# Square Bales



## yamaharider28 (Sep 8, 2014)

I have a New Holand 273 square baler. I was wonder how many bales I should be able to do in a hour. Fescue Hay is dry and not to thick. Should I be running the baler at 540? How fast of ground speed should I be going. Thanks


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

Ground speed is a product of how large you rake your windrows. Your goal should be to have flakes 3" or a little smaller and ideally still be running 2-3 mph range to avoid too much bouncing around. Run the baler somewhere between 500 and 540, whatever "feels" right.


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## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

somebody with more experience should chime in in a little while. I don't know about that baler, I run a JD 336 (or used to before my buyer went to rounds!) As for PTO speed, I don't think I ran it quite that fast, seemed to be a little rough on it. I went more by "feel". As for ground speed, you want a smooth flow from the ground into the chamber. Too fast the baler will 'push' the hay up in front of it, too slow it'll pull the hay away from the windrow & not fill the chamber. you'll probably have to "tweek" the PTO speed & ground speed to get the smooth flow.

Like 8350 HiTech says windrow size also plays into the equation. I have had thick stuff, smallest windrow I could make still had me in 1st low range, then other crops I was in 3rd gear.


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

I had a 273. Awsume baler except for the wood slides. Run your tractor about 1800 adjust your windrows o fit comfortably.


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## yamaharider28 (Sep 8, 2014)

thanks for info guys. do any of you know about how many bales they should do in a hour?


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

300ish +-


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

yamaharider28 said:


> thanks for info guys. do any of you know about how many bales they should do in a hour?


THEORETICALLY, your bales per hour are 3" flake X 79 strokes per minute X 60 minutes divided by 36" bales giving you 395 bales per hour.

Now realistically if you make 2" flakes at 70 strokes per minute and operate at 75% efficiency you're looking at 195 bales per hour.

As to Hayman's recommendation of 1800 tractor rpms, that is dependent on the what tractor you're running.


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## yamaharider28 (Sep 8, 2014)

Ok thanks. I no I am off now because I am only doing around 100 per hour


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

yamaharider28 said:


> Ok thanks. I no I am off now because I am only doing around 100 per hour


Depends a lot on your efficiency as well as your flake size. If you have small/awkward fields and spend a lot of time without hay entering the pickup you're limited in your max bales per hour.


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## thendrix (May 14, 2015)

I have a 273 and I run it just below WOT (pto around 500 I guess) and about 2 MPH. These balers like a full pickup and a constant windrow size


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

I believe it is not how fast or how many bales an hour you make, but how many GOOD bales you make per hour (stealing a little bit from the JD commercial "it's not how fast you mow, but how WELL you mow fast"). IMHO, raking nice even properly sized windows, could be a great help, if you are targeting 36-38 inch bale, making each bale with 15 plunger strokes (using the 2 1/2 inch per slice goal). Using a baler recommended PTO speed (most likely in the 540 range is common), adjust your ground speed to achieve the 15 strokes per bale average (if that is your targeted slice size)..

Your MPH, could vary across the field IF you have variable windows. If you are stacking the hay on a wagon behind the baler and your fields are rough, 3-5 MPH can seem like you are standing in the back of a pickup truck on a washboard road, jarring the heck out of your teeth, while trying to hold the bales on the wagon. If your fields are as smooth as glass, MPH would not matter as much. As a side note: a larger window could reduce the traffic across field, which normally can equate to less compaction / better for crop IN my area, yours could be different.

Year's ago, I baled with an old Farmall H, with limited gear range (5 speed transmission), you need to control the window size a lot more than I do today with using a tractor with 12 or 16 speed transmission (how ever there are times I wish I had a variable speed transmission).

Then as HiTech noted, the size, shape of field very possibly could have a part in how many bales per hour, along with how you cut / rake it, can have an effect on baling efficiencies.

As you may have noticed there is a lot of variables involved and you may have to do the 'trial and error' method some to fine tune to your operation. As has been mentioned in a lot of threads, making hay has a steep learning curve. Good luck.

Larry


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## TessiersFarm (Aug 30, 2009)

That brings back memories. I baled a lot of hay with an old H, and a new Holland 67 baler. That will make you learn how to rake. 100 an hour is slow, but I agree quality should trump quantity here. If your getting good bales keep on keeping on.


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

A 273 is about a 65ish stroke machine - not a high capacity baler, but plenty to keep the guy on the rack busy. My New Holland 68 is a 63-65 stroke machine.

Here is a video of it working (my oldest son stacking and my expert tractor driver/daughter at the helm of the MF50 diesel) :






If you figure 12 flakes to a bale, 65/12 = 5.4 bales per minute. Multiply by 60 minutes and you have 324 bales. However, you have to account for turns and other things - like hooking/unhooking trailers, etc. If you say that 1/3rd of an hours accounts for that, then 324 x 2/3 = 216ish bales per hour.

I drive ground speed selection by flakes per bale. I mentioned 12 above, but like to shoot for 15ish.

The 273 is IMHO a fine baler.

Good luck,

Bill


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

Bill is dead on with the bales per hour, when you are on the business end it seems like a lot more than a couple of hundred stacked per hour.

A JD 24t, has about the same capacity, in my younger years, I was able to stack a little over 350 in a tad more than an hour ONE time. But there was a motive Dad said we could go swimming with the neighbor girls AS soon as the hay was baled.

My brother had the easy part of driving faster, bales were a little more variable length, because of the 8-10 strokes / slabs per bale and the wagon was a little 'bouncy' until you got a few bales stacked. But, one of the girls was a blue eye blond and built, for a young lad like me, she made my eyes hurt (but that took the pain away from the busting my rear stacking). She could swim like a fish, beat me in every race (but then again, she did not just get through stacking 350 bales of hay in 80 degree sunshine).

Thinking back, realizing my Dad's motive, I think he knew that I would be 'too exhausted' to chase anything to far. After I quit stacking (got an off farm job), my Dad put a thrower on the JD (my brother was luckier than me, I guess).

Larry


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