We found a Round baler and a large square baler for the same money. Both are in great shape and ready to bale. We have a round baler right now that is in great shape but were thinking about up gradeing to a newer baler. Then we figured why not buy a large square baler...
What my question is, is there a large call for large suares? will we be abler to at least break even or hopefully make money? Is there anybody that runs a large square baler. the one we are looking at is a 01 JD 100. we are also looking at a Case IH round baler new 5'x6'. what should we get? keep in minde we have a decent 5x5 round baler and a really nice small square baler and a 80 acre field of really good alfala hay.
DM01

 

For my money the small round bales are the best option, but impossible to find. With so many people having small acreage farms and no tractors to handle the big rounds with, these little ones are great. You can move them around by hand, even load'em on the trailer by hand if you need to. But unlike the small square bails still not have to mess with hay everyday. The only place I have found the large rounds to be better is ease of storage and loading trailers, they do stack awful easy.

 

I prefer 800 to 1000 lb rounds myself..... large enough to be a substantial amount of feed, but in a pinch, ya can move 'em by hand( as i have had to do when the tractor has been busted..... some time I'll tell ya about the BOSS, all 5 ft 100 pounds of her, trying to roll a 1200 lb bale by herself... )
1200# is just a hair too large to be able to manhandle if needed...

I havent even thought of trying the large squares simply beecause I would have to invest in new equipment/attachments to move them, and there is no way to move them by hand ...not sure ya could even drag one if needed.....
I guess you probably need to look at what is selling in your area, and produce the bales that folks are going to want to buy.....

 

If you have been using a round baler I would stick with that if you sell your hay locally. The problem with rounds is transporting them long distance if you sell dairy quality hay. I put up 800 - 1,000 lbs rounds also. Just alot easier to stack & move than the bigger ones.

 

Get the sqaure baler,cows and horses need a sqaure meal.

 

Only reason we thought about the big square baler is becasue they are so stackable and easy to haul. If somebody wanted a load of hay in another state There is no problem moveing them. Out 5x5 baler makes too big of bale to haul on most roads and round things tend to roll even if you strap them down
DM01

 

Like what was stated above, if you go with the large squares you will need different equipment to move them. I like the big squares better because the hay is chopped like a square bailer, not just rolled up. But it might be harder to sell the big squares because not very many people have the equipment to move them, unless you can find a big dairy that would use them. Also, the square have to be stored inside to keep them from rotting. We run a round baler and are looking at one that uses net wrap and has the knife slicers in it. This makes for a nice tight bale that comes apart easily. The net wrap seems to help protect the outside layers better. The Vermeer are the better balers IMHO, good price and good machine not to mention Made In USA!

 

I personally like

the round bales... 800-1000 lbs. Thats usually because for the two horses i have im the one that has to put it in there, and pushing it with t posts, and other leverage paraphanelia is usually easier.. 1200 lbs or so i can push only so far before the manure, small inclines, or just plain gettin tired got me.. i mean its only a 15-25 foot push, but still by myself, it just plain sux..... [eye crazy] Regardless, small squares are the better value for the money, and to stack them, well thats easy too.... but u do have to mess with them everyday, thats the disadvantage...

Small round bales? easily moveable? ive never seen those..

Huge squares.. yes i have, i seen them as small as 110 lb alfalfa three wire bales, up to some huge ones that take up a semi trailer....

Tx

 

ive fed large squares and large round bales and the round bales are soooo much easier. as you can see in my gallery (hauling hay) we feed 4x5 bales that weigh around 1000 lbs. only way to go.

 

The only real arguement I have heard for round bales is when they are stored outside. they shed water better and will not rot as bad as square bales. Other than that, I would say its personal preference. round can be rolled easier than a square bale. Lots of ranchers here still use the 100# square bales just because it easier to load on a truck.

 

If your selling hay, it depends on whichdirection your buyers are, Me, personally from a buyers view, is big squares all the way, easy to stack on trailer, easy to store, and packed tighter also cancut strings and feed off in chunks, the biggest misconseption of the big squares as stated several times above, is the handling equipment. you can use the same bale spears as you do for a big round, no problem, actually a pallet fork atachment works slick also. but it all depends on location, dairy, feedlot,grinding, it varies so much, but If it were me, being here in Iowa, it would be the big square, hands down! also, a big square, is tipickly about the same wieght, or a little heavier then a round,{pressed tighter} and takes up less space on the trailer.= more bales= <----ME!

 

Disagree with there, I tried the big squares and tore up two of them trying to move them with a standard bale spear... was a real PITA...wound up breaking them up and pitch forking the hay to the stock, was a lot of waste and work...

 

thats how weve fed over 1000 of the big square bales. fork em and stick them in the truck. it took to people to put the big squares out, and you can do the big rounds with one person.

 

Okay, as an equipment dealer, here's our take on the subject!

If you can sell the big squares, they are easier to handle, easier to haul, easier to make, and you can put more of them in the same space. Round bales shed water better, but if you are interesteing in actually selling your hay to make money...put it inside! More people are set up today for round bales, but that is changing.

We have sold probably 30 used Big Squares in the last 3 years, and 2 new ones this year. All Hesston or Case IH's(that were older, and built by Hesston)

DM01, if you're really looking to go big square, stay away from a Deere 100. Even Deere dealers tell us they're "not good." We've also had NH dealers tell us the Hesston is a better Big Square. Not trying to bash different colors, but I don't like seeing someone buy something thinking it's quality, to find out they were taken.

JMHO, not worth $.02
Chris