Been thinkin' again...

And it ain't ever good when I do! All these rainy days we've been having, I've been doing a lot of thinking about things, mostly about hay. Which isn't cut yet.
For the past 3 or 4 years I've had a neighbor put up my hay and paid him for it. But I'm wondering, would I be better off cutting and baling my own? I have an
opportunity to buy a complete hay setup, which consists of a 7' disc mower, a 256 New Holland rope-maker rake, and a 630 New Holland 4x4 baler w/ electric tie. The
price is right on all of it. The only real thing stopping me is, the biggest tractor I own is a 300 Farmall. Would it even run the baler? I'm nearly certain it'd
run the mower and my B John Deere is plenty for the rake, but the baler is my biggest concern. I remember my wife's uncle telling me that he ran an 851 NH chain
baler with a 3000 Ford, but could only bale going down hill and on the flat. I wouldn't have a problem doing that, but I'd sure hate to spend the money on all the
things I listed and not be able to use them. Anyone doing something similar, or have experience running a round baler with a smaller tractor? I used to bale a
heckuva lot of hay, but I ran either a 214 JD or a NH 277. I know exactly 0 about a round baler. Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks, Mac

The 300 might run a 630- that's a relatively small baler, but you might have to gear down some. I think you might want to get it if the price is right and then maybe look for a bit bigger, right priced tractor.....

"[b:654c4848f0][i:654c4848f0]Would it even run the baler?[/b:654c4848f0][/i:654c4848f0]"

First check the minimum horsepower requirement for the <a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Holland-630-Round-Baler-size-4x4-CAN-SHIP-1-85-loaded-mile-/152310745760">630 New Holland 4x4 baler</a> w/ electric tie.

"[i:654c4848f0]40 HP minimum required. Baler weighs 3020 lbs. So you need enough tractor to weigh as much as the baler plus the weight of the bale.[/i:654c4848f0]".

Then check to make sure the horsepower of your <a href="http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/004/6/5/4659-farmall-300.html">300 Farmall</a> either meets or exceeds that requirement.

Hope this helps.

my tractor is bigger, but it doesn't even feel a 638 until the chamber is full. in the worst case you may have to leave the bales slightly smaller than capacity.

As I understand things, probably wrong, but the disk mower would take the bigger tractor and way bigger than the 300 Farmall. Am I close or not?

The disc mower will take more power and weight. We have a 630 we used to pull with 255 Massey. Wouldn't want anything smaller. We run it noe with 2-70 white. Much nicer.

The electric tie is going to be 12V is your 300 12V or 6V?

I had my hay custom baled. Local farmer cut it, raked it, baled it (big Squares) gathered and stacked them in my barn. Sometimes this all happened when I was on the road. I got this done for less the interest on the baler and never had to worry about a breakdown. Just My two cents but it you don't have enough troubles in your life go for it.

I have a 684 Diesel for sale that sips fuel and would play with those hay tools; heavy 3-point for the disc mower, hydraulics for the baler. You near s.w. Pa ?

Nope, N. Arkansas. No where close but sure wish I was. Thanks anyway

Mac

Its 12v with a larger alternator. I run a 12v sprayer off it so I though it needed the extra juice.

Mac

Yep, I was afraid of that. I guess I'll keep on the way I'm going until I find a better deal. A 656 or 706 gas would sure be nice right about now. The neighbor always does a good job and he's really cheap, so I guess I'd be better off waiting on him than doing it myself.

Thanks for all the replies.

Mac

I know of a guy out in Oregon that ran what appeared to be about a 7' disc mower with a 300 Utility and it looked like it worked pretty well to me. He, like many others here, decided making hay was too much hassle, sold all his equipment, and bought his hay.

As far as "So you need enough tractor to weigh as much as the baler plus the weight of the bale." What a load of horse puckey!