# Big Square Baler Shopping



## lidaacres (Oct 11, 2014)

I accidently posted this in the wrong category so please forgive me.

I have a case 8575 and am looking to possibly upgrade to a case 332 or nh bb940 because the have the nearest/best dealer support in my area. About 50% of what I bale is wet hay for Baleage...how are these for wet hay? I have looked at the NH balers and they have bb940, bb940a, bb940s, bb940r....what is the difference? Also, I've looked at a 2005 bb940a with close to 50,000 bales but has baled mainly straw vs a few bb940 that are older (2000-2003) with 30-35,000 bales that have done mainly hay.....all around the same price. I don't do enough do justify upgrading to anything much newer/ more expensive. I just need something that is going to be reliable if properly cared for.

Thanks


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## PackMan2170 (Oct 6, 2014)

Since the baler you are running is a Hesston with Case decals on it, have you given a thought to sticking with Hesston? I upgraded from a Case 8580 (rebranded Hesston 4900) to a Hesston 2170 several years ago, and you could not pay me enough to go back.

I don't bale any silage, so I can't speak for that, but the Hesston 2100 series is a PHENOMENAL peice of equipment in dry hay. It is STUPID fast and totally reliable. Makes great bales EVERY time. Just put twine in it, put oil in for the knotters, grease it, and bale til you can't bale no more.

Sorry if I sound like a Hesston salesman, but having run a 4900(not a bad baler, BTW), the 2100 series is amazing


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

If you have the dealers in your area and if they are good I agree with Packman to look at a Hesston or MF. Also a Krone. When the time comes to buy a new baler I will look very close at a Krone. I didn't realize you baler was really a Hesston in disguise you might be disappointed in the NH baler BB940. You might even find a bigger choice in the used Hesston/MF baler market. There is more of them out there.


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## PackMan2170 (Oct 6, 2014)

Teslan, do you have any experience or seen the camless feeder on the Krones work? That sounds like it might actually be an improvement over Hesston's, although I haven't had any trouble on the 2170's yet....


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## lidaacres (Oct 11, 2014)

Thanks for the responses. My biggest concern is that my current baler parts are a half hr away IF they have them at a case dealer. Krone and hesston dealer are a hr and a half away. Nh dealer is 20 min and is big on hay equipment and that's who we do a lot of business with. If it wouldn't be an upgrade however I'd maybe be better off putting money into what I've got and not have a baler payment? Not many ppl make wet hay like we do so it's hard to gather information on what machines work best for it. For example I've heard to stay away from the lbx331 case..... Not built heavy enough to handle it.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

lidaacres said:


> Thanks for the responses. My biggest concern is that my current baler parts are a half hr away IF they have them at a case dealer. Krone and hesston dealer are a hr and a half away. Nh dealer is 20 min and is big on hay equipment and that's who we do a lot of business with. If it wouldn't be an upgrade however I'd maybe be better off putting money into what I've got and not have a baler payment? Not many ppl make wet hay like we do so it's hard to gather information on what machines work best for it. For example I've heard to stay away from the lbx331 case..... Not built heavy enough to handle it.


Dealer is very important. We have a good Massey Fergusen dealer here. The NH dealer used to be good, but I've heard stories about them recently and their service department (I sure hope our 2 NH products don't have problems). I like Krone as I bought a Krone rotary rake this year and it's fantastic, but two dealers an hour away like your Hesston dealer is. I don't know about an hour away. A baler is much more complex then a rake.


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## PackMan2170 (Oct 6, 2014)

Don't worry about distance to your AGCO dealer, the Hesston 2100's never break

Seriously though, I wish I could help more, but I am not on the inside track on baleage or the CNH balers. Pretty much everybody who is anybody around here uses Hesston big balers (I can only think of one exception). All I can say is Hesston has got the hay equipment deal figured out and I love mine


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

PackMan2170 said:


> Teslan, do you have any experience or seen the camless feeder on the Krones work? That sounds like it might actually be an improvement over Hesston's, although I haven't had any trouble on the 2170's yet....


That intrigues me as well. Also I've heard that when they plug up just idle down and it unplugs. There was one at the Colorado Farm show last year, but I didn't look all that close. I'm not anywhere needing a new baler. But I will look closer this year. When I bought my Krone rake the Krone dealer in Cheyenne WY said when they put a Krone in the field next to a Hesston they get the sale every time. But that is sales talk.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

PackMan2170 said:


> Don't worry about distance to your AGCO dealer, the Hesston 2100's never break
> 
> Seriously though, I wish I could help more, but I am not on the inside track on baleage or the CNH balers. Pretty much everybody who is anybody around here uses Hesston big balers (I can only think of one exception)


My accumulator broke within 500 bales. The main pin that controls the arm fell out. Thankfully at the end of the day in the hay barn (I don't know why there) Turns out the grease wasn't getting to it through the greasing bank. Also this year inside the chamber I had bolts on the Haydogs on the floor of the chamber break. Then since they had been loose I had to replace the wear plates on them or I couldn't get the bolts to tighten. Easy fix, but a hassle. You might want to check yours when the chamber is empty next time. So don't say they don't break or next thing you know they will break.  Though other then that it's been great. The only time it's even missed a knot is when some idiot (me) didn't tie the twine knot good enough.


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## PackMan2170 (Oct 6, 2014)

Naw, I'm just kidding. Every piece of equipment is gonna break down, its just a question of when and what. I've had a couple smallish issues with mine, but by and large its been fantastic. My AGCO dealer is 10 miles away and will come out on Sundays if you twist his arm a little....

My old man says that its not suprising that a baler breaks, its suprising that a baler EVER WORKS at all. They really are an amazing and complex piece of engineering.

Then, of course, there's that other saying ... "If its got tires or t!ts, its gonna give you troubles".....


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## brandenburgcattle42 (Sep 6, 2012)

Well i had a bb9060 with the cutter this year and that is a step up from a 940 or a 940a i was not happy with it in wet hay and teaded for a mf2150 cutter. Wet had didnt feed well and sheared a lot of stuffer bolts plus really dry grass hay didnt feed well through the machine. It fluffed too much. Overall not happy with the new holland. I would strongly look away from dealer distance and stick with a hesston base product. You are looking at very worn machine at 30,000-50,00 bale count especially if you are going to be doing a lot of wet hay. New holland lack a lot of technology that massey hesston has and untill i watched some videos of how the 2100 series worked i was way too uneducated. It was a no brainer. I have mine leased for next year i put $20,000 down on the lease and got a brand new baler with tendem axles and a cutter amd scales for $14,000/year. Very affordable amd have a reliable machine you could get less options for quit a bit less i am sure. Do your homework and i can assure you will stop shopping for a CNH pruduct. And trust me i am a die hard case ih man on everything else.


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

CIH 8575 is a rebadged Hesston. CIH LBX331 would be a New Holland in disguise.


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## brandenburgcattle42 (Sep 6, 2012)

lidaacres said:


> Thanks for the responses. My biggest concern is that my current baler parts are a half hr away IF they have them at a case dealer. Krone and hesston dealer are a hr and a half away. Nh dealer is 20 min and is big on hay equipment and that's who we do a lot of business with. If it wouldn't be an upgrade however I'd maybe be better off putting money into what I've got and not have a baler payment? Not many ppl make wet hay like we do so it's hard to gather information on what machines work best for it. For example I've heard to stay away from the lbx331 case..... Not built heavy enough to handle it.


 and lbx 331 is the same as a 940 an lbx332 is a 940a and a lb333 is a 9060.


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## brandenburgcattle42 (Sep 6, 2012)

I will also add my nh bale would bale the crap out of alfalfa though man does it like alfalfa and it made nice bales so i am not a total negative nancy.


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## lidaacres (Oct 11, 2014)

The 8575 I have has 63k bales and I make around 1300 bales of wet hay a year. I really appreciate the advice but the problem I run into is 2000 bales a year isn't enough for the large investment a newer baler requires. I will look into the Hesston balers more.


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## lidaacres (Oct 11, 2014)

Thanks breandenburg. I'm basically trying to figure out if it would be an upgrade over my current situation. I'm not the type that needs to pound out a Bale every 45 seconds either


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## brandenburgcattle42 (Sep 6, 2012)

Well i if yoy can handle taking your time you wod be ok with a nh. Mine did it it was very slow wet alfalfa was good i could make good ground speed. Rye oats gave me a lot of trouble. I umderstand what you are saying with your bale count per year.. i might have had a lemon baler too. It only had 15,000 bales on it and all i did was work on it and rebuild it.


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## IAhaymakr (Jun 4, 2008)

lidaacres said:


> The 8575 I have has 63k bales and I make around 1300 bales of wet hay a year. I really appreciate the advice but the problem I run into is 2000 bales a year isn't enough for the large investment a newer baler requires. I will look into the Hesston balers more.


If you want to bale wet stuff, buy a baler that was engineered to do so. Nothing against the Agco machines, as they are tried and true, and have been refined over the years to be the best American made machine available. However they are built in Hesston, Kansas where getting the crop dry isn't a concern. The modifications they have made to handle baleage are more of an afterthought rather than a priority, like the German built Krone. A Big Pack has a simple and effective camless pickup, that is made to float along and follow ground. It has a hardenend cutter rotor, and slide out knife trays for easy knife servicing. It has a clutch protected VFS (prechamber) that will unplug itself by pulling the throttle back, and the only shear bolt on the machine is on the needle yoke drive arm. These features alone, which were designed around wet baling, are exclusive to the Krone and will make your baleage operation run very smoothly. I know of producers who have had both, and while they are comparable in dry material, the Krone is far superior in wet stuff. Good luck in your decision.


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## lidaacres (Oct 11, 2014)

I basically only bale wet alfalfa and my baler makes really nice bales but you cant try to put too much hay thru it or it breaks stuff. Which is sort of what your describing it seems. With oats it makes ragged sloppy bales but same situation as far as it goes good if your not pushing hard. 
Your comments about Krone interest me and I see a couple balers within reasonable distance so I'll need to look into them more. Thanks


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## Maxzillian (Sep 11, 2014)

The Case 8575 would be the same as a Hesston 4755... just moving up to a 4760 would yield some minor gains, but nothing major.

The 2100 series balers a certainly great dry hay machines, but like indicated before, they're only OK silage machines. I wouldn't call them terrible, but there are other balers out there that can do a better job. How much better is debateable.

Something you can do on your baler and the new 2100 series is choke down the stuffer chute. It seems contradictory to what you'd think, but making the chute narrower will reduce the load on the stuffer, cause the stuffer to fill better, and end up producing squarer bales.

With the chute set to factory settings, silage just doesn't want to feed into it well... I don't know if it tries to tumble or what, but it just doesn't work. Normally I set the inlet of the chute down about as tight as it will go and then set the top 2" wider. If the bales come out frowning, I'll start closing down the top to reduce the amount of material in the top of the bale. Go too far though, and the flake will try to plug at the top as it is fed. The good news is that these adjustments are easy to reach and hardly take more than 30-40 minutes to do both ends (most of the time is spent fighting the wrappers at the inlet).

Where the Hesston balers faulter, and especially the Massey's as they run considerably faster, is that the stuffer mechanism doesn't have very good leverage half-way through the stroke and gets a lot of load placed on it by the weight and drag of silage. By reducing the thickness of the flake, you can make it a lot happier and not constantly flirt with blowing shear bolt (easier to run at the limit without toeing over).


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## lidaacres (Oct 11, 2014)

Thanks for the tips Max.

I ended up running across a used 2013 NH bb330 at a Hesston dealer with 15k bales with a nice price on it so I pulled the trigger on it. I talked to the guy that owned/ran it and said it would work very well for what I was looking to do with it. Looks to be a significant upgrade to what I currently have, but hopefully it was a good choice.


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## Maxzillian (Sep 11, 2014)

No problem, enjoy your new baler!


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