, but it seems they all have JD balers.
Brandon |
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| cut it off an burn it with the paper trash. |
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| Most of the bales around here that are moved by pickup are moved on a Bramco Bumper, then fed in a ring. A ton is a BUNCH of weight hanging off the bumper, then getting a ring around a 5x6 bale in the mud can be a real chore. |
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| Your bales must be tighter than mine. Just about every time I take the net off before I get it to a feeder, a slab of hay drops off the bottom. Hence the "putting it in the feeder on it's end before removing the net wrap" thing.
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| Burn it with the paper trash.
It annoys me to have to stop planting to unwrap some old netting from the planter........
We pick up every piece and if I find dad or my boys not doing it, they get a butt chewing. Besides, I don't want the cattle picking it up and eating it. Can't imagine it's too good for their gut.
Edited by Dave-ECIA 6/2/2008 17:24
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| Most people that dont like green have not ever used one. I dont know how you could make one better. I'm sure there are other brands that are good. |
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| Have you ever used anything else? |
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North Cental Mo. | Dave, I'm sure it can't be good on their gut, but all the guys I know that grind hay, grind wrap and all. Right or wrong, I don't know.
Roy |
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Central Iowa | We use a 605M and love it. It is excellent in corn stocks on our new one we asked for a on board moisture tester and scales so vermeer put them on at the factory and we a testing for them. The moisture tester is great when you start you know if the hay is dry or not and right when to quite at night even if it feels dry alot of the time it isent. The scales are nice doing custom you can kick out exacly what size bale their tractors can handle also nice for buying hay by the ton dont have to take everything to the scales. I think new holland would be next choice and deere makes good balers to just not as heavly built as the M's |
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Dalton, OH | Excellent luck with your baler or dealer? I know your dealer quite well and have dealt with them. Locally, they are a real joke when it comes to service. I hope you meant baler as I think Claas does make a pretty good product. If you want stories on Reberland, I would be glad to share them with you sometime.
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| Hey Scott , Reberland has been great with me. Really havn`t done alot with them bought a few parts and a couple of rakes, never had to have them do any work on anything. I guess till I get shafted I`ll keep doing buisness with them. Getting any work done ? We did get about 1800 small squares last week.
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| We bale 1000 hay and 1500 cornstalks with it per year. First cutting of brome/alfalfa weigh ~1600, third and fourth cutting alfalfa have weighed as high as 2400, lots of 2200s. Really have very few problems with it.
Buddy has a 605 M, he can knock out cornstalk bales faster than we can. I think mine bales smaller windrowed second and third cuttings better than his. |
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| No bearing problems??? I have had 5 m balers so far, and still have two '07 models. Only the last with 1100 bales on it hasn't puked a bearing yet. Might go back to JD... |
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Kansas | My '06 and '07 605M each had over 10,000 bales and never replaced a bearing on them . I have also had five 605M balers. Good luck with JD I'm sure you will be happy. |
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Reading Mn | 3rd L P do your M"s all have the metal bearing protectors?Talked to Vermeer engineer this winter,he blames alot of bearing falure on the use of wider net on all brands of balers.More chances of net getting caught in rollers.Friends brand new JD burnt last fall with less than 1000 bales.I am going to use 64" net instead of 67" |
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Let's talk round balers
