Soft core vs. Hard core balers

[rcorb78]

I am looking for opinions on which type of baler is better all around, concerning maintainence, ease of use and bale consistency.

 

[DiamondSCattleCo]

Hard core, at least a newer one from mid 90s and up. Stay away from older hard core balers like the Hesston 5510s and JD 510s. They had narrow throats that wouldn't let them pick up quickly and made it hard to start a bale.

About the only advantage that a soft core baler has is price. For a baler from the same year, you'll spend less money on the softcore. But as I mentioned in my other post about the Bad Idea baler, you can find the smaller hard core balers that give you the same weight as a larger softcore baler for about the same dollars.

Hard core balers delivery better consistency, faster pickup speed, better resale, the same maintenance requirements and the same ease of use as a softcore. I should mention that a hard core baler MAY not bale ultra dry straw, and you'd have to wait until night to do it. Having said that, I've never had an issue myself. I have yet to move into a field that my NH 664 won`t bale.

Rod

 

[glover36]

lol also you can bale hay a little wetter with a soft core since its not packed it dries quickly so no mold, but soft core bales sucked to stack and move around constantly, you want long bale spears for them

 

[bigbull338]

to me the hardcore balers are the the best.because you can put up 1 heck of a tight bale.if the baler is set right.an the tighter the bale the better it repells water.the soft core balers make real loose bales.an the core is so loose you can stick your arm all the way in the bale.ive seen some bales so loose you could pull the core out.an the bale would collapse on the ground.

 

[hillrancher]

My experience if you are going to store out side, unroll and handle a lot the hard core. If you are going to be using for own use and have inside storage soft core. Stock can eat in from ends easier.

 

[codymccue]

nothing wrong with a soft core baler if you know how to use em.too many folks feed em to fast and don't use enough ponies to pack em.I've built some pretty solid "soft"core bales by slowin down a bit and lettin er spin.you can cheat a couple % to the tough side when you bale too.
I do hate havin to use the grapple on em tho...stackin with the spike is easier/faster.