Tractor Size for Round Bale Moving

[Running Arrow Bill]

Thinking about buying a tractor for 1000-1200 lb round bale moving and for 6 ft brushhog on back. Considering John Deere, Massey, Kuboda, or Ford (Dealers and repair shops for these in our area).

Any suggestions on minimum HP to load & move the bales? Make & model # of tractor. Probably thinking about between new and not older than 10 years old (with no more than 1,000 hours on it). Diesel only, perhaps 4WD.

Thanks!

 

[Campground Cattle]

Have several the best all around is a sixty horse Massey has enough power to carry one on front and back and has enough weight to be stable.

 

[txag]

we use an 85 hp JD for moving round bales. one on the front & one on the back. it's tall enough to stack the bales 3-high in the barns. it's big enough to be stable but not too big to really pack the ground down in the fields. we have a smaller JD we use to rake & a bigger JD we use to bale.

 

[sam]

60 hp should work, any of the major brands will work to. just decide if you want cab tractor or not, 2x4 or 4x4 and start looking

 

[dun]

We use a FarmTrac 60, 50 hp 2 wd (basically a Ford 3910) and haul a bale front and rear. Bales run 1200-1500 lbs deending on 4x5, 5x5 or 5x6.
I've stacked them 2 high on a trailer, but the old girl is stretching just a bit for those heavy top row bales.

dun

60 hp should work, any of the major brands will work to. just decide if you want cab tractor or not, 2x4 or 4x4 and start looking

 

[jt]

Thinking about buying a tractor for 1000-1200 lb round bale moving and for 6 ft brushhog on back. Considering John Deere, Massey, Kuboda, or Ford (Dealers and repair shops for these in our area).

Any suggestions on minimum HP to load & move the bales? Make & model # of tractor. Probably thinking about between new and not older than 10 years old (with no more than 1,000 hours on it). Diesel only, perhaps 4WD.

Thanks!

bill,

i know this brand is not on your list.. but i recently bought a 60 horse 4 wheel drive mahindra and am very pleased with it.. the tractor alone weighs about 6200#. i had looked at 3 of the brands you mentioned and they were all lighter and much more expensive.

i am not a tractor expert, and $$ had a lot to do with my purchase.. i couldnt afford to spend upper 20's or 30 thou on a tractor. i have a neighbor that has one of the other brands mentioned and paid alot more for it too.. it is nice, but a lot lighter and not as strong.. hers is 2 wd though. that extra weight and 4 wd is nice when lifting heavy loads in the front end. if you buy 4wd i think you will be glad you did.

i am pleased with mine.

just my 2 cents

jt

 

[eric]

I looked at the Mahindra's awhile back when I was purchasing a tractor. One of the major drawbacks was the lack of dealership support, especially in the availabilityof parts. It didnt do me any good if the machine was under warranty but the dealer had to wait for the part to come in from China. If this problem has been addressed, then these tractors might just take off, as they seemed to be alot of tractor for the money!

 

[dun]

Here we have Long or John Deere. Nearest service4 for any other is 2 hours minimum. Just priced the JD equivelent of my existing Long, only 6k more, or roughly 1/3. Too rich for this old man

dun

 

[hillbilly]

Make sure the brand is going to stick around B4 you buy.
I bought an IMT 560 in '91. It's a knockoff of a Massy 265.
Good tractor, I really baby it, If I break it I'll have to fly to Ugoslovia to get the parts. They got up to about 150 dealers in US [ I heard ] now there are zero. Of course I could always dial there toll free hotline @ IMT-%^)9-000#*)(&~.......I think I'll need a different phone.
William

 

[Arnold Ziffle]

Zetor makes a pretty good small tractor with a rating of about 45 PTO HP and it should be heavy enough to move even 5 X 6 bales with a bale fork. It's a foreign made tractor (Czech Republic, I think) but I hear that just about all the small U. S. branded tractors are really made overseas anyway. It's my understanding that Zetor has a pretty extensive dealer network throughout the U. S., moreso than Mahindra, so parts and service should be pretty available. Don't know if they have a dealer way up in the Texas panhandle though. Zetor should be a good bit more reasonably priced than JD, MF, etc. Have a friend that swears by his old Long --- don't know the model, but I guess it to be no more than a 50 HP tractor. If you could find an good older JD 4020 that would be a nice one to have for moving big bales, pulling a fair sized disc, etc. (about 95 HP I think)

 

[Campground Cattle]

Kioti 65 has a perkins a4236 power plant same as the Massey. Comes in 4 wheel drive only, great tractor. I own both, and both perform well in the hay field.

 

[txag]

so basically, it's kind of like asking if you should buy a ford or chevrolet. you'll get folks saying both of those as well as some saying dodge, nissan, toyota or even suzuki. :lol: :lol:

looks like you'll have to research & shop around for the size and model that fits what you're looking for. good luck!

 

[J Baxter]

I would stick with a US brand that has a history. My preference is JD. I can pick up parts for my tractor at four different dealerships within a half hour of me. My grandfather has a 55 year old M model. He hardly ever needs a part, but when he does the local dealer usually has it or will have it the next day.

If I was looking to buy a cheaper tractor it would probably be a Mahindra. They are more or less an Indian version of IH.

JB

 

[Campground Cattle]

I would stick with a US brand that has a history. My preference is JD. I can pick up parts for my tractor at four different dealerships within a half hour of me. My grandfather has a 55 year old M model. He hardly ever needs a part, but when he does the local dealer usually has it or will have it the next day.

If I was looking to buy a cheaper tractor it would probably be a Mahindra. They are more or less an Indian version of IH.

JB

That could be a problem as Masseys are made in Poland and Turkey Ford's India, JD in France . The American tractor doesn't exsist in the smaller 90 hp and under anymore as they are all being made overseas. It gets down to what dealers in your area and parts availabilty.

 

[royB]

Not sure what exact models, but some massey's are built in Mexico. My 2000 model 281 was, and I know they are still building some down there, my guess would be at least the 400 series that replaced the 200s

Roy

 

[txag]

did you buy that tractor yet, Bill?