# MF/Hesston small square baler experiences?



## DKFarms (Aug 11, 2008)

I am in the market for a new small square baler. I have given up on trying to find a good used one. I understand that Hesston makes a great in-line large square baler and that they have ported that technology down to the small balers. Have any of you used these balers? Any pros and cons? Even with these in-line balers, the prices are still slightly less than the Deere and New Hollands I have been looking at. Thanks
Ken


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## jhag (Dec 25, 2009)

Ken,

Have been using a CIH in line for 6 or 7 years now and it has been very dependable. Hesston makes their own as well as MF and CIH. Mine was used when I bought it and I have put about 20,000 bales a year through it since I have owned it. It makes a nice tight 50 lb bale and my customers always are amazed at the uniform size and weight of the bale. I have had absolutely no major problems with it at all and am actually thinking of getting a second one.

Jim


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## Blue Duck (Jun 4, 2009)

The cons are in tall windrows the tractor will catch a little hay sometimes but if you lay the windrows out wide it isn't that much of a problem. If the stuffer plugs up it is a pain to clean out.

They make very consistent bales and hold up well and aren't that bad to work on and maintain. I am pleased with the capacity of it. I personally wouldn't even consider the others after having the hesston. They also seem to have a better resale/trade value when its time to get a new one.


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## aussiehayman (Apr 17, 2010)

we have 4 older 'offset' MF balers and 1 new inline MF (Heston) the inline is a very good baler as previous guys have stated they make very good bales all the time. With the size of modern rakes however we find that with very heavy crops and big windrows the older balers cope better. this is mostly because of the need to fit the windrow under the tractor with the inline. Blue Duck is right when he says that they are a pain to unblock, but i have made a long hook to reach in and pull the hay out and have solved this issue. So would i buy an inline MF (Heston) over a Deere or NH....yep i would everyday! Bloody good baler which make very good bales. The other big difference for us is the low profile pickup and the lack of need to push the hay sideways into the chamber, this means much less 'bashing' of the hay and less leaf damage.

nate


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## DKFarms (Aug 11, 2008)

Thanks for your input. After reading jd-tom's thread, I am seriously considering the 1839. Now I'll let the cat out of the bag, my cousin-in-law is the Massey dealer about 50 miles from me. He knows I'm green but has tried for years to convert me to red. I just wanted some other opinions besides his sales pitch. He has a big hay operation as well, and I've seen the quality of his bales, very good. He has an 1841 rigged up with a preservative injector. My other cousin told me at our Christmas gathering yesterday that he saw an 1839 on the lot when he was there a couple weeks ago. Maybe, just maybe, I'll be getting a belated Christmas present. Thanks again for your help and I'll post a followup when I pull the trigger on something.


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## hayray (Feb 23, 2009)

aussiehayman said:


> i have made a long hook to reach in and pull the hay out and have solved this issue.


Can describe the hook a little more, sounds like a good idea?


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## aussiehayman (Apr 17, 2010)

The hook is pretty simple, it is about 500mm long (thats about 20 inches for those who operate in the past) it is made from a 12 mm (half inch) steel rod, it has a handle at right angle at one end, tha handle forms a 'T' and is about 200mm ( 8 inches) long. The hook end is simply the the rod curled around forming a hook, the size of the hook depends on how strong you are and how much hay you can pull out at once. The reason for making it was because the crop gaurd makes it hard to get easy access to the center of the pick up. let me know if this helps otherwise i will try to post a photo. 
Cheers from down under!


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

aussiehayman, The hook that you describe appears similar to what we use to handle the small square bales; we call it a hay hook, or a bale hook. Do you sharpen the end of the hook to a gradual point, and is the shaft of your hook bent back a bit, or is it a straight line?

The metric system is taught in school over here. For those of us needing a refresher, I usually convert millimeters to centimeters (10 mm/cm) and then divide centimeters by 2.54, as there are 2.54 cm per inch. 500 mm becomes 50 cm or about 19.69 inches.

Where are you located in Australia? I once was reminded in a friendly way by a Western Australian, that WA is bigger than Texas, much bigger apparently.


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## gman1772 (Mar 20, 2010)

Hesston center feeds are hands down the best small square balers out there. My neighbor has tens of thousands of bales run through his and it still runs like a timex. The one thing you can't do is push a lot of hay through them. Modern V rakes have spoiled us all and that fat big windrow will clog any small square baler. The major problem on a Hesston is you have to get under it to clear the clog. The sidewinders, well it's all out in the open.


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## DKFarms (Aug 11, 2008)

Okay, you convinced me. I bought an 1837 with the hydroform and hitch options. My JD salesman is mad as hell but he couldn't make up the $3K difference. And, after talking to a few other local owners, it just seems like the way to go. I'll keep you posted on the results of the first baling.


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## SouthField (May 11, 2010)

We have a MF (Heston) 1839 inline bought new about 3 years ago. We also installed a BaleSkiis baler liner for a variety of reasons. A search of the product name will bring up their website. It took about 2-3 hours to install but I'm kind of slow so you younger guys could probably get it done faster.

I wish I had some pointers for you but we haven't had any problems with it yet and I haven't clogged it yet either .... but that might be the Baleskiis liner add-on, my driving/haying style, or the fact we only do Teff or natural grasses, so nothing heavy.

We keep a roof over it and follow the recommended maintenance. After seeing our neighbors and their balers (and baler issues) I've been very pleased. We'll see how we feel in another 3 years or so but we have zero complaints for our first 3 seasons with it.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

We tried a Hesston inline baler after years of having a new holland baler. After 3 years we traded for a New holland. We never have mechanical problems with the Hesston, but there are two reasons we traded it. 1. We didn't like the little augers on each side of the pickup. It never failed that if I forgot to slow down and make sure it stayed in the center going around a corner or the hay got too heavy under them they would plug. 2. For grass hay if there was even a small green spot in the windrow it wouldn't mix it up with drier hay which would make the bale more apt to spoil. It was a little better at baling drier alfalfa without shattering the leaves as easily. My cousin had a hesston as well and traded back to a New Holland.


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