New Holland 565 and BC5050 vs 311 or 316???

Was at the dealer lot last week and they had a New Holland BC5050 - which I gather is an updated verison of the 565?

Been reading a lot about the 316 and 311 New Holland balers and come away with the impression that they are/were some of the finest balers New Holland ever made.

One thing that jumped out at me on the BC5050 is that they still use the flow action feeding mechanism - tine bar with feeding forks, vs the packer fork system of the larger capacity New Holland balers.

Question is - what baler in New Holland's past would the 565 and BC5050 baler's compare to in terms of capacity and similarity? I'm thinking the 311 and/or 316.

Thanks,
Bill

i have a 565 with a kicker its a good machine and will easly out preform the 310 i hads before would say u would be hapy with the 565

An early 565 is very much like the 316. Then they removed a bar from the pickup and we have the later 565 and now the BC5050 currently in production. The 316 occupied the middle position at the time in the NH 14x16 baler lineup. The 565/BC5050 is/was the smallest of their time, but capacity-wise matches the 316, nt the 311. The newer machines have a solid feeder fork bar rather than the old spring loaded style. Never heard of a downside to that, and it's a lot safer to work on.

RickB - thanks for your insight on this topic. I spend a goodly amount of time reading old posts and anytime I come across one of you're New Holland replies i am sure to read and learn from it.

In addition to doing a lot of reading, I window shop too - doesn't cost any $$$'s - LOL. Many times I've read/learned a ton of stuff about whatever may be of interest and a year or two later, if I see a deal and have the want - I'll buy like an impulse buyer, but really fully informed. Your posts on the New Holland stuff help get me there.

I've read a lot of info in the 316 (and the 311) balers and how great of a baler they are/were - especially the 316. It's good to know New Holland makes essentially the same baler today in the 565 and BC5050. I've also seen several youtube videos of those balers eating a lot of hay. I can't imagine I'd ever need more capacity than these balers output. It's also encouraging that even my old NH68 still shares a lot of the design too. Somehow I think the old 68 will get the job done for us, but should a deal show itself in a few years on a 565 or BC5050, I might be interested too.

Thanks again,
Bill

311 is a very good baler and can make a bale just a good as any new baler. But they do not have a very wide pick up, even some of them can be had with the super sweep. I think a 315 or 316 with the wider pickup is a must have for anyone that has big fields and using big wide rakes. With all these balers is not really about the age of them as much as it is about how many bales have been thru them.

I have a BC5050. I just couldn't find enough parts to keep my previous 315 working. The 315 had a really rough life prior to me getting it. I didn't know it when I bought it but once under it I could easily see where it had been welded together in the middle. I've no idea how that kind of damage could have happened. Anyway it lasted me 10 years and I finally gave in an bought a new baler. There are virtually no farmers (and used equipment) around my area any longer. Only small farmers like me for the most part. Anyway I have used the 5050 now for 2 years and it's been just great. I do only about 4000 bales a year off a bunch of small fields. Its been flawless after the initial startup. The estimates to fix my 315 were between $6500 and $8800 from 3 different NH dealers. You have to go almost 200 miles to find 3 NH dealers.... None of them felt comfortable telling me it would be a reliable baler after spending that amount. So, it cost me $16,000. Some say it was foolish (my wife may be on that list) but my heart just couldn't take having hay ready to bale with rain coming and a broken baler--again. My plan is to use the new one for as long as I want/can and then sell it and recover at least some of my money--course I will be too old to spend it.