The Perfect Hay Baler for Your Small Farm

Bailing hay with a small tractor
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[@RockhillfarmYT]

To get one of these balers, You can reach Phil at:  [phone] Check out small farm innovations here: www.smallfarminnovations.com/new-equipment/mini-round-balers/ And Takakita here: www.takakita-net.co.jp/english/?cat=11

[@reggeckmann3993]

NH farm equipment is famous for haybales and reliability.

[@sodbuster5223]

And very expensive parts!

[@reggeckmann3993]

@@sodbuster5223 price quality

[@TheRustyGarageandHomestead]

Awesome job Brock and Jake.

[@jamesharrod8733]

we have a 4x5 round baler that is a m&w brand - had it for 15 yrs still doing what it suppose to - over 1000 bales , it has a chain roller instead of rubber belts

[@tommywise1702]

We own an ibex TX31 baler. We did the package deal, drum mower, and V rake. 18k total. 2 x 2 bales. The bales are around 40 pounds and we market them to older folks who can't move heavy items and may not own a tractor but have some livestock. If we had more than 10 acres we would have went a different route and made different bales most likely, but the 2 x 2 market (goats, sheep, mini-horse) needed someone it seems. Worked out for us anyway.

[@wildbill23c]

That would be what I'd go with too, the Ibex package....Looked into it several years ago, but the price alone was enough to drive me away....if it was something I needed yeah, great way to go, but for me, its more of a want, and now I don't need or want it as I have no way to water the pasture, so nothing to bale anyways now :(. Those small round bales would be great for small time work, kind of a niche type market type deal, would be great maybe for selling those little bales to the 4H crowd, easy for the younger kids to pickup, easier to pack around.

[@johnhelbig7110]

I spent most of my career in New Holland dealerships. When I was a teenager, custom baling about 30K plus square bales per summer, we just drove our tractors and equipment around the county because the trailers around were big ones used to haul bulldozers. But when I was selling balers, I always asked first: How are you going to use the bale? How many critters are you feeding at a time? If you have 100 head, it will take a lot of work storing, moving, and feeding those sub-compact bales. But at the same time, the guy didn’t need a 4X5 baler if he was just feeding 2 horses or 4 goats. So that’s the first question. The best hayrake out there is a New Holland 256; you can find used ones for under $1000 and they rake the ground cleaner than about anything else and they tend to roll the hay so that the windrow isn’t as fluffy, which causes tractor clearance and baler pickup issues. To me, those compact balers need tucker wheels mounted on the side of the pickups to help suck in the hay that was getting left behind. Not sure if that is an option or not. And the PTO angle looked very steep on the one smaller baler but that may have just been the transport option; maybe the hitch would be lowered down when actually baling to get the PTO into a straighter line. Another problem with compact tractors is getting enough clearance under the tractor belly when driving down those fluffy windrows to keep from dragging the hay along. But, overall, good information and certainly an option. I’ve seen small balers around for some years and also thought about whether to sell them when we had our dealership (never did; worried about integrity of the importer and parts and repair issues).

[@caseyparson5824]

Woooooo doggy! Have a blessed day Brock! Enjoyed it

[@timziegler9358]

Great video! Lots of very practical information. Thank you.

[@Agislife1960]

The bottom line is, the size of the hay bale doesn't change the amount of hay that cattle need.

[@firsttimefarmer]

Thanks for this video. I was just discussing what we would need to bail as I prep the newly cleared field. I would do the small baler at the end. I have enough tractors for any of the ones shown, but I will only have 5-7 acres to cut.

[@davidhackworth2011]

Awesome video Brock

[@ad-drumcovers99]

Yanmar does the small acreage equipment - SA 425 + mini-baler is a decent deal

[@badlad9045]

Man would i loved to have that small bailer

[@geraldperez5985]

I would buy the small bailer for smaller property. Especially if have sheep or goats.

[@TheRustyGarageandHomestead]

Currently using NH tractors and NH br7070 baler

[@jvin248]

You also want to consider how much hay is lost by the different styles of rakes and the pickups on the balers used. We had the old style rolling bar type rakes and they tended to gather more than the vertical wheel types (shown in the video) plus avoid beating all the leaves off the hay like the tedders seem to do. Small square balers tend to pick up more hay off the ground that round balers leave behind.

[@Tdale85]

Morning Brock!

[@FletchDoesIt]

If I had a need for the smaller baler I’d totally be willing to consider that assuming parts and dealer support were available in my area. 👍🏼😊

[@midwayfarms]

That little bitty baby Baylor left more hay in the field that it bailed

[@RockhillfarmYT]

The thing hadn’t been used in five years and it wasn’t my Tractor and that was just operator error We showed you the first bale off each machine.

[@jvin248]

Choose the baler that can work on old Ford 8N (25hp) and Ferguson 35/135 (35hp) tractors that are still in use or can be obtained for low cash. Tractor Supply even carries carburetors and other parts for these tractors since they are still so common. Your dealer friend could sell his new tractors but also work at sourcing and refurbishing the older tractors to sell too. Beginning homesteaders spent all their cash on the property down payment and have little left over for equipment. New balers can cut many headaches though and that's where they should spend.

[@davidhuffine5084]

Nice balers . I kow about square balers . Did alot ot square bales whem I was young . Seeya

[@shanebradley8316]

Hi Brock. I really like that small hay equipment. I can see a use for a cash cropper selling to multiple horse stables and / or small farm operations - farmets as we call them. Those small bales would be great to put in each horse's stable, and would be generaly easier to manage by the owners - whom up by me are most women - its just that way. Farmetts are usually ran by older farmers who have maybe ten or less head of cattle, so feeding and managing those smaller bales would make things allot easier. The poeple whom own stables and farmetts usually dont have the budget for this stuff, making them a good starter market. One note, the small baler is leaving about half the windrow because the crop was cut long - for full size equipment; cut the crop shorter and the machines will better habdle it - say six to eight inches, and get a greater number of harvests as well. Citting the crop low like this can have an effect on Relative Forage Value (RFV) on the first citting of the season, but subsequent cuttings have been better - research. I think the height to RFV is about 20 to 30 inches and before blooms develop. So finding a way to harvest the crop at that height but with cuttings short enough for the baler could be challenging. Good luck.

[@bradmeacham6982]

Hopefully a helpful critique on raking technique...I noticed that the bailers were leaving a fair amount of crop on the ground aligned parallel with the direction the bailer was moving. Past experience for me says that happens when the rake rolls crop on top of already laid down crop versus the rake completely picking up and raking all crop material up and then laying the windrow out onto ground previously, and completely, cleaned up by the rake. Hope this explanation is clear enough and helps.

[@c.carney1948]

I agree with you. I think the rake hand should rake the hay in a fashion that it is mover from it original position. By doing so it lift the hay out of the uncut grass making it easier for the baler to pick up. I like to see clean fields with no streaks or uncut grass or loose hay left. Looks better, and doesn’t waste and hay.

[@faithfulfarmadventures3898]

Is it just me or did the miniature baler leave an insane amount of hay on the ground? Like the pickup was to high or not very effective. Definitely an interesting concept with the miniature though.

[@RockhillfarmYT]

It was. It’s just a little bit of operator error. That mini round baler was 20 years old and hadn’t been used in five years. It was about to get dark outside and we were trying to get everything working properly on it and maybe not paying attention to the height of the pick up, which is controlled by the three-point.

[@faithfulfarmadventures3898]

@@RockhillfarmYT definitely understand and the heat we’ve been having doesn’t help lol. Balers are temperamental especially after sitting. That’s cool the pickup is off the 3point.

[@wildbill23c]

I don't have any need for any of that stuff LOL...But I've always wanted one of those little mini-balers. When we had 2 acres that I mowed every week, it would have been great to bale the grass...but grief all those hay implements are expensive, plus the net wrap or twine. So, for someone like myself it wasn't even something I'd ever consider as it wasn't even remotely close to a needed item, it was always something that would have been nice to have. Now I've only got an acre, and nothing really worthy of baling LOL. The problem with those round balers is you gotta stop all the time to release the bale....the old square balers you just keep on moving and it drops the bales as you go....unless you have one with a kicker, then they usually had a hay wagon behind them that it would kick the bale into and 1-2 people in the wagon stacking. The other problem with those large round balers, you gotta have the equipment to be able to move those bales, and they aren't as easy to stack compared to the square bales.

[@dustdevl1043]

I see those humongous square bales going down the highway on semi trucks all the time, but have only seen the big round bales in fields around here. I wonder who and where they bale like that, and what would that baler look like? Great vid, btw!

[@RockhillfarmYT]

I know a guy who lives nearby and has one of those giant square balers, but I still don’t know much about it

[@Todd-The-Dodge-Guy]

Man that’s a hell of an angle on the driveline on that 2pt baler.

[@TheTractorYard]

That was just raised up for transport. When you lower the baler, the drive line angle improves.

[@M4UN3ER]

The rake and the bailer pulled up quite a bit of dirt or did I see wrong?

[@jerrykelly7052]

I think you bigger wind role

[@jeremysquires3955]

I want to see the 2515 baling hay with the Takakita 3x3 round baler.

[@RockhillfarmYT]

We did it but TYM doesn’t want us to show any more 2515 cab footage until they make a decision on releasing that machine I do know a guy with an open station 2515 we could do it with

[@jeremysquires3955]

@@RockhillfarmYT That would be great!

[@toddcaskey9984]

Mornin

[@Cowboy_Steve]

Morning 🤠

[@toddcaskey9984]

@@Cowboy_Steve we had a gilt have 10 piglets last night around midnight

[@markhatfield1638]

New Holland

[@RockhillfarmYT]

When you look at the internals on the 3 x 3 Baler, it is almost identical to the new Holland, but cost half as much and can be run with a smaller tractor

[@rickvaughan8993]

I am curious as to how the operator knows when the bale needs to be discharged. Have watched people around me bale. Always wonder how this works.

[@RockhillfarmYT]

You have a little control box and it beeps when the bail is done. You stop the tractor and push a button to eject the bale.

[@rickvaughan8993]

@@RockhillfarmYT Thank you!

[@AxelMillerOutDoors]

No for both because there's more in loss hay then baled hay.

[@jonathanfrecking1210]

Making hay is purely about speed and time. Thats why you see more big 5x6 balers and not those baby balers. I run a 5x6 baler, but i do custom hay, too. So speed is the key. With good conditions and hay , i can roll 15 plus bales an hour. You can't do that with those little balers.

[@RockhillfarmYT]

That’s why I think property size and the tractor you own are the deciding factors. Speed is less important on a little bit property and it’s impossible if you have a little bitty, Tractor.

[@jonathanfrecking1210]

@RockhillfarmYT speed is always important when it comes to hay. Because 9 times out of 10 the weather says no rain but then it does. Been there done that. So you're racing to get it up before a rain. That's what speed is important. Tractor size is important too but if I was going to run a round baler I would have a minimum of a 75hp tractor. That would pull that 4x5 baler just fine.

[@samshuey4614]

4 by 5 bales or 4 by 6 bales are the best for feeding or selling. Easy to load and store. Hay is a time management crop. Get it baled and off the field as fast and efficient as possible. I see no advantage to your small equipment unless your just baling a few acres for a small herd. Any 65 hp tractor is capable of handling a 9 ft mower and 4 by 5 baler. Time and quality is everything when making good hay

[@RockhillfarmYT]

This equipment is for people much smaller tractors. Like 25 hp. People with horses but no tractor like to buy the small bales Never going to be the used by the majority

[@duck-n-cover477]

Making hay ain't like printing money. You gotta have scale. Maintenance is maintenance. An hour is an hour. How much hay can you produce in a set timeframe? Join the hay hustle...beg to cut other people's land? Ugh! Many people hustle crap hay. There are hidden costs and expenses. Good hay is more than harvest.

[@duck-n-cover477]

Need scale to make $! Kinda hard to make enough hay on small land with small equipment to be worth the minimum investment of time and $. After expenses, you don't make much for your time.

[@yayinternets]

There’s a layer of financial calculations there that could make it worth it. For instance, if no one in your area grows hay, you are using it to feed your own livestock, maybe certain kinds of subsidies help it make sense, etc. Or you are offering premium price products (organic). All kinds of different ways to look at it. But on the surface, yeah, I wouldn’t get into the hay business at this scale unless there is some sort of niche unmet demand that you can calculate it making it worth it.

[@wildbill23c]

Exactly why I never wasted the money buying the equipment...if I had that kind of money to throw around, yeah it would have been a fun hobby side job, but that would be about it, no money making in that stuff, and the ridiculous prices on those small balers, rakes, and mowers is enough to make you go running down the road screaming.

[@KathySierraVideo]

For us, making our own hay was worth it because: 1. We were paying thousands each year to purchase hay for our horses 2. We were still paying for someone to cut our hay fields 3. Hay quality for purchased hay can be sketchy sometimes, and it was a lot of anxiety worth g about being able to get quality hay We did the math and in two years we paid for the (mini) baler and Tedder-rake we bought in money we no longer spent buying hay. We don’t cut it though - all we have is a brush hog - so we have a neighbor do the cutting, and he gets part of the field to make his own hay, and we do all the rest ourselves (raking/tedding and baling). We got the Farm-Maxx mini baler, and got about 400 bales this year. It’s only our third year though, and we’re complete beginners. Happy horses though 😁

[@RockhillfarmYT]

It’s an interesting conversation because I don’t think you can make a case that a tractor is financially justified. If you made a list of everything you actually need done on your property you could hire someone to do all of that and come out ahead. Lot of people just want to do it themselves. Some people are irritated Brush cutting what could be good hay and they can’t find anyone willing to bail their property Some people want to control the quality of hay their horses get A lot of different answers

[@KathySierraVideo]

@@RockhillfarmYT for us, quality and reliability of hay was worth it. But we live on an island and it is also nearly impossible to find people willing to hay for you no matter how much you offer. Literally the entire island is making hay during the same few days. If you have to hire someone, you might need to wait until the weather (or grass) is not optimal