# How much HP to Run small baler



## usasawyer

The first post, look forward to many more.

Just getting into running my own fields. Have helped for a couple of years now run other fields. Timothy, Orchard grass and brome. The elevation is 8000 ft. Can use other equipment but do not want to rely on them or break their stuff.

So in order to run a small operation, 50 acres, what is the min HP I need for a tractor to pull a small baler and run the swather? I know I can use a smaller tractor for raking, tedding, dragging, etc. Also since I am new to this every so often I will need to disc harrow the field to re-seed, min HP to run a small disc harrow.

I am supposedly getting some broke equipment to try and fix, but I need to see whether it is worth the time and money to fix the equipment or just borrow it for a few years and then buy working used equipment.

Thanks in advance,

Evan


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## gradyjohn

Manufactures list the required HP for the various equipments. If you compare Massey 1839, NH 5070 and the JD348 they all list the recommend the min HP. Same with other cutters and rakes. Some rakes are ground driver, Hydraulic driven or PTO driven. Manufactures list the tractor requirements. There is no rule of thumb.


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## slowzuki

Older balers can be run with as little as 25 hp. The problem is stopping them coming down a hill or pulling them up a hill. 40-50 hp is much easier.


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## Teslan

What part of Mountains Colorado are you from? I know of a good NH 580 baler sitting at a dealer in Greeley that I'm sure they would be happy to sell and even take a loss (used to be mine that I traded on a large square). However you will need 75hp for it at least and maybe at higher altitudes more.


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## weatherman

My NH 316 manual says minimum horsepower is 35hp. I pull it with a JD 2755 that is around 72 hp on the pto. I can't imagine pulling with anything less. I can feel the plunger on every stroke. Depending on cash flow whether you can afford two tractors, one with a little more hp for the baler and the other for raking and maybe cutting, depending on the mower.


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## terraceridge

I saw a video of a square baler being pulled by a Farmall Super A, which is about 20 hp. The baler was not powered by its own motor, so the tractor had to do all the work. Therefore, I would say that 20 is probably the minimum required horsepower, but I wouldn't recommend pulling a baler with that unless you have to.

I pull a John Deere 336 with an International 464, which is 40-45 hp. Personally, I believe that that tractor is perfect for the baler. It even pulls a wagon with 125 bales on it behind the baler while going up moderate hills without trouble. I think that any horsepower over 45 would mostly be wasted.


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## urednecku

The manual for my JD 3366 baler recommends 35hp minimum. I know my 'Bota m7040 doesn't have any problems with it. (68 net hp, 62 @ the pto per the manual.)


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## FarmerCline

It all depends on the baler, some of the older balers could probably be run with less horsepower but the newer high capacity balers I would want at least 60 if not more. I run a NH 5070 hayliner with 70 horsepower and you know it's back there on the hills around here.


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## DSLinc1017

It not only comes down to HP, it has a lot to do with weight of the tractor. It's recommended ( by NH) that your tractor at least equale the weight of your baler. Add a thrower, full wagon and a good hill..... Make sure your ropes is up and seat belt is on and get ready to have that baler and wagon hooked up in a much different configuration than you started. With that said, hills should be a big part of you future planing.

Back in Wisconsin ( in the day) we used to bale with a IH 450 and a wagon getting stacked as the bales came off the baler. That land was dead flat. I wouldn't even consider having a 450 here with my hills.


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## usasawyer

Thanks for the input, checked themanual and min was 35hp on the broke baler i am getting, but will take the advice and shoot for 50+and definitley have the weight in consideration. Got a little 8N ford that whould work to just rake and ted.


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## terraceridge

You will enjoy having two tractors because it makes changing implements much less stressful. Additionally, you could even bale with your 8N in a pinch as long as you make small windrows and avoid slopes if at all possible - although I don't know if you can do that in the mountains!


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## DSLinc1017

usasawyer said:


> Thanks for the input, checked themanual and min was 35hp on the broke baler i am getting, but will take the advice and shoot for 50+and definitley have the weight in consideration. Got a little 8N ford that whould work to just rake and ted.


We have ford 601, Works great to Ted, and move wagons around. We did put a new exhaust on it to point up instead of under. Thinking that dry hay and exhaust gathering dry hay wasn't a good combo.


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## hay wilson in TX

I pulled a NH 315 for a number of years with a Alice Chalmers 5040 which had 35 hp on the PTO.

It will for sure teach you how to count strokes. You can feel each stroke.

I now pull that same baler with a AC 6060 which has 59 horses on the PTO. The big advantage is it has a deck you sit on not straddle the transmission. That way you can see the baler trip the tier, and watch the bales come off the bale chute.

The small square balers should be run at the highest strokes per minute listed in the Owners Manual.

I learned a number of years ago that we want a hydraulic system to adjust the tension on the bale chamber.

My advise to you is to be sure you have an operators manual and a parts book. Both will save you a lot of grief.

Edit change that to a NH 315 baler


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## rjbaustian

Just starting out, I'd say 50-60 would be fine for a few acres..... Everyone always says bigger is better, and while that may be true, they usually aren't just starting out like you, and have deeper pockets than u....this is coming from experience


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## FarmerCline

I don't think you would want to bale with an 8n ford because it does not weigh that much and you will Definately feel every stroke of the plunger and will make for a very rough ride. The other thing is a 8n ford does not a live clutch and while it can be done I would certainly not want to bale with a tractor that does not have a live clutch.


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## jwolfe3

We were always a small operation doing about 75 acres of hay, and do not do any hay anymore. We used an MF 35 with a 3 cyl. perkins diesel. It was a 6 speed with multi-power transmission. Wheels were both filled and weighted. We baled with a Model 12 MF baler. Here in WV we have no ground that is what you would call flat, and some is just plain steep. We have baled thousand of bales over the years with that set up. We could haul about 150 bales on the wagon. We have never failed for power, but tractor weight to hold all the weight of the baler and wagon pushing was the only real concern. We would have to do the real steep stuff when the wagons were empty or lightly loaded. We still have that old 61 MF 35. It has been a solid machine. If I were to start again today though, I would have get around a 70 hp one. If you decide to go to a round baler you can do so. Too big is better than too small any day. you don't have to run it as hard.


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## Hayman1

I think you need to decide if you are going to kick bales or drop them. If u are going to drop and pick up later you can get away which much less hp. I have pulled a nh273 drop with a jd950 (27) for 5k bales. Thing is, those smaller tractors don't have a heavy enough pot clutch to do. That for long . So to drop, I would go for 50-60 PTO HP and the larger filled tire options available.

I have pulled a NH 315 / 70 thrower and wagon (165) bales with both a JD2640 (70) and JD2755- both 2wd with 38 rears and would not want anything less. Now using a JD6100D (80) PTO 2wd with 18-38 rears and a NH 570 and 72 thrower with wagons up to 175 bales and I like that setup well. My worst slopes are about 15 percent. Think tires tractor weight and PTO clutch. My JD5300 (50pto) does not have the PTO clutch to handle the 570.


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