Square Baler PTO Question

In wheat straw's post, Case Nutty put on some scans of older Case square balers. I noticed that the older balers all had motors on them. I was wondering when the PTO first became an option and when the motor was no longer an option. Case balers were never popular here in NWMO for some reason and I can count on one hand the number of them that I have seen in my life. Thanks to all
 
pto drive was available in the 130/140 for sure starting in 1953 and on the 140 maybe earlier, not sure about the NCM units until I can look, as to engine balers Case offered them all the way through production of the 230/330 models which ended in 1970 or early 1971 cnt
 
Wow, you learn something new every day. I had no idea that motors were still available in the 70's and 80's. I would not think that they sold many that way. Maybe mostly to the Amish and Mennonites??? Thanks
 
Well if you think about it this way. What happens to the guy who wants to bale some hay but only has a small as in not enough HP tractor on the PTO. Well he buys a baler with it own engine so then the tractor can both pull the baler and he can bale hay. Ya not what you see every day but it is done.
 
The 330 was the biggest capacity baler that Case offered in the 70s, and was the only model available with wire twisters. An older 140 or 160 Case baler would make much more dense and better shaped bales than a 330 and had a bigger appetite in big windrows also, but they were heavy to haul around on hills, and were not equiped with a bale tosser.
Loren
 
and rich ,you forgot to mention , if that little tractor did not have live power ,,the tractor could stop as needed and the baler will keep plumging away
 
If you want to run a baler at maximum capacity it needs to have an engine on it OR you need a hydrostatic drive on the tractor pulling it. Particularly true if the tractor has only a 4 or 8 speed transmission. Of course, the new infinitely variable transmissions will also allow maximum throughput of a PTO machine.
If you go to the big westcoast hay operations you will see a lot of New Holland and Freeman balers with engines.
 
Yes, a little tractor or lack of live PTO would be a good reason to have a motor on the baler. I just did not think that there would be a big enough market at that time for them to provide that option. Maybe the Company listened more to the little guy at that time. As Bradley said, it is interesting how other parts of the country do things differently.
 
In central TX you never saw a PTO baler. We baled a lot of Johnson Grass and sorgum type grasses like Haygrazer. This was coarse heavy stuff and the farmers would use VACs, and SCs, especially when they came out with foot throttles, Ford 8Ns, JD Ms, and Farmall Cs and Hs to bale with. When you hit a thick spot you just throttled the tractor down to let the baler catch up. That is why foot throttle tractors and balers with their own engines were popular around us.I didn't see a PTO baler until 1966.Those that listened to the users did well.

Jim
 
Here in Missouri I have yet to see a self propelled baler but when I was a truck driver I saw more then one way out west
 
Ah but are you in Missouri?? And if you are you most be up in north Missouri because that is the only area of MO that is flat enough to use one LOL
 
Another advantage of having a motor on your baler was that you could make alot sharper turns than with a PTO baler. This comes in pretty handy in a small field or where you have obstacles to go around. I've baled lots of hay with a VAC and a NH Super 66 baler with motor. Neighbor had a MF No. 4 baler with motor.
 
no not Missouri at all, in Wyoming and I guess what I ment was they are very high capacity balers and can cover lots of ground in a hurry, back then I put up 120,000-200,000 small squares a year, I also had a self-propelled bale wagon to as I delivered 75% of that hay to the customers right from the field,, question why couldn't you use a self-propelled on hills? they got very good traction and are very stable and much easier to manuver than a pull type, but then I would not have wanted a wagon behind them even though they had a hitch, out here we do not use throwers at all, I have only seen them in books
 
does your nh baler have 2 motors ? the only one i know ef 1957 .. has a wisconsin on the drive train , and another on the plunger
 
no they both just had one motor,,Freeman balers always had two though, my 1282 came with a 172cid Ford, it blew and I installed a 225 Chysler slant6 more than double the power, the 1283 has a 250cid 6cyl Ford it had good power also the 1283 also had cab and A/C
 
When I was a kid I loved baling hay with Dad's VAC and 50T IH baler with the continental engine and a single dolly wheel. Depending on the size of windrow, put it in 2nd gear and set the friction throttle at idle and use the "foot feed" to speed through a thin spot and let completly off in a heavy spot or even clutch if necessary. A live pto tractor and baler cant keep up with a foot feed vac and the engine baler of equal model.

I looked for a couple years trying to find an engine drive baler for my current vac to no avail. There used to be a lot of them when this county was covered up with small daries. Finaly found a NH 65 pto baler and a NH retired Mechanic and I went through it and I am amazed at how well the vac handles it. Seldom ever opens the govenor. I make about 2,000 12" x 16" x 32" bales a year and usualy pack in about 40# of hay if I tighten her down about all she wants.I have about 150 acres of hay ground that I cover twice a year so I roll the most of it.

excuse my rambling.

Wheat Straw
 

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