Round Baler Upgrade Suggestions

Thekeencyclist

Thinking about upgrading the Round Baler to something a bit newer, so currently have a Krone 1250, very clean condition and working as it should and making a nice solid bale. Have owned it now for a good few years.

Looking to maybe change to a Roller type baler, willing to spend up to 15K + the Krone.

Tractor wise, its about 120-130HP.

What suggestions would be out there for a good reliable "roller" baler that can easily make a nice uniform solid bale.

Limestone Cowboy

Mchale 5500

funkey_monkey

Seems to be a bit of value now in separates as most contractors are going to Fusions - or those running multiple balers are only holding some separates for awkward fields and wet seasons.

As LC said, the F5500 would be in your price bracket.

Would the Welger/MF/Fendt type baler with the mechanical locks on the back door make a more solid bale than a F5500?

Thekeencyclist

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123620582#Comment_123620582

That is a good Q regarding the mechanical lock, be good to hear if anyone has experience of both types.

Limestone Cowboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123620582#Comment_123620582

I don't think so really no, the solidness of the bale is more down to the man than the baler. At least the back door on the Mchale will give a bit rather than the locks, rollers and bearings having to take all the stress. Most of the welgers/lely/massey or whatever derivative of them are fairly shagged before 50k bales. Mchale is just built to last longer.

weatherbyfoxer

Massey/welger make a far nicer bale than the mchale balers...every bale will be the exact same size due to the locked back door.Netting system far simpler on the massey too

Tileman

what would you hope to get for the Krone baler op?

limo_100

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123620582#Comment_123620582

Just so you know the fusion is by far the best baler to have on wet ground have lots of wet ground and the single baler is a disaster and the wrapper is worse the combination baler ( only experienced the fusion) have made tricky conditions a lot easier

Limestone Cowboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123621371#Comment_123621371

I don't know about the newer massey types if they have changed the netting system on them but the 235 and 245 welgers weren't great in that regard and the shape of the bales is a bit more consistent with them alright but they are smaller. The only place I can see that the welgers had an advantage is that the feed/pickup worked better and wasn't as prone to getting blocked but they don't have the lifespan of the mchale balers and a lot of that is probably down to the locks on the doors.

weatherbyfoxer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123621686#Comment_123621686

There is as many old welgers still going strong as mchales.The mchale was originally designed off a welger but welger patent the back door locks so can't be copied..if you opened up a f550 and a welger 235 there is very little difference only netting system and door locks.Over 10 years ago big selling point for mchale sales men in my area was that the welger is going off the market but mchale have copied them and they will be as good

Limestone Cowboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123621732#Comment_123621732

Sure you're probably right so, I wrapped probably near enough to 100k bales following both of them so that's what I picked up from it. The welgers stopped plenty of times, the mchales not very much. It makes no odds to me either way. Salesman will say whatever they think will make a sale for them.

limo_100

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123621371#Comment_123621371

had a look at a messer baler recently Jesus not only is it a very impressive build baler it’s also it’s a very good looking piece of equipment very easy on the eye. Would like to have a baler but don’t have the work for it or the help when needed. Do Massey not do a combination baler?

weatherbyfoxer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123621886#Comment_123621886

Have a new one here this year myself..very impressed with it now.they also make a baler similar to the fusion called a protec but it's a bit slow transferring the bale into the wrapper compaired to a fusion so it never really too off

limo_100

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123622227#Comment_123622227

I seen a picture of yours very nice machine. What did you have before? Making good solid bales? They seem very heavy built. Well ware with it anyway.

weatherbyfoxer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123622241#Comment_123622241

Cheers..its my first own baler but im involved with welger/lely balers for years. It makes really nice solid bales.Most lad i bale for seem to prefer it than other lads baling with mchales..but that could be man behind wheel too…mchale are not a bad baler either

Thekeencyclist

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123621392#Comment_123621392

PM Sent….

queueeye

Wouldn’t look past the McHale f5500. Built to last and needs just basic maintenance. If you mind it, it’ll mind you.

davidk1394

Ran Welger, then Lely and now on a Massey baler. I'm happy with it, no major issues and makes a solid bale. Great in take and I was baling beside a Fusion 4 last year at straw and it left it sitting there. The hooks on the back door takes a lot of pressure off the tractor. Just be careful if the baler is nearly full and you bale a lump the slip clutch could go off, the McHale will probably stay going as the back door will open slightly to leave in the lump.

GrasstoMilk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123627190#Comment_123627190

how many bales an hour would you get in straw ? I can do 58 in 24 ft rows , 40 bales of silage /hr . It’s a fusion 2

French Toast

Buy a F5500 with the lowest bale count that you can afford and you won’t look back.

DBK1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123630182#Comment_123630182

I’d be very disappointed with anything less than 70 an hour in straw with a fendt baler. Baling for one tillage man in 50+ acre fields with a 22ft combine and 90 is achievable.

DBK1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123621686#Comment_123621686

I’d have experience with all the recognised baler brands apart from Kuhn and the welger (Massey/fendt) have by a long way the best and simplest netting system. You could count on one hand the amount of bales that wouldn’t be tied properly in a season. We wrap for a few lads that have their own McHale balers and you’d run out of fingers for counting damaged bales after half an hour.

The locks on the back doors probably do reduce the lifespan of the balers but that’s because you’re putting 150-200kgs more in each bale than a fusion bale. A customer that puts all his bales through a diet feeder gave me that info and he had me and a fusion baling the same grass on the same day to make the comparison.

A contractor not far from here that’s welger all his life and always runs 2 balers wouldnt trade them in until there’s over 100k bales on them.

GrasstoMilk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123632023#Comment_123632023

I’ve made just over 900 bales so far this year between us and a few others, only had bother with the netter at the very start when the tensioner bars were dull.

Contractor that does all my other work has a 2 year old 5500 and no issues with the netter. The lad driving it would do his nut if he had to get down off the tractor

DBK1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123632300#Comment_123632300

The McHale men around here have baby powder in the tractor as recommended by the local McHale dealer. Cover the rubber roller in baby powder before making the first bale and turn the net up to nearly the max for the first 10 or so bales. Reduce the net then and cover with baby powder again and it seems to eliminate a lot of the problems on the first day out.

Any time your baling in kind of damp conditions use the baby powder as well.

I’m not putting down the McHale balers, they’re a great machine but probably have an artificially high reputation.

If I get a chance later I’ll list the pros and cons in my eyes/experience of them all.

minerleague

How come the variable belt balers aren't more popular in Ireland?

9935452

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123632396#Comment_123632396

The other cheat is to feed the net in direct rather than around the bars/feed rollers as per diagram s.

That said nothing beats the jd 578 when you need to change a roll of net.

Once you get it going it will run for the whole roll but it could take 15 bales to get it to that. Constantly wrapping around feed rollers and chamber rollers

Jb1989

575 is the king around here.

White Clover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123634908#Comment_123634908

Great baler in their day. I often put out 600 bales in a day with one 20 or 25 years ago. 10 to 15 foot row is plenty for them.

9935452

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123635324#Comment_123635324

I picked 5 acres of wet silage after a big M one night with a 578. Twas slow going

tanko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123634908#Comment_123634908

No baler will ever come close to a Welger RP 12 baler

Thekeencyclist

Thanks All for the feedback.

I have a couple of local dealers close to hand, one dealing in MF and the other dealing in McHale so spare parts for either should not be an issue if needed. Next Q, is there anything in particular I would need to look out for if viewing either a MF 3130F or a McHale F5500? Are there any tell / tale signs as to whether a roller is still in good working order etc.

As mentioned at the start of the thread, i will be coming from a Krone 1250 background so my knowledge of roller type bales is near non existant.