Hi everybody, I’m Scott Geier with John Deere,
and today, we’re going to talk about the basics of setting up and operating a round baler.
A round baler is a very cost-effective solution for most average size haying operations.
With equipment properly sized to your operation, one person can usually bale,
store, and feed all the hay harvested.
What we’ll share with you today are the basic fundamentals of getting your equipment ready to
bale, and actually baling hay. But you should always remember to read the Operator’s Manual
carefully for all the details before operating any piece of equipment.
For this project, we’ll be using a John Deere 5125M Utility Tractor and a John
Deere 460M Round Baler. They’re well-matched to each other in terms of size and horsepower,
and as a package, are well-suited to the fields we’ll be working in.
Let’s start with the tractor. The key issues in making sure your tractor is set up properly
are ballast, tire pressure, and wheel spacing.
We made sure our tractor’s tire pressure was correct. And for proper ballast, we’ve added 6,
95-pound suitcase weights to the front of our tractor, so we’ve got plenty of weight up front.
We made sure the inside wheel-to-wheel spacing for both the front and rear wheels
was at least as wide as the baler’s pickup, which is 61 inches for our
460M MegaWide pickup. This also matches the width of our windrow,
so our tractor can straddle the windrow during baling. By straddling the windrow,
it’s easier for the baler to pick up the windrow edges because you aren’t running over the cut hay.
Next is drawbar height. The top of the tractor’s drawbar should be 16 – 20 inches above ground.
If it’s too high or too low, the baler pickup won’t maximize its ability to
pick up all the hay in the windrow and you’ll be leaving crop on the ground.
To set up our 460M Round Baler, once again we start with tire pressure. For these larger,
high-flotation tires, that’s 15 psi (103 kPa).
Next, we adjust the pickup height. It’s important to not set the pickup height too low to the ground
as this can cause unnecessary wear on the tines, and add additional ash content to the bale. With
the 460M Baler, we can raise and lower the pickup height hydraulically, and can then
manually adjust the height by simply turning an adjustment crank – clockwise to raise the pickup,
or counterclockwise to lower the pickup – to be between 1 and 2 inches off the ground.
We made sure we matched our net wrap size to our bale width,
installed it properly, and we’re ready to go. Then we hooked up our BaleTrac Pro monitor cable.
The baler monitor tells you everything you need to know about what’s going on inside the baler.
Bale shape. Bale size. Bale count. Stop and wrap controls. Open and close the gate. Eject the bale.
And more. It’s a wonderful tool to have when you’re into serious hay baling.
Okay. Let’s get started.
If you’ve done everything right up to this point, then you’re set up for an easy baling experience.
You should start baling in the opposite direction of the pattern in which you cut
the hay and made your windrows. In other words, you pick up the hay head first.
We made sure the windrow width matches our baler pickup, which for a MegaWide pickup
means a little wider than the bale chamber. You begin by straddling the first windrow with the
tractor while keeping an eye on the bale monitor. If you don’t have a bale monitor,
your round baler probably has a bale size gauge you can see from the tractor seat.
Either way, once the bale reaches your selected size you stop, wrap the bale,
and eject it out the back of the baler. Close the baler gate and continue baling. And remember,
it’s always a good idea to check your tractor mirrors to make sure the bale you just ejected
has the right shape and was wrapped properly. If anything looks amiss, stop and take a closer look.
You might need to make an adjustment or repair before you make a bunch of miss-made bales.
You’ll find several other videos here on Tips Notebook on various aspects of the haymaking
process and other pieces of equipment you might want or need to use in your operation.
But don’t forget, always read the Operator’s Manual before storing or operating any
piece of equipment, and follow all operating and safety instructions.
And remember, if you’re looking for equipment that’s built to get
the job done season after season, year after year,
you’ll find it – and all kinds of advice on how to use it – every day at your John Deere dealer.