# baling speed. square baler



## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

How fast do you guys square bale. Just bought a 5070 tried goin 4.5 mph. It took it fine but the bales look like crap. They are variable size and slabs are huge. Had to slow down to 2.5 mph. Kinda disappointed cuz old 24t took it almost that fast. Any suggestions


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Generally I bale right at 3 mph....I have to keep my lengths consistent at 35"-36" as that is what works for my accumulator. My windrows are raked with a rotary.....that helps alot for consistency.

Regards, Mike


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## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

I just dont like how I get 6 slabs per bale goin fast I like about a dozen I got the length figured out now. Thats why I hate new stuff in a way. Year is half over by the time it works right.


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## RockmartGA (Jun 29, 2011)

Speed is a direct function of windrow size. Large windrows = slow speed and vice versa.

If the "slabs are huge", then that is an indicator you are going too fast for the size windrow you are baling. In turn, that also contributes to the variable size of the bale.

For example, let's assume you have your baler set to produce a 36" bale and you are going at a speed that produces 4" slabs. If the bale on one stroke is almost ready to trip the knotters and you put one more 4" slab in there, you now have a 40" bale.

Most folks will tell you to strive to put the same number of flakes in each bale by adjusting your speed to suit your windrow.


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## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

Ya I knew the speeds for every size row with the old baler. Just hard getting used to it. I got it set good now just thought it was a bit slow? Im balingabout 400 per hour. Maybe Im expecting to much. The dorks down the road told me in the same rows they bale 600 per hour. Also heard a guy say they can almost go with a round baler. Idk probably expected to much. Im happy with it just wondered if I could a bit more.


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## Shetland Sheepdog (Mar 31, 2011)

5070 baler at 93 strokes per minute x 60 minutes = 5580 strokes per hour / 12 strokes per bale = 465 bales per hour! Now that's under perfect conditions! The guy making 600 bales per hour is going to have those "crappy" looking bales!
JMHO, Dave

Okay lets do the math on the 24T! 70 strokes per minute,(IIRC)x 60 minutes = 4200 strokes per hour / 12 strokes per bale = 350 bales per hour! Again, under perfect conditions!


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## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

Ya I guess i should just keep doing what im doing instead of trying to go faster. Thanks guys.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

Rake almost as massive of a row as your baler pickup width will handle. You'll be crawling along at 0mph sometimes, but you should get super consistent bales. You will be filling the chamber evenly, you'll be getting lots of flakes (because of how slow you'll be going), AND you will eliminate all of the bouncing around and the subsequent irregularities from those bumps and rattles.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

It's not a race. I'd stick to worrying about bales per hour and disregard your neighbors overzealous ground speed.


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## sethd11 (Jan 1, 2012)

Ontario,

The best thing I have found for speed on both our balers is counting strokes. Our 5070 hay liner makes nice bales at 11-15 strokes per bale per 36 inch bale. In straw I make 40-45 lb 12 stroke 36 inch bales. With nice windrows. Our 565 does well at 14 plus stroke per bale. Same size. I can probably go a little faster on each with good conditions but then people will never show up again. Also play with that feeder fork, that has a big deal with how the bales look. 
Just my 25 cents (adjusted for inflation)


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## sethd11 (Jan 1, 2012)

I'm with 8350 hightech, I try for the biggest windrows I can. Less bouncing. My poor back!


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## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

Ya I am happy with it once I tried going slower. I dont race the neighbors just wanna make sure im making the most of my time and fuel etc. I let them bust there stuff all the time then charge them to fix it


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## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

Thats the problem. The hay is heavy. 2 into one is fine but dad bought a rake that is to small and takes 4 passes to do it. I guess its not to bad though I run the rake on a ac wd its only a 3 wheel 3pt hitch type.


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## sethd11 (Jan 1, 2012)

Shoot, just find a mix between speed and decently sized windrows


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

1900 rpm and about 3mph with a 570 and it purrs all day, nice bales, consistant size, weight, and I am not beating my baler to death. All speed seems to do with a square baler is increase maintenance costs and as you said, bales with bad appearance.


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## hayray (Feb 23, 2009)

I always hear the stories about the guy down the road bragging about how fast he can go, I have a hard time believing anyone nowadays when they are stating how many bales per hour they are baling, all as that does is make you try to run your own baler too fast and have unrealistic expectations so you then run into bale and knotter problems. The modern balers eat hay fast but unless you have large rows you don't realize the capacity advantage. I have the same problem with my newer Hesston 4590. I also notice they all really work good in alfalfa hay but in grassy hay you need to slow down to make a consistent bale.


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## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

Ya the hay rows I could handle with a smaller pickup the main reason I bought the new baler is because of straw. When you get a 30 foot plus row in straw you miss half of it. I had a 24t that I mounted a swath turner wheel on the outside of pickup. It worked great but looked kinda crazy


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

I just added a JD348 to work with my 336. The extra strokes per minute helped just about exactly as expected, about 10% more bales per hour. You can keep up to a small round baler but no chance against anything like a 5x4 with netwrap.


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

*5070 tried goin 4.5 mph. It took it fine but the bales look like crap. They are variable size and slabs are huge. Had to slow down to 2.5 mph*.

Generally I *bale right at 3 mph*....I have to keep my lengths consistent at 35"-36" as that is *what works for my accumulator*.
*My windrows are raked with a rotary.....that helps a lot for consistency*.

First of all look in your owners manual and find the range of strokes per minute the baler is built for. Run your PTO with enough RPM's to give close to the highest strokes per minute. Gives better inertia for the knives to cut the hay on the power stroke. *Adjust your ground speed with the gear shift of Hydro Drive*.

I want a 34" bale length for a 55 pound tight bale. If I wanted a 75 pound tight bale I would make a longer bale.

I go up a gear at 18 strokes/Bale and drop down a gear at 11 strokes/bale. The key is not to make a 10 flake bale. That is 3.3" per flake. If the baler is just short of tripping then new bale will be 3.3" too long. Stacking by hand that is not a big deal but using a bale wagon or accumulator and three bales in a row at 10 strokes per bale those three bales will be a foot too long to fit the equipment.

I have baled in 6 th gear or close to 10 mph @ 20 strokes per bale. I have baled in creeper gear at 0.5 mph @ 12 strokes per bale, ready to ride the clutch if needed.

To bale hay HERE I watch the windrow feeding into the pickup, Keep an eye out for heavier or lighter windrow ahead, Keep an eye out for wet slugs. I watch the on the go moisture tester, I count strokes per bale, I watch how the bale leaves the bale chute for bale length.

A wet slug wants to be baled at 18 strokes per bale. You want to *anticipate* the ideal gear to bale in.

If you have an entertainment "thing" with you on the tractor, *turn it off*. You are there to bale hay, not listen to talk radio, or great music.

If you have a little short rake spend the time to build a windrow ideal to bale. Actually most balers pick up the hay best at 3 mph. Build a windrow that you can bale at 3 mph. Now if you have a 4 ton/A yield you may need to pick up what you just baled ( in low gear ) so you have enough room to make another round. That or bale it in a creeper gear.

Remember this also. It cost roughly $200/hour to bale hay. It cost maybe $65/hour to rake hay. Put your effort into raking a great windrow. *A rotory rake is easier to do this.* Not that a roll bar, or wheel rake can not make good windrows, with care.

A Custom Baler down near College Station TX will not bale a field his wife did not bale! Don't care how much money you offer.


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## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

The guys with "600 bales per hour" reminded me of the man with the VW car. He kept taking it to his mechanic because "it should get better mileage". Finally he ask his mechanic how he could get 50mpg like his buddies instead of 35. Mechanic said "*do like they do.....lie about it*."


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## T&LSkaarfarms (Dec 11, 2011)

I bale at about 3 mph. Windrows as big as I can stuff them into my 270. Usually 2 into 1. Today I baled 1650 bales in a little over 5 hours with that old girl. That is stopping just to change wagons and throw a new bale of twine in every 4 loads. I bale with my Ford 4000 with a select-o-speed. I get pretty good production out of that 50 year old machinery


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

I bale at 1-2 mph depending on winrow.....havent been raking last couple of times and my man that has been raking......well lets just say he's green......inconsistent winrows can really run me hot, good thing is....with IVT on baling tractor it's real easy to "dial" your speed in, still makes inconsistent winrows a PITA.....


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