Used round baler poll.

laurence997

I was just wondering what people think of the different makes of used round balers available (thinking of getting a claas 46 or the likes here on the farm for baling silage and hay). Feel free to leave any comments on good or bad makes/models below.

Thanks.

mink_man

krone or welger

laurence997

Would you rather the chain and slat or roller?

maidhc

I have a Welger RP12s, in fact two of them. They are getting on in the years now with one being 1992 and the other 1989. The 1989 one does the work (about 1200 bales per annum) with the 1992 one being on standby. The 1992 one has not been used in 5 years now so that is a testament to the reliability.

BUT
Like anything they take a lot of maintenance if you want reliability. There are 30 something bearings in the rollers, and with my level of work I generally replace 4-6 of them each winter. I also rebuilt the pickup this winter. It didn't cost much to do, but took a frightening amount of time.

Apparently the RP200 is not as good a baler, but the newer models are good. Main thing is to get a baler that has been looked after. If you are buying something from a contractor be prepared to rebuild it.

laurence997

maidhc, I have heard that the RP12s is a good baler, but there is some question about it making a small bale.

Also, do you have to ever replace rollers? I presume that a few new rollers would cost more than the baler is worth. I saw the prices for rollers, I cant remeber for what baler, 1100 for the base rollers and 900 for the rest.

Another thing I notice is that in a lot of the welger balers I have seen on the internet is that they only have 1 wheel on the pickup reel. Went to see a RP200 last year where this was the case. Not great for the hilly land of Clare I'd imagine!

maidhc

laurence997 wrote: »

maidhc, I have heard that the RP12s is a good baler, but there is some question about it making a small bale.

It does make a small bale. We sell all of our hay, and a fair bit of silage, so it isn't exactly an issue! The RP 200 made a much bigger bale, but apparently the RP235 makes a smallish bale again.

laurence997 wrote: »

Also, do you have to ever replace rollers? I presume that a few new rollers would cost more than the baler is worth. I saw the prices for rollers, I cant remeber for what baler, 1100 for the base rollers and 900 for the rest.

The 1992 baler has severe roller problems, and it is the only baler I have seen with it. We bought it 3 years old, and can only imagine that the previous owner used acid. The rollers are badly corroded, even though the bodywork is pristine. New rollers were 500 about 7-8 years ago. We only ever bought one.

The 1989 baler has a perfect set of rollers and. We have had to get a few of the ends keyed by a local engineering shop as the cog was spinning on the shaft. For the most part there is no reason to need to replace rollers. I'm looking for a spare RP12/12s for parts though.

laurence997 wrote: »

Another thing I notice is that in a lot of the welger balers I have seen on the internet is that they only have 1 wheel on the pickup reel. Went to see a RP200 last year where this was the case. Not great for the hilly land of Clare I'd imagine!

The narrow pickups have one wheel. It is perfectly adequate, but I can't say what it might be like on hilly ground.

Bitten & Hisses

I'm in the process of buying a baler at the moment too. The local Claas dealer tells me that the 46 is a heap, but that the 250, 254 and 255 are good, solid machines. I have found it difficult to source a straight Welger. Most I have seen are wrecked after having a hard life, with massive bale counts on them. Krone have a good reputation, but I found it hard to find anything other than a CombiPack on the used market, in spite of the fact that there are 3 dealers in my area. I think the Deutz and Vicon are the same machine, only different badges.

laurence997

Bitten & Hisses wrote: »

The local Claas dealer tells me that the 46 is a heap, but that the 250, 254 and 255 are good, solid machines.

I did hear that one Claas baler was poor, didn't hear it was the 46 though On that topic, I saw a Claas 255 and also a 250, though its gone now, on Clarkes Machinery website. Both were 8k + vat. I'll post the link to the 255 below. Could be worth a look

http://www.clarkemachinery.ie/clarkemachinery/Main/Claas255_11016204.htm

Bitten & Hisses wrote: »

I think the Deutz and Vicon are the same machine, only different badges.

I believe that you would be right there, definately in the case of the MP130, just put them separate on the poll in case I was wrong

Bitten & Hisses

A lot of the 255's I have seen have also had their pick-up wheels welded, so there appears to be a weak spot there. The dealer told me that the 46 was weak where the drawbar met the baler and that they eventually "give" at that point. €8000+Vat looks like a very good price for that 255, provided that it's a straight machine of course.