Briar Hill Brittanys

Well-known Member
Location
Near Jasper, MO
I'm looking for a small square baler, and the 24T seems to fit the bill. I know it's pretty old, but everyone that has/had them talk about how well they work if they are if kept up. I've looked at a few, and don't know much about what to look for. Most of them have been outside exposed to the weather for years, and show it. What are some of the things to look for when checking one out? Loose chains, missing pick-up teeth and strippers, welds and other things show up pretty quickly. How do you check if the plunger head stop works? Can it be done rolling the baler over by hand? Give me some pointers of other things to look for if you were checking one out. Thanks. Mark
 

Check the sheet metal under and ahead of the knotters where the tucker fingers mount. The tucker fingers are a weak point of a JD and if the metal that they are mounted to is not solid they will move while the hay is getting compressed.
 
FWIW - I stacked a wagon behind a 24t years ago. That thing would pound out the most beautiful brick shaped
bales I believe I've ever seen. After stacking behind a 24t, I knew the goal for bale shape when we got our New
Holland 68.

In addition to the 68, we now have a JD348 baler. Lots of similarities, i.e. auger, packer fork, etc. I guess
if it works - stick with the design.

What is the price? If it's scrap metal price and it turns over, i.e. goes through a tying cycle, you are on
your way. If everything is frozen, you got a job. If the price is higher, I'd have the seller run the baler
(after turning it over by hand) and throw some hay into the pickup and see if it makes a bale. Some of the
prices I've seen on the 24t balers (and New Holland 273 balers) - given the lousy condition they were in and
asking price, IMHO those balers should have been barn kept, had nice original paint job and be field ready vs
junk.

Other things that you might want - while you are looking is a wagon hitch set-up on the rear of the baler (and
extended chute) and a pick-up wheel (to follow the terrain).

Don't forget the JD model 336 as you shop around. A more modern baler - much closer to what is being produced
today. That one will give you more capacity at 80 strokes per minute vs 60-65ish on the 24t, however keep in
mind that a 65 strokes per bale baler will keep the wagon hands busy too.

24t - IMHO, a fine baler.

OTOH - don't be afraid of a New Holland baler either - if you can't find a deal on a JD. Both are great
balers/brands. Lots of online tribal knowledge for troubleshooting - lots of parts.

Good luck,
Bill
 
Very fine baler. I bought one last summer and had an accident with it which forced a near total rebuild of needles, tuckers, etc. Expensive mistake but learned a lot about them. I could scan and email you the section of my manual for timing. I would make sure the baler as it sits is in time and PH stop is working. Anything that has sat outside will probably be a fickle old gal until everything is taken apart, rust removed, polished up, reassembled and adjusted. Lots of little things that move in a baler and it all has to be just right.

It took about 100 bales for mine to get fine tuned and polished up before it was tying every time but I'm somewhere between 400 and 450 bales since it missed a knot or broke a twine.

I'd be leery of buying one that sat out unless you like puzzles and already have a good understanding of how the knotters work.

Other weak spot is the overrunning clutch on the front of the baler. The "steps" where the PTO shaft engages in the front wear down and eventually want to start skipping and the part is expensive from JD and not an easy machine shop repair. Just go ahead and replace all the drive chains especially the main drive chain in the front of the machine. It's cheap insurance, you know how many hours or bales are on the chains at that point and worth the $70 or so for chain and master and half links to do the job.
 
I have the last model of 14 t and it hasn't baled 50,000 bales. When my FIL bought a round baler I asked the seller about the old 14 t and he
said he couldn't get it to work and eventually gave it me. After 30 minutes we figured out the rod that operates the stops so you don't hit the
needles were bent we straightened it out and sold the baler for $450. I would check the flywheel for excess movement, the plunger for the
same and turn it over by hand to make sure everything works correctly. Sometimes equipment needs minor things to work correctly.
 
I don't know where you are, but I have a 14T for sale in Northern Maryland. I don't think there's a lot of difference in the 14
and 24T balers.....
 
You mentioned the pickup wheel, to follow the terrain...I started farming from scratch in "72, with a JD 14 T- worked great but with no help, I wanted a thrower... bought a NH 268 in "74, then with more dairy, primarily made haylage til 70 cows went in 2001. So for years I baled very little...some hay, some straw. But early on, I was disgusted with that little pickup wheel, hitting ruts, pickup not turning, low ground, same thing. So, I took the wheel off, and mounted a hyd cyl on the side of the baler, used a chain to lift the pickup in rough ground. Worked very well.
 
If they have done a lot of baling and most of them have being they are 50 years old or more the plunger rails will be worn making it virtually impossible to set up the plunger. I would avoid a 14t. Many parts are differen't from a 24t and are no longer available.
 
Thanks for all the posted info. It was exactly what I was hoping to get. I decided on the 24T for several reasons, tell me if I'm off track. For starters my tractor is a 1020, so I didn't think it would handle much else. I plan to bale 23 acres more or less off 2 different fields, and possibly a couple of other smaller ones. The 24T was recommended by my uncle as a capable baler for my limited needs. He baled with one for years before he went to rounds.

We looked at a couple last week, priced from $650.00 to $1000.00. The cheaper one last baled and 3 years ago had sat outside since. The other baled last fall and was inside a shed. Both turned over by hand, the shedded one with a whole lot less creaking. Going to look at another one tomorrow, and still yet another the day after. Both of them are priced at $1400.00, and are said to be in ready condition.

DLMKA, I would appreciate the scanned timing section. It will give me a reference. I won't have the luxury my uncle being there, and he has forgotten quite a bit about it. Although his eyes lit up and we talked about balers for the 45 minute drive back to his house. What was the accident?

Donjr, I appreciate the offer. It might get a tad pricey getting it to SW Missouri. I'd considered the 14T, just not seeing any for sale around here. Another uncle baled with one, and had good service from it. I believe it's just a little slower.

Again, thanks for the helpful posts. Keep 'em coming as you can. Mark
 
Interesting - hadn't thought of that. Our land is very rolly and lumpy. Without a pickup wheel you are digging dirt with the tines.

However, the latest field we are reclaiming is very rocky, bumpy and basically looks like an old river bottom with some dirt thrown on top of it. I can see the little pickup wheel digging in some there.

My JD348 has a massive pneumatic pickup wheel vs the hard, skinny wheel on the 68.
 
Just wanted to say that I still think the 24T a grand baler.
we got a used one 32 near 32 years ago, and still use it. Does no more than a couple of thousand bales a year depending.
Cost my dad $175.00 Canadian at the time!
Had to add steel strips to take the slogger out of the plunger head when we first got it and it's still good.
Fantastic knotters and never any bother.
Makes lovely bales as mentioned by others.

I think you will be pleased with a 24T!!

Richard.
 

I am not sure about the 24 T but my 336 had angle strips or bar stock that the plunger head rolled on. There was a lot of rust under them which caused the plungerhead to be too tight to hardly move. This is very common. Two years ago someone posted on here about this problem, and argued for three weeks about the need to remove the plungerhead in order to clean the rust out before he broke down and finally did it.
 
First thing to do is order the Operator's Manual and a Parts Catalog for the 24T. There really isn't a service manual, most
of the necessary things are actually in the OM. I rebuilt a 24T and the OM was very helpful in figuring out why my first
bales weren't tying right. I use 7200 sisal twine in mine.

Are you looking for one with a thrower/kicker? I put a #30 hydraulic thrower on mine and it works great.
 
Forgot to mention a couple of other things to look at. On a 24T the plungerhead arm has bushings on both ends...later Deere
balers went to ball bearings I think. OM says to grease every 2 hours, so you know there's going to be some slop because no
one does that. Just make sure if the plungerhead arm is lose that it's just the bushing that's worn and not either the crank
or arm. Bushings are still available from Deere and are around $30 for the crank end and $13 each at the plungerhead (two
are needed).

Also if the baler has been outside look inside the bale chamber to see how rusty it is. There should be a couple of bale
restrictors on either side of the chamber. These can get rusted out if the baler has sat outside with the last bale still in
the chamber and are a good indicator of rust condition.
 
I bought a 14 they said it was junk and wanted 250 for it. Finally got it to turn over lots of oil and grease and found out why it wouldn't tie the bolt holding the needle was loose works ok now but you never know.
 
(quoted from post at 09:49:31 06/01/16) First thing to do is order the Operator's Manual and a Parts Catalog for the 24T. There really isn't a service manual, most of the necessary things are actually in the OM. I rebuilt a 24T and the OM was very helpful in figuring out why my first
bales weren't tying right. I use 7200 sisal twine in mine.

I plan on getting the Operators Manual, waiting to see what the S/N is for whatever I get. Is the Parts Catalog different than the PDF available on JDParts?
 

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