# Hesston 3x4 vs. Krone 3x4 ???



## WesterOne (Jun 3, 2009)

Hi all, This is my first post here. We are in southern Alberta Canada and put up about 10,000 3x4 bales per year of our own alfalfa, timothy and straw. I have used hesston balers since 1986 and presently run a 2170 hesston/massey. I like the hesston and have good dealer support.
I met a friend the other day and he used a Krone 3x4 heavy duty this year on 18,000 bales and says he will not go back to hesston. He is also the dealer for krone now but is a straight up fellow. 
I would like to know your experiences with comparisons on the two machines if you have any. 
Where are the krone balers made and do they give tours of their plant. 
Thanks all, Dan...


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## IAhaymakr (Jun 4, 2008)

Krone balers are built in Spelle, Germany. They are happy to give tours, we had one in January. I can't do a good comparison for you on the Krone vs. a Hesston, as I ran New Holland previously. However I can tell you that my experiences with Krone have been very good, and we have an excellent dealer here to back them up with service. The Krone has some features that set it apart from other balers, like a camless pickup and The VFS pre-chamber system. Knotters are the same, as are main gearboxes. Density control on the Krone is very good, and I understand that Hesston is as well. I don't think Hesston offers a high density machine yet. What kind of bale weights do you get with your baler? I can get 1500lb alfalfa bales and 1200 lb straw bales out of my 1290 Krone. The 1290HDP will make 1600 lb straw bales.


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## WesterOne (Jun 3, 2009)

We would probably be 200 lbs lighter on all counts. Maybe even 300 lbs lighter on dry straw. I have had good luck with the hesston but I think the higher densities are not possible. Do you find the bales store the same and are you able to bale at the same moistures even with the denser bales. 
Storage is always at a premium and more hay in less space would be nice. Also easier to get trucks to max weight would be good. Thanks Dan...
I look forward to others comments also.


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## anokes (Jul 30, 2008)

i met a hesston dealer in the southwest this winter who told me that hesston is coming out with a hd prototype. He said a couple of his customers are going to try them this summer. only thing i have heard is that the grear boxes won't stand up to the added force.


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## IAhaymakr (Jun 4, 2008)

The heavier bales are easier to max out a truck, and they handle and stack a little better. As for moisture, big squares gotta be dry no matter what. I don't think it gets a whole lot more difficult with more density. However, last year was my first with the new Krone, and it was such a miserable year to hay that I don't have a lot to go on. I think by the time you bale hay in squares and pile it up any bales that aren't perfect will cause problems in the stack regardless of individual density.


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## WesterOne (Jun 3, 2009)

Yes, you are probably right on the moisture thing. We watch pretty carefully as we shed everything now. A couple years ago we bought a local old cubing plant. The machinery was gone but there was about 90,000 square feet of storage buildings. We can store about 7,000 tonnes of hay there and a bad bale could be a disaster. If the krone is denser we could use the storage space even better.
If I could ask another question? Do all the balers come with the rotor and knives? Not the out front one I see on the video hanging under the hitch but the one with the knives in the drawer that slides out. If so how do you disable it in dry hay. Do you use this feature if your baler has one. Thanks again. Dan...


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## IAhaymakr (Jun 4, 2008)

My baler does not have the cutter option. If I understand it right, the cutter knives can be easily removed when not in use. I think the straw guys and of course the baleage producers like it for getting a ready to use product. For me it was just 10k I didn't need to add to the cost of the machine because I just bale dry hay. There were times last summer that I wished I had a cutter, and would have tried some baleage just to speed up harvest, but it really isn't our goal here. Our marketing is geared toward premium dry hay, and there isn't enough straw to justify the cutter either. What can we do about getting some of your storage space moved here??? That would be awesome!! Trade for some tarps???


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## WesterOne (Jun 3, 2009)

Ahh yes, tarps, the prefered sacrafice of the wind gods. We did them for a while and with the winds here we rarely used any of them twice. We do have lots of tarp pieces around for smaller projects however. We are very thankfull the opportunity to get the sheds came along. 
I will have to look into the cutter option. May drive out to see our dealer this week. Thanks for your comments. Dan...


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## MarkG (Mar 9, 2010)

Hey Guys, this is my first post. I bought a Krone 1290 (3x4) last summer and I really like it!! Although this is my first big baler, I compared both the hesston and the Krone side by side and thought the Krone was better built. No offense on the hesston machines because they are good machines, I just like how smooth the Krone machines are. The Krone machines have oustanding features and the auto lube is out of this world. Even the plunger is lubed! Last year I averaged 1500 lb bales and overloaded a few of the trucks. Thanks Mark


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## jbsport36 (Sep 11, 2013)

Hello Gentlmen,

I currently work as a Technical Support Manager for Krone for the western USA region. I worked previously for an agco dealer as a mechanic. I have now seen both machines run and the differences between them. Krone now currently has a 1290 HDP II. This baler is something like you have never seen. Knowing that when I quit the dealer in July, AGCO had a new Hesston 3X4 high density out, you cannot beat the technology and the bale weights of the Krone. I have personally seen it bale 8 ton/acre triticale into 87" bales weighing in at almost 1900 lbs. That is a solid bale for its size. The hesston is always a good running baler, but from my perspective, If you want weight in small packages, Krone is the only option. They have an optional cutter that is easier to pull the blades and change than anything I have seen yet.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

jbsport36 said:


> Hello Gentlmen,
> 
> I currently work as a Technical Support Manager for Krone for the western USA region. I worked previously for an agco dealer as a mechanic. I have now seen both machines run and the differences between them. Krone now currently has a 1290 HDP II. This baler is something like you have never seen. Knowing that when I quit the dealer in July, AGCO had a new Hesston 3X4 high density out, you cannot beat the technology and the bale weights of the Krone. I have personally seen it bale 8 ton/acre triticale into 87" bales weighing in at almost 1900 lbs. That is a solid bale for its size. The hesston is always a good running baler, but from my perspective, If you want weight in small packages, Krone is the only option. They have an optional cutter that is easier to pull the blades and change than anything I have seen yet.


So I had this question on a thread on this forum about the new HD hesston balers. And I suppose it pertains to Krone also. But if they are so high density how easy is it for one to stick their hay forks into them when stacking the bales? When our 3x3 2150 Massey was brand new and on the first day the guy from the dealer set the load arms at 4x4 settings thus made 1200 lbs 3x3 bales. I couldn't get in my hay forks very easily. By the way thanks for being on this site. Nice to have another Krone expert on the forum. Though I doubt I will be buying Krone unless the dealer 50 miles away from me decides to be actually interested in selling Krone equipment. Maybe I just talked to the wrong guy there when I called about rotary rakes and large square balers 2 years ago.


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## IAhaymakr (Jun 4, 2008)

I run a high density Krone with a cutter now, and the only bales that are sometimes difficult to fork are cornstalks. Although I should also explain that we wrap almost everything so very few bales ever get forked any more. 3x4 bales are generally easier to handle than your 3x3 bales as well, since they are heavier and flat they don't tip over like the little bales will.


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## barnrope (Mar 22, 2010)

IAhaymaker, who is your Krone dealer? Are you happy with them? Thanks


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

IAhaymakr said:


> I run a high density Krone with a cutter now, and the only bales that are sometimes difficult to fork are cornstalks. Although I should also explain that we wrap almost everything so very few bales ever get forked any more. 3x4 bales are generally easier to handle than your 3x3 bales as well, since they are heavier and flat they don't tip over like the little bales will.


Yeah they do want to tip, but for my market 3x3's sell really well. Better then 3x4s and much better then 4x4s.


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## IAhaymakr (Jun 4, 2008)

barnrope said:


> IAhaymaker, who is your Krone dealer? Are you happy with them? Thanks


. Fabers Farm Equipment is my dealer for Krone, and yes, I am happy with them.


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