Tractor

[rebelgurl]

i am thinking about getting the Belarus 250 AS tractor that the guy is offering with the farm i am buying..but i dont know if it will physically move a roll of hay or not...so i'm looking for a little help....if it wont move the roll (i think they weigh about 2000 lbs) i will have to find something else...this is the biggest task i will have for the tractor...if it wont pick it up can somebody suggest a make and model that will.... dont need new looking for a good used one under $6000...thanks

[egon]

Try the Belarus on a bale.

Otherwise looking for a used tractor is a catch as catch can situation and one must be constantly looking over the market till the right tractor comes along.

Go look for a used John Deere 4020! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Right price range and a good tractor.

There are many other makes out there that will be just as good but I'd suggest a product for which parts are easily available.

Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[rebelgurl]

The internet says the 250 AS has a lifting capacity of around 1400lbs...
if the bale weighs around 2000lbs, do I need to find a tractor that will lift that amount or should I look for one that will lift alittle more?

I will check out the John Deere...thanks!

-Amanda and Jason

[UncleBuck]

use this link below, the forums are great, deal mainly with tractors, and any questions you have about TRACTORS get answered quick. I have used this site many times with good results.

TractorByNet

[LazyJ_Arabians]

Lift capacity is measure at the hitch pins, the weight of the bale is back from this point translating to about 50% more weight at the hitch.

I would look for a tractor with around 3,000 lb lift capacity meaning something in the 50+ horsepower range. Years ago I had a '59 Ford 841 at 45 hp that could usually pickup the large rounds if they were not rain soaked.

[bluepaint]

Find something different belarus is probably the worst quality tractor there is ,terrible to drive , low quality steel , poor workmanship . Hard to sell.
stick with ford , massey, IH or deere common brands these will be far more reliable.

[Pat]

I second most of Bluepaint's comment. Don't exclude Kubota from the NAME BRANDS. Belarus is worth just about whatever the current scrap cast iron market will give you. They are a hard to support nightmare. Their ergonomics suck and the ones I struggled with had labels in the Cyrillic alphabet (Russian.)

Also I was curious about the bales in question. Are they BIG square bales or round bales?

Large round bales will weigh 500 to 3,000 pounds with dimensions varying with the baler, manufacturer, and model. Usually the bales are 5 to 7 feet long and 5 to 7 feet in diameter. Bale weight depends not only on dimensions but also on the type and quality of hay baled and moisture content.

Large square balers can produce very dense bales ranging from 3x3x6 feet to 4x4x8 feet. The most common is the 3x3x6 foot long, which is often referred to as an intermediate bale. Large square bales can weigh up to 1800 pounds or so depending on compaction, moisture and stuff like that. Same as round ones but some of the squares are packed more densly so weigh more for their size.

There are multiple ways to transport and handle big bales, round or square. You can have an electric winch or hydraulic operated bale spike on the back of a pickup. You can have a bale carrier on the 3PH. I have and prefer the FEL mounted bale spike as it will not only transport a bale as the other two methods will but can also raise it up and stack it on top of other bales as well as reach up and retrieve a top stacked bale. If you have the room ro just pull a bale off the top wth a rope that works too if you mind the safety aspects but yoiu will need someone elese to stack for youi if yo0u need to stack and don't have a FEL and hay spike impement.

DO NOT use palet forks to stack bales! Very dangerous! (I know I am inviting personal testamonials about decades of experience stacking bales with palet forks and plastic picnic forks on the part of the usual suspects, the safety scoffers, but don't do it!!!)

So yoiu see there is quite a range in sizes and weights of the variouis bales. I personally have 4x5 round in my barn and they run about 1000 lbs (more when I first stacked them fresh baled.) I can handle them OK if I am careful with my 40 HP Kubota but need a heavy implement on the 3PH for ballast (I prefer the box blade as it doesn't hamper manuvering as much as the brush hog.

Hope this helps,

Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[rdbigfarmboy]

I have owned 2 Belarus big tractors and never used the 250. If it will lift the rolls and you are mechanical and can buy it cheap like 1200-1800 then its a good idea. Most rolls in the 5 X5 size dont weight more than 1500# usually less. I bought a few 6 X 5 that do weight close to a ton. The later models will lift more. Belarus will work for you, but you willl need to be able to fix or adjust it, most of whats on the market need some fixin. A 250 new was less than $4000 untill the last years of sales in the USA. I sold one of mine for more than I paid for it it was in excellent shape.