New Holland 68 - Dragged One Home!

Bill VA

Well-known Member
It's been a very busy week. I have found some pretty (IMHO) good deals on some hay equipment to get me and my boys started making a few square bales of hay.

We now have a MF32 - 7ft sickle bar mower, a John Deere model 350 - 3 point mounted hay rake, and today I brought home a New Holland 68 hay baler.

Me and the boys went some 90 miles to get this thing. It had been setting in a barn for some 20 years. Outwardly, it appears to be in good condition and complete - for a baler of its age. It is in much better shape than the old JD 14T I bought years ago. Barn kept really means a lot in my older age - less rusted/stuck things to fix.

Before buying the baler, we looked it over, spun the flywheel by hand and nothing appeared out of order. I didn't want hooked to a tractor out of fear the timing might be out or jump out and shear or break something. When we get the manual we'll begin a thorough going over, including timing.

First thing we did was (on site) pull the wheels and replace with new tires and tubes via Miller tire. I used a cheap Harbor Freight manual tire changer to do this, along with the boy's elbow grease and sweat! Next we pulled the hubs, checked and cleaned the bearings, repacked and reinstalled. I have new bearings, seals and cups which I brought along if I needed them. We'll put them in over the winter.

The baler towed like a dream - after I got faster than 10-15 mph. At that speed, the baler bounced like a basket ball. My speed the entire trip was around 30-35 mph, long trip, but tolerable. Tires were warm, hubs cool.

The baler has a hitch for pulling a wagon behind. It is a New Holland hitch, but doesn't look as stout as the one on my JD 14T as it pulled directly from the axle tube. The NH looks like it relies on the bale chamber for strength, with a long gusset going to the right side do the axle tube near the wheel. Question is - how strong is this hitch? Any worries? How large/small should a wagon be hooked to it?

So we have the basic elements to make a bit of hay. Lots of questions will likely come and thanks in advance for your help!

BTW - what ever happened to Kelly C? I used to enjoy his posts and pics. I think I read he also had a NH68 he rebuilt.

Thanks again,
Bill
 
Around my neck of the woods - a trashy/rusted hunk of a square baler seems to be anywhere from $500 to $750 and sometimes more.

Decent looking old balers on craigslist pics are anywhere to $1250 to $2500.

All of the above are from individual sellers.

Dealer prices are high. Used equipment dealers are peddling rusted junk for crazy prices.

I got lucky on mine - I think!

I tend to look these days for something shed kept and in near field ready condition at minimum - knowing I'm going to pay more up front. I'm getting to old to deal with equipment that has been setting in fence rows for years in the weather. I use to piddle with that stuff all the time, but over the years it has kind of turned me off and I'm afraid that if all my boys have to work-on is complete junk, they will get turned off too - unless it is just a really good project. You know if you are going to buy a heap of junk baler for $500 and sink another $300 or more in it, my feeling is unless it's just something you really want, then wait and get something a little more complete. OTOH - if you do get the junk baler for $500 and sink $300 in it and it bales like new - that's a good deal, but it's a gamble.

I really wanted and was looking for a 273. This 68 baler came in my path for 1/3rd the price of the going 273's around here and was in better looking shape than the 273's I had looked at - so I figured the 68 was the better bang for the buck for now. I'll still keep my eyes pealed for a 273, but plan on making the best of the 68. I think it will be fine - knock on wood.

Good luck,
Bill
 
The hitch on the back will pull any wagon you want to put behind it. Just be careful going down hills. A 68 isn't very heavy and a wagon load behind it going down hill will jack knife it!
 
Here is the baler - in tow...
a164118.jpg

a164119.jpg
 
Thanks for the info! Yes - very mindful of the trailer pushing the baler pushing the tractor! Years ago I was stacking hay behind a Ford 3600 and a JD 24T baler and the tractor got pushed. Luckly the slope was very slight and the driver was able to manage things until it stopped.
 
I had a 273 it was wore out and I was gonna be a high capacity hay maker with this new Holland round baler boy was that a laugh should a put the money in the 273 . I agree its better to spend more up front and get something a little better shape I'm tired of buying junk and spending a fortune getting it to work properly I should have spent more money and bought a belt type round baler I wouldn't be in the mess I'm in now.
 
The wagon pushing the baler reminds me of when I used to help a relative bale hay. He had one wagon he made from the chassis of an old city bus, was something like 30' long. He actually used the kick baler to stay the loss and throw them to the back, then he'd switch to his pan baler and finish with that and walking the rest of the length. He was having troubles with the tie rods on it and just had them welded up. We were baling on his only hill on the farm pulling this miserable wagon. Going down hill, the tie rod broke again and the wagon started to go off to the left and was passing the rest of the rig with about 1/2 a load of hay on it. I just steered with the wagon and kept going down hill until we were at the bottom.

Managed to save the load and the baler, tractor, etc... and he parked that wagon. I think he used it some for moving large bales yet but never again behind the baler... He told me if any of his other help had been driving something would have gotten junked because they all would have stopped when the wagon kept going.

Donovan from Wisconsin
 
That is a good looking baler. You can tell that it has been inside all of those years. The long tongue and two piece drive line is a BIG plus, especially for small fields. We ran a 69 for several years, and maintain two 273s and a 275 for some neighbors. I have learned way more than I did know about them over the last five years or so.

I think you got a good deal, for what you want to do.

Garry
 
Thanks for the reply.

I thought this baler had the long tongue with the additional U
joint in place. I looked at pics of 273's and other balers and all
of the ones I thought should have the longer tongue looked
pretty much like this baler.

Other than extending the baler more rearward, what is the
purpose of the longer tongue? I'm guessing the extra U joint
arrangement gives you a tighter turning radius?

Thanks!
Bill
 
The ultimate would be to buy new equipment. Walk to the shed, hook it up and off to the field and fret about what's for supper. That ain't and probably will never be in the budget. So the other options are restoration projects or something in the middle.

New is nice, but not always better. One of the things I really appreciate as time flies by is the simplicity of a lot of older equipment. I haven't gotten in to this 68 baler up to my ears yet, but aside from the knotters, it looks like everything is a piece of bent sheet metal or some sort of round stock with something attached/welded to it and the ends setting in a roller bearing - pretty simple. We'll see how it goes!
 
I've got that very self-same unit, only mine had a model 50 thrower till I took it off to go with a grapple system..
It's bone simple to work on, and most parts are available off the shelf. Couple tips for making nice, tight bales are 1) make sure all the wedges are in place on either side of the chamber 2) make sure all 3 hay dog springs are in good shape 30 make sure the little flap on the intake side of the chamber is in place. Don't know what it does, exactly, but it seems to make a difference.

Mine likes 7000 twine. 9000 seems to break a lot when I make the bales a little heavier.

Your's is in a whole lot better shape than mine was, that's for sure!
 
I just spent most the the day working on my old 68. #1 thing to check in my book is the feeder tines. There are 3 sets- a not terribly expensive steel fork in the rear and 2 very expensive aluminum sets along the bar. The aluminum will wear an unbelievable amount if you put enough hay through one. 2 of mine were worn about 4". I replaced them all with used and it made a world of difference. #2 is adjusting the plunger slides. I had to do that today because the vertical gap was way too large. The bad part was that I could on;y get 3 of the 4 adjuster bolts to move. That little snot you have to access through the little teeny hole under the knotter drive wouldn't budge and there was enough hay and oil around that I wasn't going to try heat. #3 is going to plastic twine. I know a lot of people hate the stuff, but it made my 68 into a very dependable knotter just by switching. I think it's the consistency compared to sisal.

Get the book and read the parts on the timing and needle/twine disc/knotter frame clearance. I'm still working on that part. Timing is easy, but getting everything else set on a baler that's probably had a few hundred thousand bale through it involves a lot of shimming and bushing. The good thing is the knotters are all more or less interchangeable up through the 2 series, or so I'm told. I know a lot of the individual parts fit between a 273 and 68 as far as knotter parts go.
 
From what I've seen new is not the answer my cousin bought a brand new weather new Holland and after 2 years the main computer went out almost 4000$ and new Holland wouldn't warranty it so you gota 10 or 12000$ dollar annual payment and still have brake downs and maintenance to worry about
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top