IH 45 Baler - how common? Are rough ones worth restoring?

Evan350

Member
On my property there are two IH model 45 balers. One still operates, more or less, and the other has a broken knotter casting. Both are entirely clothed in rust with little sign of the original red paint.

I"m on the fence trying to decide if I should scrap them or save them for the day I have time to tinker with them, using the two to create one restored baler.

I"m just curious how common operating model 45"s are now a days. Is there hobby/collector interest in these things? If working examples are still common as fleas, I"m less likely to try to save them. But if they"re becoming an endangered species, then perhaps I"ll mothball them for a future resurrection.
 
IH didn't have the best knotters in their day and of all the IH balers that has been posted on here a model 45 seems to have been the worst. Its a rare person that has gotten one to work well.Fixing it up to play with is one thing, to do a lot serious baling is probably left for a different model.
 
In my area most have went to the scrapper. There are a few still sitting in fence rows but very very few still being used to bale any hay. Hate to see any old iron go to the scrapper but most people have no use for them and others are trying to clean up the old fence row stuff. If it was me I would keep it and take the 2 and make one useable baler and keep the other for parts. Would look good behind a farmall M or H at a show!
 
Had one in the early 70's I bought at a sale for $25 bucks and it was nice and clean looking. I then fooled with it for 1-1/2year and finally backed it into a swamp an took the twine out of it. If ya make a museum piece out of one and NEVER use it....fellas will get a kick out of all the cussin they did when they tried to use theirs!
 
Ya,I remember Dad tried one out ONCE. Any time he went looking for a baler after that,he avoided those like the plague. My uncle had a 46 with a thrower. He did a lot of custom work with that one. Seemed to be a pretty good baler,but yea,the fencerows around here were littered with 45s. I know for sure where the trees grew up around one and as far as I know it's still out there.
 
I heartily agree; good for museums. Lousy for baling. Everything but the knotters worked pretty well. Actually it made knots; They just didn't stay tied. I think the billhooks were just poorly made and they were very sensitive to changes in the twine.
 
I learned how to tie a square knot riding the twine box on a 45 baler. This was in the late 50's and I was 12 years old pulled both strings to see if they held and had to tie fast if they didn't so I would have enough slack. Dad finally bought a New Holland and gave me a break. Tommy
 
If you want to save them to prove someday IH made a bailer, go for it.

But if you want to bale hay, most around that still do some square bailing, use a john deere or new holland as (most) parts are still available.

My experience with old balers has been, you are buying the knotter system, the rest of it is just there to support the knotters.
 
IH 45"s were not good when they were first made. We had one that would not tie on a routine basis. When it did tie, we were in low gear and it took all day to bale 400 bales. It broke the drawbar on the E3 with its rocking. Two foot forward, 1 foot back. No capacity.
Got a New Holland and could not believe the difference. The NH dealer would not take the IH on a trade. We parked it in the weeds and got great pleasure cutting it up for scrap. The 46"s did work well but we have stayed with NH and never looked at any IH hay equipment again.
 
Dad had 2 new 45's. We had tying problems with ours.
I don't see any around any more. Might be worth keeping as "best bad example" of hay baler.
 
Knotter issues aside, I get the impression from the discussion here that the 45 isn't considered rare yet.

In the early 60's, my father's first baler was a NH Super 77, but he didn't like it (I don't remember why--maybe it was having to maintain its motor) and got a 45 instead (probably because it was cheap!)
 

Where are you located? I am in Wisconsin. If you decide to scrap them, I would be interested in the twine boxes if they have good bottoms on them, and possibly some other parts. Just bought a 45 baler year and a half ago. Making it into a working hobby baler. My dad and I normally put up 5000 bales per year with a 46 model. The 46 has been an excellent baler for us. We have 2 of them, both tie great and have good capacity. Thanks!

-Jesse
 
II thought i wrote that!! lol If the ih 45 had been the first baler in the market. most guys would still be putting up loose hay!!
 

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