Should you be using a round or square baler?

Operational efficiencies weighed against cost differences sway buying decisions.

After 33 years on full time staff at Successful Farming, Gene Johnston is now in semi-retirement. He covers stories and topics as assigned on a freelance basis, with emphasis on the beef industry.

Olaf Kleemeyer / 500px, Getty Images

Utah rancher Brady Thornock has used about every haymaking system there is, trying a big square baler a few years ago. Now he’s back to a round baler for his 400-cow operation.

Thornock makes about 2,000 tons of hay a year on the family ranch and occasionally custom bales for neighbors.

“At one time we were selling 600 tons a year to other ranchers,” he says. “That’s when I bought a big square baler because I thought it would be more efficient.”

The efficiencies included on-the-go bale discharge with the square baler and stacking on a flatbed trailer. But when his own cow herd grew and he stopped selling hay, he switched back to a round baler.

“Round bales fit our system better for feeding cattle,” Thornock says. “It takes no special equipment. We have a flail-type bale processor that chops up a round bale and puts it out for the cows in a windrow or in a bunk. Square bales don’t work in that processor.

“It’s all done from the tractor, so when I’m gone, someone else can easily do the feeding. Square bales have a place, but for us the round bales work best,” he adds.

Here are some key comparisons made by Thornock and baler manufacturers.

Both round and square balers can make bales that weigh 1,000 to 1,500 pounds or more. But the bigger weight issue is the baler itself. Big square balers are more hefty because of the force needed to compress bales, and their on-the-go discharge capability means they carry more hay on board while operating.

A midsize round baler may weigh 7,000 to 8,000 pounds, whereas big square balers can weigh 20,000 to 35,000 pounds, says Brian Spencer, hay and forage marketing manager for Case IH. “They’re just bigger all around: bigger frame, massive gearbox, bigger tires, dual axles,” he says.

Because of the extra heft of a big square baler, it takes more tractor to run it. “If you’re going downhill, you don’t want a 25,000-pound baler pushing the tractor around,” says Jordan Milewski, the baler product manager for New Holland. Depending on the model, a big square baler probably requires a 200-hp tractor or larger. In contrast, some smaller round balers can work with a tractor with less than 100 hp.

Thornock used a 225-hp tractor on his square baler and says it needed all of it. He operates his round baler (a Case IH Model RB565) with a 145-hp tractor. “And that’s probably 25 hp more than it actually needs,” he says.

If you store hay inside or with weatherproof wrapping, there’s probably not much difference between big round or big square bales, except the square bales stack better and tighter. If you store outside, round bales win. “Square bales are just a big flat surface, like a sponge,” Thornock says. “With round bales, we have very little spoilage.”

You’ll need to contact a dealer for exact prices, but round balers start at less than $50,000, depending on technology components.

The starting price for big square balers may exceed $100,000 for a new model. Top-end models approach $300,000. That’s why, for now, big square balers primarily fit commercial haymaking operations.

“To make a big square baler pay, you really need to run it all day, every day,” Milewski says. “As the cost of the baler goes up, you’ve got to put enough hay through it to make the cost per ton go down.”

Before selecting a baler, he advises thinking about the impact on the entire operation: tractors, mowers, rakes, movers, and feeding equipment. “They work in a system, and one change impacts all the others. You could be looking at a huge capital outlay,” he says.