Questions about small round balers/electronic ear tags

[Blkbuckaroo]

Would like to experiment with a small round baler next hay season,but no one in my area bales round.All square bales here.What kind of small used round baler can you folks recommend,for a starter baler,don't want to spend alot of this experiment.Also how would i roll them out for feeding off my truck,is there something i could fabricate? :???: A roller of some sort,i have no experience with this type of thing.Electronic ear tags?How do you read them on to your computer as you work cattle in the sqeeze?That is to say,is there a scanner attach to the computer? Thanks in advance folks.Oh also how much do those small round bales generally weigh?And what do the sell for?Any pics would be appreciated 8)

 

[kolanuraven]

Here we don't really waste money on the steel hay feeders.

We'll ljust set a bale on the top of the hill.....cut the wrap or strings and give'er a nudge and let it unroll itself.

 

[Blkbuckaroo]

Here we don't really waste money on the steel hay feeders.

We'll ljust set a bale on the top of the hill.....cut the wrap or strings and give'er a nudge and let it unroll itself.

Thanks Kola,sounds nice and easy,but what if there's no hill?

 

[kolanuraven]

Here we don't really waste money on the steel hay feeders.

We'll ljust set a bale on the top of the hill.....cut the wrap or strings and give'er a nudge and let it unroll itself.

Thanks Kola,sounds nice and easy,but what if there's no hill?

Hmmmm....never encountered that geographical challenge before!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

I used to have a couple of Krone balers. For a 5x4 bale they made the nicest ones in the country. Pretty simple and not a real high power requirement .

 

[cowwrangler]

i have used the front tire on the tractor to unroll them,set your bale down ,cut the strings and push it with the front tire on the tractor,if its good dry hay it works pretty good,the tire kinda grabs the hay

 

[Blkbuckaroo]

I used to have a couple of Krone balers. For a 5x4 bale they made the nicest ones in the country. Pretty simple and not a real high power requirement .

How Heavy is a 5x4 bale?Whats the PTO requirement?Thanks BMR

 

[Blkbuckaroo]

i have used the front tire on the tractor to unroll them,set your bale down ,cut the strings and push it with the front tire on the tractor,if its good dry hay it works pretty good,the tire kinda grabs the hay

Thanks CW maybe just push it with the front end loader.

 

[Anonymous]

i have used the front tire on the tractor to unroll them,set your bale down ,cut the strings and push it with the front tire on the tractor,if its good dry hay it works pretty good,the tire kinda grabs the hay

Thanks CW maybe just push it with the front end loader.

Just don't do it with a pickup.. I've seen a couple of pickups burn up that were trying to roll out bales by pushing them with the grill guard/bumper and got hay wadded up underneath...

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

I used to have a couple of Krone balers. For a 5x4 bale they made the nicest ones in the country. Pretty simple and not a real high power requirement .

How Heavy is a 5x4 bale?Whats the PTO requirement?Thanks BMR

Those Krone or M&W which are the same baler would weigh *00 to possibliy close to 1000lbs. They are a soft core but did unroll better then the New Idea type belt soft core balers but nut as good as a hard core bale. Mine would out bale a 4x5 New Holland baler. I ran my balers with 90hp but I thnk they would have run fine with 65-70hp.
to feed you could always line them up along a fence with the planks spaced to let the calves heads thru and cut into them with an axe and fork some hay off. It will put you in good shape. :wink:

 

[Denny]

i have used the front tire on the tractor to unroll them,set your bale down ,cut the strings and push it with the front tire on the tractor,if its good dry hay it works pretty good,the tire kinda grabs the hay

Thanks CW maybe just push it with the front end loader.

I have a M&W round baler much like a Krone they are soft core bales.I just break the strings with the bale spear and shake them apart with the loader has worked for me for 10 years or better.I've seen where you can run a bar thru the center of a hardcore bale hook a chain on each side and drive off it will unroll that way also.

 

[Blkbuckaroo]

i have used the front tire on the tractor to unroll them,set your bale down ,cut the strings and push it with the front tire on the tractor,if its good dry hay it works pretty good,the tire kinda grabs the hay

Thanks CW maybe just push it with the front end loader.

Just don't do it with a pickup.. I've seen a couple of pickups burn up that were trying to roll out bales by pushing them with the grill guard/bumper and got hay wadded up underneath...

Good advice OT,i always thought you guys that fed round bales had a roller on the back of a pickup :???: for some reason.

 

[burnt]

i have used the front tire on the tractor to unroll them,set your bale down ,cut the strings and push it with the front tire on the tractor,if its good dry hay it works pretty good,the tire kinda grabs the hay

Thanks CW maybe just push it with the front end loader.

That's how I do it at the present but find it time comsuming . I plan to build a bale unroller that fits on the quick attach on our loader and just unroll the bale by resting it on the ground and backing up. I don't like pushing it to unroll with the loader because I usually end up driving on the unrolled hay.

 

[Blkbuckaroo]

i have used the front tire on the tractor to unroll them,set your bale down ,cut the strings and push it with the front tire on the tractor,if its good dry hay it works pretty good,the tire kinda grabs the hay

Thanks CW maybe just push it with the front end loader.

I have a M&W round baler much like a Krone they are soft core bales.I just break the strings with the bale spear and shake them apart with the loader has worked for me for 10 years or better.I've seen where you can run a bar thru the center of a hardcore bale hook a chain on each side and drive off it will unroll that way also.

Bar and chain is a good idea Denny,no lifting

 

[Blkbuckaroo]

i have used the front tire on the tractor to unroll them,set your bale down ,cut the strings and push it with the front tire on the tractor,if its good dry hay it works pretty good,the tire kinda grabs the hay

Thanks CW maybe just push it with the front end loader.

That's how I do it at the present but find it time comsuming . I plan to build a bale unroller that fits on the quick attach on our loader and just unroll the bale by resting it on the ground and backing up. I don't like pushing it to unroll with the loader because I usually end up driving on the unrolled hay.

Thanks Burnt,thats what i'm trying to avoid,driving over all the feed,so i thought if it's rolling off the bed of the truck, it's behind and the cattle just follow along the same way if you where chucking hay off the back.

 

[gcreekrch]

A neighbor had a JD 410, it was cheap and the bale size fit his little bunch of cows. The bales weighed between 5 and 600 lbs, were nice solid bales, dimension 4x4.
The old NH chain balers are just boat anchors. Had a couple of them when nothing else would bale this swamp hay. Glad they are history now.

 

[Blkbuckaroo]

A neighbor had a JD 410, it was cheap and the bale size fit his little bunch of cows. The bales weighed between 5 and 600 lbs, were nice solid bales, dimension 4x4.
The old NH chain balers are just boat anchors. Had a couple of them when nothing else would bale this swamp hay. Glad they are history now.

Gcreek,that's exactly what i'm after for my little bunch thanks sounds like something i could manuver pretty easy,i'll look into it.

 

[OldDog/NewTricks]

eTags
I've been away from this for sometime now.
The last I now there was a Hand Held Reader that could read "One in a Group" from 5' away with 99.5% - then your load this into your computer.

There are also systems that read from your "Alley" straight into your system. How Fancy do you want to go ($$$$)

Personally I favor Eye Scans for Calves.
Units are costly but a rental system could develope

You can Contact Jim Warren with Questions @ http://www.101livestock.com/contacts.htm
They are trying to go to an all Electronic Sale

 

[Hooks]

I took the bar & chain idea one step further........fab'd up two side bars with clevis pin setup on one end and 18" spear pin on the other(each bar). Snap the clevis end into the tractor three-point side arm and the spear end into the bale core. Used a spring tensioner to hold pressure on the two bars. Unrolled it behind the tractor. Handles small rounds pretty well.

 

[Blkbuckaroo]

OD/NT thanks for the info on the ID deal after seeing Jassy's last post i was thinking those readers seem pretty slick, as oppose to lots of papers to handle,so when you run the animals through there's info on them right there on the computer, without thumbing through paperwork,but as you say don't have corporate sponsership,so as reasonable as possible.Hooks your fabrication sounds like something i'd like to see.Any Pics?Thanks you guys!!And everyone for your info.