# Twine vs Wire for Square Baler?



## chetlenox (Jun 5, 2008)

Hey all,

Some folks may have seen my "intro" the other day, but I'm a small time hay farmer doing 14 acres of Coastal Bermuda, selling square bales to local horse folks. I've been accumulating the proper equipment over the last year-and-a-half, and this winter it's time for the last purchase - a baler. So I'll get to my question.

I'm currently borrowing the use of my neighbors in-line Case baler, and it's wire tie. I'm trying to figure out if I want to stick with wire or buy a twine-tie baler. I've been asking my customers whether they prefer wire or twine and essentially all of them look at me funny, shrug their shoulders, and say, "Huh, never thought much about it, I don't really care." So it sounds like I can go anyway I choose. I posted this question on the Tractorbynet forums:

Tractorbynet Twine vs Wire Discussion

To summarize the feedback I got, it was that the use of twine versus wire was very regional. Some areas of the country never see one type, others never see the other, and very often folks are surprised that the type they never see even still exists! Other feedback was:

Wire tie advantages: More durable bale, simpler baler "knotter"
Twine tie advatages: Lighter, cheaper, easier on hands

I've been happy with the handling on my wire-tie bales to-date, but am really probably leaning towards twine-tie due to the cost factor (metal wire cost has really gone up lately, and I hear twine is holding steady). I asked my buddy (who's baler I use) what his thoughts were and he says he prefers wire because he heard that twine-tie balers have to generate a much larger bale for the same weight. I have a sneaking suspicion that isn't true unless you are baling some really heavy (100+ lbs) square bales, but I don't have the experience to know. I prefer lighter (~50 lb) bales, as do my customers (many are women).

Anybody have any feedback for me on this? Anybody using twine and thinking that wire is the better way to go?

Thanks, Chet.


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## downtownjr (Apr 8, 2008)

Chet,
I prefer twine, but then again you get the question...sisal or synthetic (plastic) twine. I prefer sisal, I feel it knots better and has fewer problems. The reason is costs and many more twine balers around here. I have not been exposed to a wire baler since high school (late 70's) when a neighbor and my 4-H leader that I helped had an old international with wire. As far as knotters I do not know. However, it was nice to have access to the wire to tie my muffler back on and fix fence







. I think the customers and cost drive many decisions. Around here wire would surprise many of the city hobby horse customers. Current twine prices are between $29 and $34 a bundle here...good for about 450 bales on average. My opinion...sure you will get more. Good luck and great to see you on the site. By the way I am a small time guy trying to build up as well. Take care.


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## Guest (Jun 24, 2008)

You can get a very tight and heavy bale of straw with wire vs sisal. the sisal will snap with the same kinda of pressure. Wire is also rodent prove when dealing with straw. There is always some grain in a bale of straw.

With hay I am not sure I want that tight of bale with hay. Customers don't want and i don't want to handle them either. Also if the customer doesn't keep his wires cleaned up they create a livestoch safety hazard.

If I did alot of straw I might cosider it and for hay I would't .

HHH


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## OhioHay (Jun 4, 2008)

I think you hit the nail on the head regionally. Around here in my part of Ohio, it is rare to see a wire baler. In our local market, hay and straw are actually discounted for having wire. Customers don't want to deal with it. As for the debate between sisal and plastic, I would say locally it is fifty fifty. We use sisal. Have for 20 years. We have considered plastic lately due to cheaper price, but still stuck with sisal this year. Bought back in February by the pallets to get good price. We did switch to plastic on our round baler(would love to have net wrap) this year due to cost and told our customers that we do custom round baling for that if they want sisal, there will have to a be an extra charge.


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## chetlenox (Jun 5, 2008)

Downtownjr: Wow, that is significantly less expensive than the wire I'm putting in my bales now. We did the math the other day and we were looking at 40 cents/bale just in wire. You are running 6 or 7 cents! That's $170 difference for a single 500-bale cutting. Wow, I never thought it was that big of a difference. That probably sealed it for me right there...

I asked this question 2 minutes ago in the survey section, I should have read this thread first... What is the difference between sisal and synthetic twine? Do both types work in the same balers?

Hoosier: I never thought about straw. I've never baled the stuff, but I imagine it is so much lighter that you need that heavy compression to not end up with a 10 lb bale, right?

Chet.


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## chetlenox (Jun 5, 2008)

Just answered my own question, at least the basic concept.

Sisal twine:









Synthetic twine:









I would still be interested in hearing folk's impressions of each and the original comparison to wire...

Chet.


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## 4020man (Jun 21, 2008)

I prefer sisal over plastic just because we have always used sisal and have never had a problem with it.


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## greenacres (Jun 5, 2008)

most balers are twine with a few with wire but not to many. Wire is hard to get rid of where twine just put it in a trash burner. Wire is pricey right now.
Some of the older balers JD NH IH will not take plastic no mater how much tinkering you do, you will still have a few busted ones on a regular basis.
I run a NH 570 made in 1989 and run plastic orange line 170-7200 170 knot strength and 7200 ft long and if I want I can run sisal with out changing anything. If you try plastic after runing sisal on the older machines tighten the twine holders up a little because the plastic runs a little smaller diamater just for starters. Some of my customers that bought hay with wire said they will not buy hay with it again. It's what ever works for your farm.


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## haymaker 515 (Jul 12, 2008)

wire is a risk to the health of the animal. Should a wire not get found if you rebale a bale or a wire clipping end up in the hay, it can end up in the animals stomache or intestine. Twine is safer, it wont tear or poke.


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## chetlenox (Jun 5, 2008)

Thanks for all the feedback guys, I appreciate it. This forum is really helpful for this sort of thing (real world experience).

Based on all the feedback I'm getting, sounds like twine is the right choice for me.

Chet.


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