# Do farmers ever cover their round baler?



## KerryAll (Jun 4, 2011)

There is a way to keep the rain and sun off your round baler when you can't keep it in the machinery storage building.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Neighbor uses a tarp on his, problem is if the wind starts to blow and the tarps moves around, will wear the paint right off. Farthest field I have is about 7 miles away, I just drive it home at night, blow it off, grease and refill the chain oiler then it gets parked in the barn.


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## KerryAll (Jun 4, 2011)

These covers are custom fit and don't blow around like a tarp. Also, it keeps the sun off the rubber belts which are expensive to replace. Not all fields are close to the barn, either.


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## geiselbreth (Feb 21, 2010)

i have a free standing carport for mine neither of my balers have ever been from rain or garden hose also i put fluid film on all shinny parts for winter baler ready to go for next year also don't forget the rat poison


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## carcajou (Jan 28, 2011)

you gotta be kidding! We blow off our balers and check them over closely then go to supper. Even if i still had the energy to tarp them, wth do it? A little rain doesn't hurt a round baler. Are you going to tarp your tractor next?


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## Blue Duck (Jun 4, 2009)

I don't think I would ever have a need for a cover like that. My balers only see daylight when they are making hay but it would be a great idea for dealerships. I have seen balers that were never rained on or left to sit outside by the previous owner sit on a dealers lot out in the weather for almost two years after traded in.


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## aussiehayman (Apr 17, 2010)

in Australia we put them in the shed....just saying


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## panhandle9400 (Jan 17, 2010)

All my hay equipment is parked inside until we are ready to cut hay or bale hay. If it going to sit at the field for a while it will be blowed off and cleaned up before it sits, nothing more corrosive than hay chaff that gets WET. This year we didnt worry much about rain on the equipment for we have had almost none 3.10 for a year . Hope next year isnt dry as this 1 was.


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## RockmartGA (Jun 29, 2011)

I think we can all agree that keeping your equipment under a roof is the best solution. However, if you can't, this seems to be a good alternative.

The only thing I would be cautious about is that impermeable covers tend to trap moisture evaporating up from the ground. May not be a problem up in the frozen north, but here in Ga, it is definately a concern.


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## KerryAll (Jun 4, 2011)

Thanks for the feedback- all points made are appreciated. The first place I got the idea for this was from a farm machinery (New Holland) dealer who was asked the question by a farmer. The farmer was concerned about exactly what one of you pointed out- the baler sitting out in the sun on a dealer's lot. The sun will do more damage to those big rubber belts than the cover would ever do to the paint.
This is also intended as a short term solution for most people who might need one- you're going back to the barn and it starts to rain. Surprise- the barn is full of other stuff (must happen to a lot of farmers at one time or another), so if you do want to keep the baler dry until tomorrow, this would work. Same thing if you want to leave the baler in the field and would like to keep it dry for a day or two.
Another farmer asked me about them when I was installing a cover on his spinner fertilizer spreader (that cover keeps the hopper dry so you can finish the field as the rain starts).
These ideas usually come from farmers, I'm not trying to create a market where there isn't one, just provide a solution to a potential problem.
Again, thanks for your input.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Cover it? No put it in the shed when its at home. I cover the square baler if it ever has to be out overnight though.

The disc mower stays out all hay season, same with tedder and rake.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

I'm impressed with all of you folks that put your machinery inside. I do the same. So many famers in my area do not. They leave outside balers in the weather with the hay still in it. So after a year that machinery looks 20 years old. Our neighbor has the same 1089 hay stacker bought the same year as ours and it sits outside all the time. It looks older with regard to paint then my cousin's which is 30 years older and nearly always is inside when not working. Our machinery is always under cover when not working.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Teslan said:


> I'm impressed with all of you folks that put your machinery inside. I do the same. So many famers in my area do not. They leave outside balers in the weather with the hay still in it. So after a year that machinery looks 20 years old. Our neighbor has the same 1089 hay stacker bought the same year as ours and it sits outside all the time. It looks older with regard to paint then my cousin's which is 30 years older and nearly always is inside when not working. Our machinery is always under cover when not working.


I have a cousin that left his NH 315 in the hayfield all winter, then called me and Dad to come fix it when it wouldn't tie a bale the next spring. This is the same cousin that borrowed a grain truck from us, didn't clean it out, and didn't bother to roll the tarp over then left it sit out all winter and had rotten corn in it when he brought it back. Also borrowed our grain cart one year, didn't clean it out, didn't use the roll tarp on it either, left it out all summer and brought it back in the fall with a 100 gallons of rotten corn soup in the bottom. This cousin gets to borrow NOTHING now.

Long as I have room left in the buildings, all my hay equipment gets stored inside between uses. Mower and Discbine get blown off after every use and stored inside, also get hand washed and waxed once a year as well. When I traded the baler and my 499 in, I got almost as much in trade as I paid for em. Just got done washing and waxing both the baler and discbine, both look like new again.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

We get about 50 inches of rainfall annually and have sweltering humidity in the summer. Only a moron would leave equipment exposed to the elements in this environment.......we have lots of morons. I store my balers in a open front shed facing east so I also tarp them after cleaning them for storage. Marty, do you apply wax by hand or do you use a garden hose applicator?

Regards, Mike


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

We wax the hard way, apply the wax by hand, then remove with a power buffer. Or I did remove with a power buffer till it busted the first five minutes into doing the discbine.

We use a product from Hollander Corporation called UV2. Is a cleaner/polish and seems to work really well. Has 1.2 micron grit in it to help remove any oxidation but since we only use it once a year the possibility of ever removing too much paint is slim to none.

Another plus to keeping the stuff waxed, if you blow the equipment off immediately after use before anything really has a chance to stick, it'll almost look like you just washed it again as the dust doesn't stick near as bad to something that has a good coat of wax on it.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

Well done doing the hand washing. I use a Hotsy Pressure washer with heat. It works well to get all the gunk off disc swather head we have. I don't think I could get that off doing it by hand. Also it's good for getting off the old grease off and in unfortunate case this year of hydraulic oil from a couple burst hoses. I gotta think though of the 14 or so people that have commented here on how well they take care of equipment there are probably 500 farmers out there that do not.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Yah, I actually use a steam cleaner to remove grease, or another trick is to use hand cleaner without the pumice on a rag to get grease off. Then we use car stuff from the same company that makes the wax then hand wax.


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## RockmartGA (Jun 29, 2011)

Speaking of maintaining equipment...

Does anyone put anything on the belts of a round baler?


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## NEHerdsman (Sep 23, 2009)

If the cover was reasonably priced, I'd probably buy one. It would be good to have for those times when I couldn't get it in the barn, but I'd probably also use it to cover the baler *in* the barn over the winter. There's plenty of things going on in the barn long after baling is over, keeping from getting dusty all over again after blowing it off and cleaning it up would appeal to me. Not something I'd spend $500 on, but maybe $75...


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

RockmartGA said:


> Speaking of maintaining equipment...
> 
> Does anyone put anything on the belts of a round baler?


If it was to sit outside a lot maybe armor all or something, but since mine is inside more than out I've never worried about it, have also never had to replace any belts on either round baler yet.


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## KerryAll (Jun 4, 2011)

NEHerdsman said:


> If the cover was reasonably priced, I'd probably buy one. It would be good to have for those times when I couldn't get it in the barn, but I'd probably also use it to cover the baler *in* the barn over the winter. There's plenty of things going on in the barn long after baling is over, keeping from getting dusty all over again after blowing it off and cleaning it up would appeal to me. Not something I'd spend $500 on, but maybe $75...


Most round baler covers are $249.95. far from $500 and, unfortunately far from $75. I doubt if you could even get a heavy duty tarp big enough to cover it for $75. I would think, with round balers costing $30,000 and up, that $250 would be cheap protection... at least for those times when you're not near the barn, or the weather turns bad in a hurry.


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## NEHerdsman (Sep 23, 2009)

KerryAll said:


> Most round baler covers are $249.95. far from $500 and, unfortunately far from $75. I doubt if you could even get a heavy duty tarp big enough to cover it for $75. I would think, with round balers costing $30,000 and up, that $250 would be cheap protection... at least for those times when you're not near the barn, or the weather turns bad in a hurry.


Lloyd - I can't argue with your pricing logic, a baler is a large investment. However, I just bought a brand new SUV cover from craigslist for $25 that fits my baler almost perfectly.

My first choice is still to get the baler back in the barn during baling season, but this cover will do a fine job of keeping the baler clean during the winter.


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