Neve heard of a 4x5. There are 4x4;3x4;3x3.And two or three sizes of small squares. 3x3 is most prefered because they are easily handled by the smaller tractors usually owned by 'horse people'.
 
DeltaRed, I make 4x5 round bales. Baler will make up to 76 inch diameter but they are too hard for most buyers to handle at that size plus they don't want to pay more for the bigger bale. Have a friend that makes 5x4 bales too (5 wide ,4 diameter). We went with 4 foot wide for easier hauling. Old baler was a 5x6 and for the guys feeding their own is what most of them have here. If they sell hay it's usually the 4 foot wide bales. Paul
 
I like them they fit better on a trailer than a 5x6 . John Deere 435 would make up to 4x6 and ran. Newer model new holland that soils make up to 4x6
 
Most full-size balers you see now are 4x6 and 5x6 which of course can be set to make smaller diameter bales. There are 4x5 balers available as well but I'm not sure what the appeal is over a 4x6 other than the purchase price. In some areas of the country the 4-ft wide bale is about all you see due to the ability to haul them without being overwidth on the truck. Here in the Midwest the 5x6 is by far the most popular. It's all about matching the bale size to the customer base and what is considered the best varies depending on where you're at.
 
My NH 750 baler is a 4x6 and will make bales from 700 to 1500 pounds the manual says. It is set so it makes a 4x5 bale now which is a reasonable size to sell to hobby farms.
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I think some of the replies are mixing up 5X4 and 4X5. Yes, 5X4 balers do (or did) exist that put out a 4' diameter bale 5' wide - the Deere 375 was a popular one. These days you can do the same thing with a 5X5 or 5X6 baler tying it off a little early, but few people do that. 5X4 are a little bit of a wacky size. The only thing I've ever heard good about them is (like what was said below) they sometimes fit nicely on a trailer and in some cases can be stacked more compactly. Not that there's anything 'bad' about them, just a bit of an oddity.

I wouldn't have a problem with them if I needed a baler for my own purposes, and I suspect you'll be able to sell them just fine. The only downside I can see when trying to sell hay is that at first glance a 4' diameter bale looks pretty small - a lot of people might not appreciate how much hay there is in one compared to a 4X4. If all rolled to the same density, a 4X5 will have 25 percent more hay than a 5x4, but a 5x4 will still have 25 percent more hay than a 4x4. So just make sure you're not selling them for 4x4 prices.

That's assuming the buyers are smart enough to look at bale size in the first place - which they're probably not. Around here most horse people consider a 'bale' to be all the same, regardless of size or density. Years ago I was selling 4x5's for $30 each to a few people who complained that they could get bales up the road for $27. It was true, but the other ones were 4x4. I gave up trying to explain the size difference and that my bales cost 11 percent more but had 56 percent more hay. I now sell 4x4's, and end up making way more money off the same amount of hay. To heck with them if they can't do math.
 
I should add to my last post: 5' wide bales fit nicely on the smaller utility trailers a lot of horse people would have, where they can only get one bale wide on one regardless. They could be a bit of a pain on wagons or flatbeds as you couldn't put two side-by-side without being over-width. Do a search for 'Deere 375 baler' on this forum and Haytalk and you'll find a lot of people asking about the 5X4 bales they make.

Out West it seems everyone does 5' wide bales, so I guess being over-width isn't a concern (or else there are different width restrictions for the Western states & provinces). Around here on these narrow roads and with the MTO/DOT always creeping around, it might be a little more concerning.
 
I was told, back when they came out, that they were built for hill country because the bales wouldn't tip over as easy. I know of just one being sold here, and a dealer told me that baler never should have even been in Michigan.
 
If selling to hobbiest and horse people get a 4x4. Two bales fit in the bed of a truck and they haul 2 wide on a trailer. Horse people can roll them around some or use a very small tractor. Tom
 
I watched a Deere 375 sell at a auction once here in Ohio hill country. It looked like it just came off the dealer lot, spotless. Old worn out Gehl balers got more bidding action than that thing, people wanted no part of it.
 
Dad was selling hay in the big rounds 6x5 and nobody would pay for the extra hay in them versus the 4x4 bale so he made the 6x5 for his use and the 4x4 to sell. I still make the 4x4 bales for sale. In MI they consider hay as a divisible load and so hauling 2 5ft wide bales is an over width unpermitable load. Out on the Plains States and others in the mountains out west they have hay permits or you just get an over size permit or just go in some cases. KS has or had a hay permit for wide hay loads.IF you stayed off the interstate it was good for 3 years or an annual one for on the interstate. For selling I would get the smallest round bale practical and store them inside for best price. We can put all of ours inside using the mow in the old barn and freestall barn. Can put close to 4-500 in there with some work. Still can then put some straw in the alleys on pallets.
 
I have a '91 JD 375 that I bought when I downsized from leased land and a 100 HP tractor and 5x6 JD 530, to a 65 HP tractor and this baler, which has been bullet proof. I didn't shop, I needed a baler, just went to an auction company who also direct sells, found it in the lot, guy wanted $5k for it, still had original belts in near perfect condition, lots of new looking (not repainted) paint and all. Don't know how many bales went through it.

I like it being 4' as bales weigh out about half as much as the other baler and with the smaller tractor easily transported and the narrower diameter makes it easy to see around on the FEL. I was told at the time that it wasn't all that popular....I can understand that it would have a nitch market.

Popular around here for a long time are the 4x balers and in comparing the 4x5 to my 5x4, mine are slightly lighter and won't fit in the bed of a PU so that they can be rolled out to deliver like the other one. I have had situations where it would have been nice to be able to do that but it hasn't been a show stopper. I am sold out of hay long before the season begins so I must be doing something right.
 
(quoted from post at 22:09:21 03/23/23) Is that size preferred at all for people with horses and other hobbyists or is this just an unwanted size?
Back when we had the dairy we had a 5x4 New Idea with the optional knife that would cut the bales (almost) in half. Was ideal for us because they were handled whole but we could drop a bale by the door of the stall barn and a few swipes with a hay saw and we had two easy to handle 2 1/2 X 4's that were easy to unroll down the manger.
I now have a 4x4 because as has been said above, that's what the market is looking for.
 
I think they could be a niche market thing but there are a lot of homestead people around us who either have no tractor or a small compact that cant lift the big bales. We have a line on a JD375 thats supposed to be super clean and ready to go. Going to look at it Sunday afternoon and see how it looks.
 
Well we bought the JD 375 yesterday so now we have a round baler now to get a few spare parts and give it a good once over and we will be set.
 
If your belts are in good shape, replace the plastic coated wire that hold the belts together...it gets grooved and can break, especially at the ends.

Belt tension is set by the lift gate cylinders being forced backwards against the hydraulic pressure. There is a 3,000# popoff valve on the curb side of the square hydraulic box in the front center. If that isn't popping at the right pressure.....popping at a lower pressure, your bales will come out soft. A good haygrazer bale will be rock solid, ends, and across the top. I set my teeth just above soil level to better pickup any hay in ruts made by equipment.

Seems every old JD baler you see has a blown out bulge in front of the main drive gear...traffic side, lower front due to a broken chain. I use spray chain lube before every use and when finished and chains are hot. Haven't lost a chain in roughly the 30 years I have had this baler.....and it has the bulge I mentioned from a PO.

When finished open and block the gate with the safety device that is unpinned and falls across the traffic side gate lift cylinder, and feel the rollers at the ends.....testing for worn out bearings that can overheat and cause a bale fire. I only had one minor fire due to this and I caught the white smoke (vs baling dust). Immediately dumped the bale, headed into the wind, got out the fire extinguisher (if it doesn't have a water type one get one).....cause, you guessed it...overheated bearing.

Bearings aren't hard to change. Just figuring out how to do it takes more time for the first one you do.

Per Tx Jim who helped me a lot learning how to use mine:

To get a good roll start, zig zag at a fast pace for maybe 50', fully covering hay with all the pickup teeth (especially edges) to prevent ruptured navel centers on one side.

Ensure that your pulleys that operate your load leveled indicators are well maintained.

Check, or better yet replace the little roller bearings on the rear top of the baler (belt) to ensure they are in good working order. Grease the arm while you are there......and the rest of the Zerks while you are at it.

When one side of an indicator is below center, drive over to that side and quit zig zagging till it starts to move up then back to what you were doing.

When one side is above, go to the other side giving it time to start coming down.

Soft corners are your lack of getting the outside teeth adequately in hay during pickup the center will pretty much fill itself during the crossovers.

After the initial roll set (starting a new bale) mentioned above, I sometimes do a slow zig zag or I go on one side for a few seconds then switch to the other side a few. If bale wants to look like a wooden barrel, reduce your frequency of changing sides.

Give the bale time to stabilize when a bar has disappeared due to too much hay being fed in too fast. As the hay spreads out over the rollers the bar will come back down in sight.

That's all I can think of for now. Good luck with a fine, reliable baler.
 

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