good ole' baler?

any recommendations on an older square baler looking to replace the old super 66 only do about 2500-3000 small squares a year somewhere in the $3000 range thx for your input
 
We have run a New Holland 273 for years, been a great baler and makes nice bales. But I would recommend one with the super sweep head and a long tounge.
 
New Holland or John Deere. I am sure other brands made a few good balers, but here you would struggle to get parts, no one would be able to help you, and resale would be terrible. In New Holland 271, 276, 311, 315, 316 were the best models. The 269,273,275 were good reliable balers, but their feeder was not as good, and their capacity is quite a bit less. John Deere 336 and 337 balers are popular as well.
Josh
 
Why not repair-recondition the baler you have. The only baler I would ever consider to replace is a NH 65 due only to small bale size.
 
I agree on any of the older NH or JD bales.Any will do a good job as long as they are cared for and in good shape.When you find a suitable candidate,repost for more info/advise.Once you move up from that old 66,you'll think you died and went to heaven!
 
leroy i have done that for a few years but some parts i cant find like the hay dog spring under the bale chamber 3 are alike one is quite a bit different and is nla plus it is pretty low capacity and it takes forever on first cutting/heavy windrows
 
I have 2 working 276's, they are great, If you have heavy windrows I would recommend a 276, if you have lighter ones, a good 273 would be fine, just slower.
 
I had a 65 for alot of years.. Women loved the bales as they were smaller.. I gave it to a buddy that only bales couple hundred. and bought a 273 at auction.. 273 has been a fantastic baler. It has the super pickup in front compared to the 65 that had the "cheaper" pickup..
 
My vote would be for a New Holland 273 as it is probably the baler made in the highest numbers of any produced by any manufacturer. There are several 273's in my neighborhood here in Missouri that folks own doing a similar number of bales as you each year. I upgraded this past year from a 1969 NH 273 to a NH 311 which is even more bullet proof and somewhat newer (1982) which is a follow-on from the earlier series from which the NH 273 evolved. The NH 311 I found was shed kept and like a new baler in that it was hardly used with only 11,000 bales per the seller baling alfalfa hay for his calves. The NH 311 model wasn't produced in near the quantity as the NH 273 as it was introduced at the time there was a move toward the round balers I believe. In this part of the country New Holland hay equipment is the standard and I would venture that 80-90% of hay equipment is New Holland. Another plus in this area is the NH dealership as he is very supportive of the equipment in the field with service, parts, etc. during the hay season with 24/7 service if necessary.
Another important point to consider is the reputation of the dealership that will be supporting your equipment for parts and service. As mentioned above my New Holland dealer maintains a very high level of all wear parts and those subject to breakage and can supply almost anything overnight if truly needed. Hope this helps, Hal.
 
If I recall correctly the NH 276 was their first high capacity square baler and is known for pumping them out. The follow-on high capacity NH baler is the 320 which was a disaster per a New Holland tech rep I talked too. He stated that the 320 was of a design that turned a later lightened basic frame then the 276 into their high production square baler. The high stroke count on the light weight frame just destroyed them. I've seen a couple 320's at farm auctions and both appeared to be a training ground for beginning farmer welding classes from the amount of welds to the frame and bale chamber. A neighbor had one when the 320's first came out and it worked fine for the first 2 or 3 years before it started to self destruct. I don't know where the NH 316 fits into the series but I saw one for sale and to me with my NH 273 and later NH 311 it looked like a battleship compared to a destroyer escort but it might be a very durable baler also but don't know anyone with a 316 or even one in the neighborhood so can't comment on them, Hal.
 
Someone here will correct me on this, but I have heard that on either the 315 or 316 there has been a high number of them loosing their tongue... Breaking off, I do not remember which model for sure though.
 
Hesston 4600 or case IH inline baler the pickup is almost as wide as the one on my 855 new Holland round baler and you don't have to bale around and around or in lands either
 
When I was in that position I bought a JD 336 - it has been a fantastic baler for me. Still working great some 30-50,000 bales later. Did buy a cheap JD348 to run next to it.
 
I never thought ours was slow. Bought new, plain 66 with the 2 cylinder engine, wore that engine out, bored and wore out again. Only reason it left was wanted a thrower.
 
I agree on the 273 New Holland with the super sweep pickup. Great baler and the parts are reasonable. I do like the 336 JD as well. I had a 14T JD before that and it was an ok baler but I don't like the slides on the plunger. I prefer the roller bearings on the guides. I had an Oliver 620 before that. The 520 and 620 Olivers are good balers that sell very reasonable. The knotter is identical to the New Holland and Deere balers. The 520 is similar in size to the 273 New Holland and the 620 is higher capacity but the same size bale. Parts are still available for them through any AGCO dealer but they are pricy.
 
I have run JD 24T's and now have 2ea JD 336's. They are very similar but if you have $3k available, go for a top condition 336. That would be no rust, a plunger head that slides perfectly and knotters not worn out or broken. You could get a good machine for 1/2 that cost and just replace the key parts. I did. But new JD parts are very pricey.
 
South central michigan. I got my Great-Grandpa's 66 that I'm getting going this year. Not sure what parts I would need I just know there's not alot of 66/super 66 around.
 
I have a NH276 and a NH273. The 273 has the standard pickup and a short tongue. I would avoid that if you can find one with supersweep and a long tongue. Either baler...if in good shape will do the job.

I too, am getting too old to work on balers. But I still love to make hay.
 
Where are you located Mab?

I'm always keeping my eyes open for super 66 parts. (like a decent set of knotters)
 
I could never get my S66 to make a square bale, although it tied good. I hated that wadboard feeder. I bought a used 311 and it's like night and day, much nicer bales.
 
We never had trouble making a nice bale and I liked that wadboard, way better than the finger feeder in the baler that followed.
 
Sounds like you are not that far from me and also not far from where JR comes to a couple of times a year.
 
55 deere70 ya thats the problem i am having ties good but makes bananna bales most the time ive rebuilt hay dogs and put new hay dog springs on except for the one nla by the wadboard gear drive?baled a few wadboards too not fun you seem to have good luck leoroy any suggestions
 
My dad complained about about our NH Super 66 not baling a square bale. I always figured the wad board fingers were worn off or the board just a little out of time and wasn't coming into the bale chamber far enough. We went to a MF 12 after that. It proved to be a pretty good baler.
 

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