Motorized Forecart on Round Baler?

[gwpoky]

Does anyone know anything about the forecart running the round baler on the pictures that where posted on the DAPNET Facebook page? I was running a 4×4 round baler, I would love to know the size of the motor used on that cart and how they put it together.

Thank you,
George

[Rivendell Farm]

The power needed depends somewhat on the type of baler as well as the size. The type that use belts take more power, I believe, than those with a fixed chamber that use chains. I saw a Krone fixed chamber type demonstrated at Horse Progress Days with a 20 HP engine. It was a 4 by 4. I later bought of those because of its low power needs. Even though I never got a power forecart, I use it with a 48 horsepower tractor with no problems at all. The dealer’s mechanic laughed when I told him I was going to use the small tractor to run a round baler. He said it wouldn’t do it. Bob

[gwpoky]

WOW! I missed that at HPD, running a round baler with a 20 hp motor. Bob do you have any more information on setting up a cart like that ie the clutch/belt system for power transfer?

Thanks,
George

[dominiquer60]

Here is the photo in question, I honestly have no idea what the make or size of this cart is. All I know is that the year was 2008.

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[Carl Russell]

That is Donn Hewes’ forecart.
Carl

[Donn Hewes]

Man look at Bob go! Makes you want to get some mules and go baling; doesn’t it? That cart is a one off, built mostly in Romulus, NY, by Henry Stoltfuz. I think it is comparable to many gas powered PTO carts on the market. It has a 24 hp honda engine. I know that round balers vary a lot as to power required, so I would check that carefully, but with the right baler pulling it with horses and powering it with a PTO cart wouldn’t be difficult. I really don’t know how many horses you would need to pull a baler like that. In the picture we would have used four because the cart, tongue, eveners and neck yokes are all set up for four, and might take a hour to change. Three horses might be ideal for moderate hills, and two big horses might do fine on flatter ground.

[gwpoky]

I think this is interesting, because I was under the impression that I was going to need a minimum of 40 to 45 hp motor to run just the baler. Does anyone know which brands/models require the least amount of power, Krone seems to be one good one, any others? We currently have a friend custom round bale for us when we need it, but he is not sure how many more years he will keep his equipment. His baler is a New Holland that does a 4X5 bale that he runs on a 90 hp Kabota tractor, I would like to look into something that can do a 4×4 bale and be pulled by four horses. I would like to get some plans together to start building a motorized PTO cart next winter looking at putting it on a shortened up running gear. I have a 25+ hp Yanmar Diesel motor, out of a refer unit, sitting in my shop, and I wonder if that could do the job, or I could get a hold of an 45 hp Allis Chalmers motor out of a WD45. Thought?

Donn, what where your thoughts on the performance of the baler behind your cart?

Thank you

[Rivendell Farm]

The HPD baler demonstration I saw was earlier than 2008 by a few years. The cart was a commercially available one, possibly from Pioneer, but I don’t know anything about the drive setup. On hilly ground I think the weight of the round baler could cause problems with a cart. I believe the Krone weighs close to 5000 pounds. The heavier the cart, the better. I don’t know where you’d find the horsepower requirements for various balers. The all will give the tractor power required, which is much higher than what it takes to just run the baler. Tractor power requirements might be useful to compare balers to find out which take the least power total. Bob

[mlelgr]

http://extension.missouri.edu/publications/DisplayPub.aspx?P=G1250
This link has a chart that shows PTO HP requirements for several different round balers. Looks like 40 PTO HP is the normal minimum for a 4ft x 4ft. 4 head in front of the 45HP AC diesel would make a nice set-up for a round baler.

[carl ny]

You could probably reduce that HP by 25% to 40% because you are not using any of the HP to power the tractor and pull the baler when using a forecart, just to power the baler. JMHO

carl ny

[Carl Russell]

At NEAPFD we found those ratings to be tractor HP required to be able to adequately deliver necessary PTO HP.

I think Carl’s estimates are reasonable based on my limited experience.

Questions arise based on methods and crops. If you are trying to pick up large windrows, then power needs to be adequate to get the hay into the baler at the same rate that the animals are traveling.

Pioneer’s cart is 32HP diesel, if I recall accurately, and they recommend that for a wide range of PTO driven implements, and it includes a hydraulic system to boot.

In our demonstrations with Donn’s cart, the 24HP had no problems running that round baler pictured.

Carl

[gwpoky]

From what I am finding the Krone and the M&W out of IA as far as HP requirements seem to be the best options. I am going to see what I can put together with this Yanmmar Diesel I have in the shop, the torque should be helpful.

[carl ny]

I would guess that that engine would be all you would need with horses at a steady walk. Again,JMHO

carl ny

[PeytonM]

If it was me building the power cart I would find a reffer unit 3 cyl. diesel, I know that a friend has a 3 cyl 20HP JD riding mower and they have that motor ref units and APU and they get 15K hours its a yanmar dont know the model

I know this isn’t a round baler. but I have a Farmall H and she isn’t no power house, dad has a JD 338 small square baler and I was bailing good size windrows according to Tractor Data the H was tested at 26 hp pto, and I know mine doesn’t make that much. I was in 2nd gear and steep hills to climb in the one field. I agree that Carl NY about cutting the Hp down on the tractors because They also have to drive it. When they dyno test them they arn’t running a PTO and driving across the field.

With that all being said at work I run a JD 568 and a 567 round balers with a Case IH 7120 (155HP pto) or 7130 (170HP pto). I have yet to make any of those tractors dog down when bailing, I you have more power than you can go for speed not that makes a difference how fast you work.

[Donn Hewes]

It has been a few years since I hooked up to that round baler, but I don’t think it would be hard to pull or operate. If you look around you will also find some folks have rigged up some pretty nice setups for moving one or several round bales with horses.

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