# High moisture kit vs. silage special round balers



## gulogulo (Mar 9, 2014)

Hey folks,

Does anyone know whether a high moisture "kit" for a round baler, like on a John Deere 449, makes it as capable with silage/haylage/baleage as an actual Silage Special machine like the 459ss, etc.? I think the kit adds the scraper and the spiral roller, but I can't tell whether a silage special baler is just built burlier to handle green hay.

I'm wondering because apparently a NH "high moisture" baler like the BR7050 can only handle hay at around 35% moisture, while the NH silage special balers can supposedly handle up to 60%.

Thanks.


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## Trotwood2955 (Sep 4, 2012)

No experience with JD round balers. But I run a stock BR7060 and have no troubles making silage bales/baleage. It is not a Silage Special or has any kind of add-on kit. Just a basic 7060. I know plenty of people who use base model JD balers who bale silage all the time with no issues. Sure you may need to get out and clean some rollers off once in a while, and you probably want to make the bales a little smaller than formal size due to weight, but the balers ought to handle it fine.

If you are baling a lot of silage bales, the silage special model would probably be a good move. But if you are like me and only do some of your bales as silage a normal baler works just fine in my opinion. I think on NH silage special balers they typically just have an extra scraper or two to help with buildup, endless belts, and larger tires due to heavier bale weights to help with compaction.

You also mentioned a BR7050. That is the NH 4x4 model and is a completely different model from the 7060 and larger balers. They aren't nearly as heavy duty and I wouldn't be surprised if they were not designed to handle silage as well. The JD 4x4 models may be the same way, don't know. But I would say any 4x5 and larger JD or NH balers I wouldn't be afraid to use for baleage.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Not sure about the newer BR's as I just plain bought a Silage Special. I know on the older balers the silage models came with heavier shafts in the bottom rollers for starters.


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

The high moisture kit on JD is just a scraper and spirals on the end of the rolls where the silage special has a auger to move material out from inside the belts and will do a better job of keeping the roller cleaner preventing buildup. I have baled thousands of silage bales with a 458 with the high moisture kit and it will work but the rollers will really buildup the higher the moisture. If you take your time or are not doing that many it can be done.


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## gulogulo (Mar 9, 2014)

Thanks folks.


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