Round balers

[Nicky]

We cut our hay and have always had a nieghbor who custom hays do the raking and baling (3 X 3 square bales). It is always a hassle because he needs to be 10 places at once So this time every year we think about buying a baler and rake. We can't afford a square baler, we put up 700 ton on a good year, 500 (we hope) on a year like this.

We will probably have to buy a new rake as there are no decent used ones around. We do part grain hay which is usually 3ton/acre so need a high capacity rake. Whats the best for the money?

If we buy a used round baler to get us by for awhile what would you buy? and why? Any and all help is appreciated

[Cal]

This hydraulic rake works awesome: http://www.vermeerag.com/equip/rakes/r23rake/

If you can find a good JD baler with the megawide pickup, I can pretty much guarantee you'll like it.

[AngusinTexas]

Those Vermeer rakes are pretty pricey...... a cheaper solution would be to use a ground driven wheel type rake. Hesston makes a good one with 6 wheels on each side. However I know they work great in grasses but I'm not sure about your grain type hay.

Vermeer balers are superior to John Deere in my opinion. They seem like they make a much tighter heavier bale. We ran a Vermeer J for several years and put up quite a bit of hay. It made by far the best bales we have ever had. We have cut back in recent years and now hire a custom baler to bale our hay and his John Deere Bales just aren't quite as tight as we used to make them. The J had Air over hydraulic to keep tension on the bales. You could adjust the tightness of the roll by simply putting more or less pressure in the tanks.

[Doug Thorson]

I would highly endorse the vermeer rake. As for balers I have an old New Holland 660 and I like it and the 664's also but you might be hard pressed to find a good one that old. The newer New Hollands have not recieved very good reviews around here. The XL Vermeer has had good reviews but some of the older Vermeers had mixed reviews. Every person I know with a John Deere likes them so if that is your color pick the one in the best shape. Good luck.

[DiamondSCattleCo]

I run a NH 664 myself, and really like it. The custom guys around here won't run anything but New Holland. A few guys went green a couple years ago, then immediately went back to NH as the green equipment didn't stand up as well, bale as fast, nor make as good a bale. I've never run a Vermeer, but there isn't a solitary custom operator using one, so to me that speaks volumes.

Rod

[Shelly]

We've had NH, Case, and now Vermeer. Hubby really likes it. Best friend has one, too. There's the odd glitch with them, but then there is with all balers. The two of them like the Vermeers because of the solid bales they make.

[Andy]

Right now I am running a NH BR780 and a Vermeer 605m. The NH makes a prettier bale, but the Vermeer will out bale it by about 20%. Vermeeer has the best pickup hands down. The NH deere and Vermeer all make a good baler so pick a clean used outfit from a dealer with a good service department.

[katrina]

We have a vermeer rake.. And really like it..... It does the job...And the corporation runs Vermeer balers and likes them.. I think they have the whole alpehbet.... We have a square baler so I personally don't know about round balers.... Used square balers can be found if you can take some time.... Ken out of Kearney equipment in Kearney Nebraska is the guru on square balers....... He knows everything to know about square balers and a really nice man... (my hero).........

[jigs]

Katrina, is he the guy tied in with the Maize Corp from Wichita??

we had them out to bid on trading in a NH BB960...... Lincoln Farm Supply blew them out of the water!

[katrina]

Jigs.... Not that I know of.......From what I gather he is part owner of Kearney Equipment and prefers to help in the country with balers..

[Stretch]

First thing I always consider is dealer service.... I don't care what brand you buy they are all the hot stuff till they break down... Having said that around here the favorite rakes are wheel rakes, and by far the top couple are H&S and NH (Sitrex). I myself have always wanted a Rowse or an H&S. One neighbor had one of the Vermeer rakes but traded it for a 14 or16 wheel H&S (can't remember which). My guess is that he wanted a larger (wider) rake, otherwise I think he liked it just fine. I myself like the easy hay handling of the wheel rakes and I feel that they make a fluffier and faster dryig windrow... That is just my opinion as I can only compare it to the old style bar rakes not the Vermeer. When it comes to balers the dealer service is the first consideration but my personal favorite is the JD with NH close behind. With Vermeer CIH and Heston following up and that is mostly because of lack of dealer service.. My BIL custom bales and he runs JD and has little if any trouble and he bales on average 5000-5500 bales per year. He just traded for a 568 with every option other than the Mega tooth or Mega wide pickup. A friend of mine runs a New Holland 688 and it has proven itself well. I hate to say it but they are the type of people that could tear up a crowbar in a sand box and the baler has had few troubles.... One last thought is that net wrap speeds up the baling process a bunch so if speed is a concern you might look along those lines. The only downfall is that the net wrap is a lot more material to get off the bale and get rid of when feeding the bale. Good luck I'm sure you will find just what you want and it will serve you well..

[young gun]

stretch has a point. if the dealer has a reputation for poor service then keep shopping