Square baler question

Tom in Mo. · Jun 23, 2019

Will a 35-40 hp tractor handle a New Holland 273 alright?
I am thinking so but thought I'd ask. I have a John Deere 1020 gas, Kubota L355 diesel and a Ford 2000 3 cyl. diesel available for it if I buy it.

Bret4207 · Jun 23, 2019

Yes, if it's in decent shape it will handle the baler, although you won't have a lot of extra power. What might screw things up is what you do with the bales after they are made. If you're dropping them on the ground it's no big deal. If you're loading a flat rack off a chute or using a kicker wagon or bale basket the wagon will eventually be the issue as you may run out of hp to pull it an bale, especially if you have any hill's. No doubt someone will also mention that eventually the baler/wagon combo can get to be far more than the tractor can handle going down hill too! Just use some common sense and you should be able to make hay.

rustred · Jun 23, 2019

no problem.

Tom in Mo. · Jun 23, 2019

Okay thanks. I thought it would be fine and I would be dropping them on the ground behind.

old · Jun 23, 2019

Only problem you may have is if the ground is real hilly and then the baler can get a bit pushy and that is not good. Years ago I used a Ford 841S to run a JD14T baler and only problem I had was you could feel each time the plunger went forward and back

Northvale PA · Jun 23, 2019

Years ago at dads place we used a JD 2440 to bale hay, pulling rack wagons, on flat ground. I always
figured 30 hp for the baler, 30 hp for the wagon and 30 hp for the hills, if you have them. When you start
picking up bales off the ground, you are quickly going to want to pull a wagon. When you stack them on
a wagon, you are quickly going to want a kicker and rack wagons. Then a bigger tractor and so it
goes....

Tom in Mo. · Jun 23, 2019

Good points here. I have a M6040 Kubota available too but thought I'd get by with one of the smaller ones.
I will figure it out.

r.w.b. · Jun 23, 2019

I pulled a 275 nh wire tie all the time with my
312 case.let them quarter turn for nh bale
wagon.it matched that 275 just fine.it rarely
snapped a shear bolt but wore them out.put
anything larger,630 jd,1650 oliver i was breaking
shear bolts all the time

lee little · Jun 23, 2019

I baled untold thousands with a NH 310 and a Deere 1520. You should have no problem.

modirt · Jun 23, 2019

Prior to the current setup, we square baled with a Massey 9 and 30 hp Kubota. Just dropped them on the ground. Handled light hay OK, but I held my breath sometimes. I doubt you will be pulling wagons or using a kicker or pulling kicker wagons, so no worry there.

You will want the knives sharp, plunger tuned and adjusted for tight clearance and go slow in heavy hay.

I am currently using a NH 315, which is a heavier baler than the 273. I'm told the D15 AC could handle it, but not sure. When baler is really going in the heavy stuff, plunger rocks baler around a lot. I pull it with a 60hp Ford 5610 and you still know it's back there. Have also pulled it with a 90 hp Massey 1100 and you didn't know it was behind that.

NY 986 · Jun 23, 2019

With 3.5 ton (100 bales) per acre I would want my windrows 7 feet wide with that kind of power. Everybody around here back in the day was running at least 60 HP with a
thrower and rack setup in that kind of hay running 9 foot windrows. Not overly hilly around here but a few drumlins to make it challenging.

Moonlite37 · Jun 23, 2019

When the 14T was new, a Ford 800 was a Big tractor.

tomstractorsandtoys · Jun 23, 2019

You should be fine. Dad ran his 24t sometimes with an 830(three cylinder) and latter a 2040 Deere which are the same size as your 1020. We had a thrower and pulled a 16 ft wagon. You needed to be careful going down hill as it would push the tractor. One year we pulled the same outfit with a D15 Allis. Tom

jacksun65 · Jun 23, 2019

M6040 works great on a square baler,very smooth. ran one on a MF120 baler would take the biggest windrow
and spit bales out almost end to end.

Mike(NEOhio) · Jun 23, 2019

We pulled a 273 and flat wagons with a COOP E3, 30 hp. No problems on some short but pretty steep hills.

caterpillar guy · Jun 23, 2019

Neighbor use to bale for us sometimes witha MAssey 12 or 124 and a 135 Massey pulling the wagon with no problems here some hills not like in Some of Mo and NY though.

paul · Jun 23, 2019

Hp should be ok. Takes about 15 to power a mid size baler, the flywheel stores about 40-50hp so you want a tractor 30 or more to do it all.

You want slow, and many, gear speed choices. A hi/lo you can shift on the go is wonderful.

You want, really want, live or independent pto.

Paul

Briar Hill Brittanys · Jun 24, 2019

My 1020 handles a 24T pretty good. Don't have any hills to bale on, but getting to a couple of the fields I have to downshift to get up them with the baler in tow. I drop the bales and pick-up. On the to-do list is reworking a couple of wagons to follow the baler.

Leroy · Jun 24, 2019

Biggest problem with the Ford is if it is a 4 speed not enough gears and no live pto. The 1020 Deere if it is the HU model should be no problem, now if a RU then might be problem with smaller wheels meaning less traction. I ran a baler with kicker pullin wagon with a 49 B John Deere with no problem but average hills. That B is 28 HP and the 1020 Deere is 38 HP.

rusty6 · Jun 24, 2019

Should be no problem at all. We ran a 273 baler with Cockshutt 40 in some serious hills and horsepower was never an issue.

Square baler question

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