TP from Central PA 3,406 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 If you were going to buy an older round baler, to bale mostly grass hay, and maybe some corn stalks what would be your choice? Ability to wrap with net would be a plus. Bale size not much of an issue. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WishIhada1466 774 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 I'm happy with my 535 Deere. Simple and easy to maintain. Eats hay. Mine is twine only but they can be had with net. Neighbors have a 688 New Holland that has probably 20000 bales on it. It's been very good to them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shot_gun_red 134 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 45 minutes ago, TP from Central PA said: If you were going to buy an older round baler, to bale mostly grass hay, and maybe some corn stalks what would be your choice? Ability to wrap with net would be a plus. Bale size not much of an issue. You like to work on stuff ...... get a vermeer! 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Big Bud guy 895 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 535 if you are looking at green. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wes806 1,594 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 When I was baling. I had a Claas Rollant 66. Was simple to operate ran it behind 806 and a Massy Fergson 175 when 806 was on bigger job. Always done a gone job for me. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveinSD 158 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 530/535 John Deere, heat balers, makes a really nice bale, but the monitor is still optional. I have one of each, and have nothing but heat things to say. The twin tie on the 535 is a little faster, but otherwise not many differences. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mmi 437 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 go net and keep bales inside otherwise just wasting time hay and $ also what you can find good support for (only getting worse) or alot in local area to pick up for parts 98' or newer Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gearclash 1,056 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 New Holland BR780A. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bitty 6,072 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 NH 640 silage special. Autowrap was very simple. Netwrap wasn't mastered by any baler until after the balers were too complicated for their reliability IMO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ny bill o 1,205 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 I have had a NH 848 for years. string tie, but net may have been available. 848 was the last chain baler before NH went to belts. Baler was getting bearings and sheet metal (sides had actually wore through) rebuilt last year, so I bought a NH 650 string. My plan for baling 2021 is to use the 848 and make 650 the spare. Both are set for 4x5 bale size. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TP from Central PA 3,406 Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 Actually, my list was 535 or a late NH Chain with net. Some early BR's and Deere 566's I could swing for what I would be doing, but it sure doesn't seem like anyone has much good to say there. Vermeer was on the cut list before the list was a list, Gehl was out because of potential parts issues, and the 600 NH's seem way over priced for the age of them. Would prefer 1000 pto, so that makes an issue with the NH chain. Know zero about Hesstons offerings, but don't believe net was common or even offered there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
axial_al 213 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 I like my Hesston 956a. Makes good solid bales and has been fairly reliable. The net wrap is simple, but you need a strong back to load it. Bearings are generic....I have gotten them from deere and mother case as well as from a jobber when needed. It will bale almost anything, so you do have to watch moisture! The newer versions are Agco and Massey. Good luck. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Reichow7120 1,959 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 23 minutes ago, TP from Central PA said: Actually, my list was 535 or a late NH Chain with net. Some early BR's and Deere 566's I could swing for what I would be doing, but it sure doesn't seem like anyone has much good to say there. Vermeer was on the cut list before the list was a list, Gehl was out because of potential parts issues, and the 600 NH's seem way over priced for the age of them. Would prefer 1000 pto, so that makes an issue with the NH chain. Know zero about Hesstons offerings, but don't believe net was common or even offered there. Never been around a net New Holland chain baler. Know they're out there. Just never seen one in person so i can't say much on the net wrap. The good things on those chain balers is that they last forever and will bale anything. Parts still are available for them. The less desirable trates are the chains will cause you to loose some hay to the chains turning some of it to fine chaff. The other is its a soft core style baler so the bales won't be as tight and pretty as a hard core belt baler. Don't know if that's a issue for you or not. As i said they last forever it seems. A couple of years ago i got New Holland 850 round baler for free from my Uncle. It just needed work to make it useable. Pickup needed rebuilding and needed a couple of floor chains and guides. Bought used pickup tubes and new teeth and floor chains and guides. Im into the whole baler for a little less than 500 bucks. Its not net wrap unfortunately but for what im into it i can't complain. Hasn't given us any issues since we got it going. Did since it lacks net wrap buy a bunch of slip on bale sleeves to help perserve the hay. They work ok but it is another step. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
iowaboy1965 2,732 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Around here there are or were a lot of green balers. A 530 or 535 would be good candidates imo. Neighbor had one and claimed it would eat hay pretty well. Still trudging along with a well worn 510 but I should look around for a 530. Probably about a day after mine dies. ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cdfarabaugh 465 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 I'm not a round baler expert as we just got into it 4 years ago, but we were in the same boat and was going to go for something older. Cousin did a lot if baling for us with a NH 640 auto wrap, for an older baler was in excellent shape and did a decent job, but i watched him struggle with the narrow pickup enough, and not to make lopsided bales in lighter windows. We decided to go new enough to get a wide pickup and something with a size monitor on it. Wanted a NH because the NH dealers around here specialize in hay equipment. Kinda got held up on the stuffer crank/fork design NH has used for years. Since were feeding a lot of these and will do baleage we looked and found an early br7060 with rotocut (being an 08 it's old by modern standards I guess), which in turn has the extra wide pickup (this also eliminates the stuffer). It was a bit overkill for us but man, does it eat hay and make nice dense bales. Its nice making tall stringy 1st cutting and putting the knives in and not having cows drag it all over the place, also you can pack a bit more in. Yes, it has electronics but honestly it's nothing someone with a meter and a bit if sense cant troubleshoot. Just a bunch if potentiometers and prox switches. It's so nice to see bale forming graph so you can make a nice bale no matter what, or switch sizes on the fly. The net wrap is slightly problematic as maybe every 50 bales or so it will fail to cut and put 30 wraps on if your not paying attention lol. Likely needs a new knife though and cant blame the baler for that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
856 Custom 498 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 For grass, stalks, bean straw, New Holland 852 auto-wrap. Just because of past experience through the 80s and 90s. Set the twine on maximum and use the thicker twine. For baling hay and especially wheat straw, leave it in the barn and get the net baler out. You won't have a mess by the time their stacked in the barn. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rancher_ 22 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 12 hours ago, WishIhada1466 said: I'm happy with my 535 Deere. Simple and easy to maintain. Eats hay. Mine is twine only but they can be had with net. 11 hours ago, Big Bud guy said: 535 if you are looking at green. I'd add to this, best to get a '96. Green pickup, updated, better teeth, etc. Mine's this. Many, many, ...many... thousands of bales through the thing plus what it had before I bought it (tongue was worn a lot), very low $ in repairs needed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TP from Central PA 3,406 Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 21 minutes ago, rancher_ said: I'd add to this, best to get a '96. Green pickup, updated, better teeth, etc. Mine's this. Many, many, ...many... thousands of bales through the thing plus what it had before I bought it (tongue was worn a lot), very low $ in repairs needed. I would like to but back to the not much difference in price on my internet cruising than a 566.............Little bit of hay I will put through one a yellow pickup would work. Its a back to DIY because of the high grain prices, but I don't want something I am going to fight with constantly either...............AKA Vermeer see above. Actually would consider a Gehl as they did sell a bunch around me and they did work good, but the parts issues make me nervous. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lightninboy 631 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 If size is not an issue, get the one that looks easiest to maintain and repair. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gearclash 1,056 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 1 hour ago, TP from Central PA said: I would like to but back to the not much difference in price on my internet cruising than a 566 The stuffer on a wide pickup 566 was very unreliable. Apparently the rest of the machine wasn’t all that great either. They came and went rather quickly around here. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Big Bud guy 895 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 11 minutes ago, Gearclash said: The stuffer on a wide pickup 566 was very unreliable. Apparently the rest of the machine wasn’t all that great either. They came and went rather quickly around here. The 6 series didn’t go over well here either. However, the 7 series completely did a 180 and put JD over the top. After they had been out a year, my local JD dealer had over 15 NH balers sitting on their lot. Some were older series but a lot of them were BR series. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nc1112 80 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 A case 8465 automatic or Hesston equivalent would fit the bill pretty well although they are a little harder to do find with net wrap. At one point we were running two of them. Nice tight bales as long as things were dry. We always said they won't hardly let you made too wet of a bale. Neighbor still puts up around a thousand bales a year with one. Its been awhile but if I remember right there was a throat accessory that helped in stover and long stem crops Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TP from Central PA 3,406 Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 1 hour ago, Gearclash said: The stuffer on a wide pickup 566 was very unreliable. Apparently the rest of the machine wasn’t all that great either. They came and went rather quickly around here. That is what I was reading............They get it figured out and have PIP's or was it a lost cause. Seem to find the net worked great on them, but everything else was yuck. Time will tell, not finding much out in internet land right now............... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gearclash 1,056 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 @TP from Central PA I am not aware of a cure for the 6 series stuffer problems. I do get the feeling that beyond the stuffer, the 466 was a better baler than the 566. If you want to bale corn stalks I would get a NH. They may not be the fastest but set up right they will run steadily and make the nicest bales of any color out there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TP from Central PA 3,406 Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 51 minutes ago, Gearclash said: @TP from Central PA I am not aware of a cure for the 6 series stuffer problems. I do get the feeling that beyond the stuffer, the 466 was a better baler than the 566. If you want to bale corn stalks I would get a NH. They may not be the fastest but set up right they will run steadily and make the nicest bales of any color out there. I am not going to at the moment, but in the future I may..............Biggest issue I have with a NH Chain roller is all I see are 540(Heck, was 1000 even an option?) and that sure would put the clamps on what I could run it on, and net on them isn't exactly common either. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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