Square Balers

[Colin]

I'm at the point of buying a second hand square baler (for small bales, not the big square ones). Reason being it gives me better control to make hay when I want to, not when the contractor is available. Due to the amount of land we have, we're usually well down in the pecking order when the weather is right. Initially I'll use it for the second crop so, if disaster happens, I still have winter feed from the main crop.

Local hardened farmers are trying to talk me out of it. Lots of reasons, mainly down to the skills and knowledge required to work it and maintain it. Also they're telling me square balers are unreliable. Then of course there is the hard work of lifting and stacking the bales.

Would welcome hearing the experiences of others.

Regards,

Colin

[Saffy]

I have never used a baler and wouldn't know how too but always use the little bales. A local lad who is just starting out in contracting has a very old tractor and even older baler. The year before last he brought a late 50s baler - I was stunned and thought it would fall apart but it went fine. Last year he brought a slightly newer model.

I find the small bales useful. If you want a bit of hay for a show, or if a cow is ill or just calved. We don't have a any way of handling big bales anyway. The small bales keep fine as long as they are stacked in the dry and the hay is made properly.

Stephanie

[strawberriesclint]

Hi

From what i have heard about small balers, check the 'knotters' because one of the common problems is that the balers don't knot the strings and you just end up with a heap of hay.

cyndy

[Broomcroft]

Speaking to farmers who use small square balers, Welger are the best no contest. But on a budget New Holland do well. They all say just make sure you can see it wrking if possible, that it is in good order and not too rusty. Also very good reports of the Claas Markant. Parts should not be a problem with either they say.



Edited By Broomcroft on 1272043731

[SteveM]

We have a newholland 378 with wide pickup, bought from a retiring local farmer, who we had borrowed it of the year before when ours would not tie.

Baler prices can be variable, good ones sometimes selling cheaply and what look to be near to scrap sometimes making good money.

Auctions at york seem to sell mainly new holland and international small balers.

Prices in east yorkshire tend to be quite high as non of the farmers now seem to have one. so not many up for sale.

On hay you should be ok but for straw the small balers may struggle to keep up with modern combines, and flat eight bale sledges definately do, they dont like bales coming at them too quickly or tram lines.

Ours only gets used for a couple of thousand straw bales for a nearby stables, and our own hay, though last year most of that was done by contractor into mini hesstons.

The contractor reconed that hay was fit for baling in small bales a day earlier than in large ones.

[Martin]

Got rid of my baler a couple of years ago, after spreading hay in the morning to get rid of dew then rowing up a few hours later then start baling, finish baling late afternoon with however many acres of bales left to shift, finish moving bales into barn sometimes close to midnight!! NO THANK YOU.
Now contractor mows with a mower twice as big as the one I had, teds with a six row machine, mine was two, rows up with a machine that puts four rows into one, mine only did two, bales with a high output machine that puts my old baler to shame. I used to start shifting bales after finishing baling, now I start moving them as soon as he starts. All in flat eights, only time I get off the tractor is to strap the load on the trailer and then again at the yard to unstrap. On a good day I can move 1000 bales without touching one, BLISS.
Old balers can be tempremental, horid things at the best of times, when they play up it is always when rain is forcast for the following day. If you buy the right one you will get satisfaction in doing the job yourself. Me, I'll take the easy option and get the job done by someone that has invested in the right kit to do the job in half the time leaving me with the easy option of writing the cheque.

[Mark Bowles]

I also have a new holland 376, we used to do all small bales but it is so labour intensive handling and stacking we now get contractors to do the bulk but we still do about 7 acres of small bales.
I tend to find that the small bales are not packed as tight so you can bale maybe a little earlier than big squares. The knotters are the main problem. The problems i have had have always been self inflicted, ie, baling parts of branches that have smashed the knotters and broken the threading needles.
The up side is the ease of feeding and very easy selling of small bales. I would not be without them.

[Broomcroft]

Someone else recommended a B47, will last forever (he says).

We use contractors as well. They will bale 300 large round bales, wrapped, in an afternoon with one tractor and an all-in-one baler/wrapper. It takes me three times as long to get them off the field. Rowing up a 25 acre field take them about 40 minutes. But our guys are just down the road so they look after us.

But if you want small bales, it's much harder to get a contractor to do.

[Broomcroft]

PS. If you're thinking of hay instead of wrapped, my experience is that wrapped goes MUCH further. I've just changed from wrapped to feeding hay and it came off the same field just a day later than the wrapped. Usage has gone up dramatically. Not twice as much, but certainly 30-40% more. I wrap every time now, it doesn't cost, it saves.



Edited By Broomcroft on 1272056750

[davidw]

I used to design balers and bale handling systems. I've baled and handled many thousands of bales using MF, Welger, John Deere, Claas and New Holland machines. They all do the job. The main reason for the decline of the small square baler is purely the cost of labour. Its much easier and quicker to handle 1/2 or 1 ton bales with a tractor than it is to handle 50 small bales either by hand or by tractor.
With a small square baler, you are limited to baling either hay or straw. Most can't handle anything damp like silage.
If you look at one, check that the ram bearings are in good condition and that the knives on the end of the ram and the side of the bale chamber are in decent condition. Lift the cover over the ram drive to test for loose bits and rattles. Turn the thing over by hand to check there are no nasty noises. There are bearings on the shaft that pushes/pulls the ram, and also slide bearings to support it. These run on rails that sometimes wear.
Its not difficult to test the knotters. To test them, turn the mechanism by hand or with a tractor to check that they tie before you buy the machine. A pair of needles bring the string through the bale and into the knotter, these must not be bent or they can't place the string in the right place. This is a major reason for poor knots. But they are not difficult to adjust or replace.
Take a look over the whole machine to check the general condition.
I don't agree that a small baler is difficult to maintain, its certainly easier than a large one, as all the bits are more manageable. Its definitely easier to check out a small baler before you buy it, because you can turn it over by hand or with a tractor and test all the functions.
If you need any more specific advice, I'm happy to help.

[davidw]

Just one point about the B-47 baler. I used to build them in the 1970's, so any one you find will be pushing 30 to 35 years old. Yes they were decent balers, but they do wear out and its going to be very difficult to find a good one.

[Anthony Henman]

A well maintained New Holland Baler is extremely tough to beat hence why they are so popular. We have used one since they first started making them and would never change. You will always bale sooner with a small baler, with a big baler you want to leave it for a day when you think it's ready, so a contractor told me.

[Broomcroft]

When we first started, we did small bales. The contractor had a Bale Bandit which tagged on behind the baler and it collected the small bales and bound them together into the size of a full-sized Heston. It was so efficient handling-wise, that I collected nearly 3,000 bales off the one field and stored them in a barn completely by myself with just a JCB and a trailer in 24 hours, with no physical effort at all. Only trouble is, the Bale Bandit had to be followed around by an engineer because it broke so often and it took them 3 days to do the baling, mostly stood still!!! The contractor sent it back, great shame. Small bales but with big bale handling, brilliant. That was with a new Welger baler which produced average 32kg bales that were really solid and kept really sweet and clean. Lifting them was not easy and if I was doing it again I ask for shorter bales to make them lighter. Occasionally you'd get one more like 40kg and that's HEAVY unless you're a youngster.

Here it is whilst it was working....





Edited By Broomcroft on 1272283375

[Colin]

Thanks for all the very useful feeback. My approach will be broadly similar to Mark's where we will use contractors for the bulk, but use the baler for smaller areas and ideally a second cut if there's enough grass.

Many thanks,

Colin