The most-asked question we get from balers shopping by size is some version of: “The dealer said 48 or 51 inch will both fit my baler — why would I pay more for 51?” It’s a fair question. 3 inches doesn’t sound like much, and the wider wrap costs slightly more per bale. This guide breaks down where the extra 3″ actually matters, where it doesn’t, and how operators across the Midwest and Northwest decide between them.
Why the chamber accepts both sizes
Every major 4-foot-chamber round baler — John Deere 460M, 460R, 535; Vermeer 504R, 604M, 604N; New Holland Roll-Belt 460; Case IH RB565; Claas Variant 485 — uses a chamber that is 1.20 m (47.2″) wide. The spreader rolls and net feed channel on these balers are engineered with extra clearance specifically so a single OEM frame can take either a 48″ or a 51″ roll without modification. The wrap brakes and tension arms have the same adjustment range for both.
What changes is how the wrap sits on the bale:
- 48″ wrap: sits within the bale face. The two outer edges land roughly 0.4″ in from each shoulder. The crop on the very edge of the bale is held in place by the wrap pulling inward, not by wrap material covering it directly.
- 51″ wrap: sits 1.9″ wider than the chamber. The extra material wraps around the shoulder of the bale on each side, creating a small “tuck” that physically covers the outer crop layer. This is what people mean when they say 51″ gives you “edge cover.”
Where the 3 inches actually matter
Outdoor storage through a wet shoulder season
The single biggest driver of net-wrap size choice is whether your bales sit outside. On bales stored in a barn or under a roof, the shoulder of the bale isn’t exposed to rain or snow, and 48″ coverage is perfectly adequate — you’ll see no measurable difference in feed quality over winter. On bales stacked outdoors in the open, the shoulder is the first part of the bale to wick water. A bale with 48″ wrap and an unprotected shoulder can develop a 2–3″ rind of spoiled hay where the shoulder met the ground or the bale above it. With 51″ wrap and the extra tuck, that spoilage rind is typically reduced to under an inch — recovering enough hay over a winter to pay back the price difference on the first 20–30 bales. See our outdoor hay bale storage guide for the full storage-loss math.
Cornstalks and stemmy crops
Round-baled cornstalks are notorious for pushing past the chamber edges as the bale builds. The stalks are stiffer than hay, don’t pack as tightly, and routinely stick out 1–2″ past the chamber sides. 48″ wrap doesn’t fully cover these protrusions; the stalks shed individually during transport and feed-out, leaving a ragged bale. 51″ wrap captures and tucks those stalks, holding the bale together cleanly. Custom cornstalk balers in Nebraska and Iowa almost universally run 51″ or even 64″ wrap for this reason.
Dry, brittle hay (older alfalfa, native prairie grass)
Dry, brittle hay shatters at the chamber edges as it’s being wrapped. The shoulder is where most leaf and seed-head loss happens during ejection. 51″ wrap with edge tuck holds the brittle outer layer in place during eject and on the trip from baler to stack. For high-value alfalfa — especially dairy-quality hay where leaf retention drives the price — the leaf-loss savings on a single load can equal the cost of an entire roll of wrap.
Long-distance transport
If you’re moving bales more than 50 miles on a flatbed, the wind shear at highway speed will work the edges of any 48″-wrapped bale, peeling crop off the shoulders by the time you unload. 51″ wrap (or stepping up to 64″) holds the shoulders against wind. Hay haulers in the western US routinely specify 51″ minimum for any commercial load.
Where 48″ is the right choice
48″ is the most economical size on the market and remains the right choice when:
- Bales go from baler to a covered shed or barn within hours of baling.
- You’re baling cured grass hay for on-farm winter feed, not commercial sale.
- Your operation has never seen meaningful shoulder spoilage on stored bales.
- You’re running a tight budget and feeding hay that goes through a ring feeder within 60 days of baling — the marginal spoilage difference doesn’t matter at that timescale.
On a typical 5x6 bale at 2.5 wraps, 48″ wrap costs roughly $0.65/bale vs 51″ at roughly $0.72/bale — a 7¢ difference. Multiplied across a 4,000-bale season that’s about $280, which is real money. If your operation doesn’t need the edge cover, don’t pay for it.
Decision matrix: which size for your operation
| Your situation | Best size |
|---|---|
| Barn / shed storage, on-farm feeding | 48″ |
| Outdoor stack, exposed to weather > 3 months | 51″ |
| Cornstalks, sorghum, native prairie grass | 51″ |
| Dairy-quality alfalfa for sale | 51″ |
| Custom baling for multiple customers (unknown storage) | 51″ (defensive choice) |
| Long-distance commercial transport | 51″ minimum, consider 64″ |
| Tight budget, hay fed within 60 days | 48″ |
| 5-foot chamber baler (Vermeer 605M, JD 569, NH BR740) | 64″ or 67″ — see size guide |
Common myths about the 48 vs 51 choice
“51″ uses 6% more material so it costs 6% more”
Geometrically true on the roll, but the per-bale cost difference is closer to 7–10% because 51″ rolls typically have slightly different length-per-roll specs depending on manufacturer and HDPE grade. Compare actual SKU prices, not just width math.
“51″ means I need fewer wraps per bale”
Not really. Wrap count is set by bale circumference and chamber rotation, not wrap width. A 5x6 bale takes 2.5 wraps whether the wrap is 48″, 51″, or 67″. The wider wrap just covers more of the bale’s width per rotation.
“My baler can’t handle 51″”
Almost every 4-foot-chamber round baler made in the last 25 years can take 51″. The only common exception is some very early Vermeer 504 models (pre-2005) with non-adjustable wrap brakes, which physically can’t hold the wider roll in place. If you have a baler that old, check the manual or the interactive size checker before assuming.
“The extra 3″ will wrap over the gate and cause problems”
This was a real concern on some 1990s-era balers with tight gate clearances. On any modern baler (2005+) the gate clearance is engineered for 51″, and the “wrap over the gate” failure mode requires a tension or feed problem, not a width problem. If you’re seeing wrap caught on the gate, the issue is the spreader, the tension brake, or the duckbill timing — not the wrap width.
How operators actually decide
From conversations with cow-calf operators in Iowa, Missouri, and the Dakotas, the decision usually comes down to one of three triggers:
- They opened a stack in March and found a 3″ rind of moldy hay on the shoulders. Next season they switched to 51″. Almost never go back.
- They started custom-baling for neighbors and got tired of complaints about ragged outdoor bales. Switched to 51″ as a defensive default.
- They scaled up commercial hay sales and started losing bids because their bales looked rougher than competitors’. Cosmetic edge cover from 51″ helped close the gap.
Operators who stuck with 48″ long-term are usually: barn storage, on-farm feeding only, or running on the tightest possible margin. Both choices are defensible — pick based on where your bales actually sit between baling and feed-out.
What about CoverEdge and other branded “edge wraps”?
John Deere CoverEdge takes the 51″-style edge-cover idea further by adding an extra layer of net at the bale shoulder during the wrap. The result is more shoulder protection than even 51″ standard wrap, at roughly 2× the per-bale cost. For most operations 51″ standard HDPE delivers 80–90% of CoverEdge’s shoulder benefit at half the price. See our CoverEdge alternative guide for the full comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Can I switch between 48″ and 51″ mid-season on the same baler?
Yes, on every modern 4-foot baler. You may need to re-adjust the wrap brake tension by a quarter-turn when you load the wider roll, but no other change is needed. Many operators run 48″ for in-season hay and switch to 51″ for the late-fall cornstalk runs.
Does 51″ wrap reduce my wraps-per-bale count?
No. Wraps per bale are determined by chamber rotation, not wrap width. Both sizes use the same 2.5–3 wrap range. See how many wraps per bale do you need for the full breakdown.
Will 51″ wrap fit my 5-foot chamber baler?
No — you need 64″ or 67″ for 5-foot balers like the Vermeer 605M, John Deere 569, or New Holland BR740. 51″ wrap on a 5-foot chamber would leave the entire bale shoulder uncovered. See the full size guide for the brand-by-brand mapping.
Is there a downside to using 51″ on every bale?
Cost. About 7–10% more per bale. There’s no operational downside — the extra material doesn’t cause baler problems, doesn’t hurt fermentation in baleage, doesn’t complicate net removal at feed-out.
Still unsure? Use the size checker
If you want a baler-specific recommendation that takes your model year and crop type into account, use the XES baler size checker. Pick your baler brand and model, then the tool will tell you whether 48″, 51″, 64″, or 67″ is the right fit — with the exact XES SKU and bale-per-roll estimate.
