Need advice on baler and rake

Casevac121

New User
I need to know what brand of baler and rake are good. I will be using both on a case vac tractor so that is a factor. If you know where any balers or rakes are for sale that would be a big help. Not looking to spend a whole lot. I would perfer to trade for a baler and rake. I'm located in hillsboro ohio. Thanks
 
Balers: New Holland 268, 273, 311 or if in good shape, especially the plunger, a model 68. Deere 24t or 336 - newer if you can find a deal.

Rakes - New Holland 256

Good luck,
Bill
 
The New Holland line of equipment are pretty much top of the line when it comes to hay equipment and JD is right behind them but you also pay for the JD brand in parts etc.
But one problem you may have is that the VAC is rated at 18HP which is a bit lacking in power to run a baler. I know I sure would not even think about doing it let alone try it with a VAC. Not saying it will not do it but if it does it will be right at if not a bit over its max and well may cause problems unless you find a baler with it own engine then you should be fine. Now if you have a lot of hills the VAC maybe a bit to small and the baler could end up pushing you around which is not a safe thing
 

Thanks old I would be bailing flat land no hills. A bailer with its own motor like a McCormick 55w? Would it work
 
I'm a okay mechanic and I figured out the knotters on a NH269 and had a IH #5 pull side delvery rake. I sold them both for what I
could get out of them after two years of nothin' but hell on the 269. The side delivery roped the winrows (took a long time to
dry) and was PITA to manuever in smaller fields. What I bought as replacement was a inline Hesston 4550 small square baler and a
Morra RM280 rotary rake 3 pt. and for mowing I have a SFI 2555 drum mower. I just have to equipment that when I get home from the
day job that I can hookup and go and not spend all night fixing break downs. You guys can fight the older offset balers if you
want and there is still parts and service for them, but for me, been there and done that, I had to move on. bjr
 
I would not get that something that old - especially an IH/McCormick - parts near are impossible to find for IH balers older than the 440 and 430 (and even those can be difficult) and the "big" 50 series is its own brand of rarity.



Just something to consider when hay is down and rain is coming.
 
I'm sorry I'm not familiar with your tractor for features.

35 hp and a live or independent pto makes baling fun. Having 5, 6, or 8, or more gears to select from makes it even more fun.

Under 30 hp or no live pto makes for a long day, but certainly lots of bales have been made that way if one cares to deal with the issues.
Having only 4 gears to pick from means you likely would be baling very slow all the time....

Put your money into a good baler. That is the meat and potatoes of the deal. You can live with a cheap poorer rake.

New Holland came up with a good knotter first, and has pretty much kept about the same design on them since. Anything model 69 or newer
was a good machine from the factory. The trouble is sorting out the wore out shot machines from a good one worth owning....

John Deere also got things right with the 14T, tho most of those are pretty worn out by now. The 24T was a little better.

I get scared of other makes of small square older balers, there just is t the parts support, and knowledge, left on them, and many did not have a
good reputation for tying knots dependably. That doesn't mean don't buy, but.... You may get what you pay for.....

For a side rake a New Holland 55, 56, 256 are the real deal, JD also had similar models, but going cheap with a rake to start out is fine, as long
as all the parts work about any old one will get you baling.

There will be many good and different opinions, these are my simple observations.

Paul
 
I would stay away from a baler other then a Hew Holland or JD. As for one with it own engine that was an option on many of the New Holland balers as well as the JD's. Another problem with a tractor like the VAC is no live PTO and t being small and light you will feel like your on a rocking horse when your pulling it in the field. Years ago I used my Ford 841 to bale with. It had more then enough power but you felt the plunger going forward and back and if you stopped you could see the tractor move forward and back ward with the plunger movement.
 
good rakes-New Holland 55-56,jd rakes are ok and I have heard the Massey 6 bars work good, bad rake-any IH model, I never liked New Holland the banana maker balers unless you have a round barn, with a vac you're going to need one with an engine
 
The big thing with the McCormick No. 5 rake is the low front axle in that if you have big winrows then they might drag undr the axle. And as for where he says about roping the rows and taking too long to dry. He is raking before it is time to rake and that tight winrow that he calls roping if you rake at the proper time that tight winrow will keep it from blowing away with just a slight breeze. All I have ever used is the style of that McCormick altho mine were New Idea, John Deere and David Bradley. And I would not own a rotary rake, that style was tried a hundred years ago and dropped as not working. And the parallel bar rakes are the ones to have to chase down blown away winrows. With that tractor you do need an engine and you do not want a high capacity baler that most newer ones are. We baled for years with a 2N Ford (about same size as rhat Case) and a New Holland 66 with engine pulling a wagon and at that time when fairly new one could not keep up stacking on the wagon as fast as the baler could put them out. And that baler is rated at less capacity than any of the newer ones listed.
 
There's something to be said for reliable equipment - especially when you only have a few hours in the evening after the day job.
 
(quoted from post at 12:21:18 06/15/16) massey makes good baler # 10 or #9 the 10 has 3forks 5ftpick the9 has 2 forks 4ft pick up

new holand copy them

My MF 224 keeps spitting out the bales where my JD used to break shear bolts.
 
I agree with bjr. The inline Hesston is an absolute dream compared with to a side pull anything. We take with a NH 56 that gets the job done
but it is not the best. With the inline Baler I rake double windrows. I have "raked" with the 4 star Tedder and baled with the inline and a
Hesston 530 round baler with no problems. With a vac I would go with a NH 55-56 rake and a baler with an engine .
 
If Case VAC is about 2500 to 3000 pounds and 20 to 25 HP, I would consider using an engine driven baler.
 
Thanks guys I think I found 2 rakes as of now. Ones unknown make and the other is JD 640 rake. As far as balers I'm still looking like I said not looking to spend a whole lot. This is mainly for fun/hobby for now. Not looking to make money on hay or bale thousands of bales.
 
I agree it is under what it takes to run them. I have a buddy that bales for his cattle so ill have him bale it if need be. Thanks for all the advice everyone. Old I got your email thanks.
 
I'd stay away from the 640 rake. They're typically 4 bar, and the front dolly wheel assembly isn't as heavy duty as it should be. A lot of them have been busted and welded back up. Deere started making good rakes with the 660 and newer. I have one I bought last fall. It's every bit as good as any New Holland rake. I also have two of those as well - a 258 and a 260. I use those rakes on a gooseneck hitch built to pull them tandem. All three of these rakes are very good, as well as a 256, if your mower is 9 feet or smaller. The little VAC will pull any rake fine. I pull a single rake with an 18 hp 1944 B. Never wish I had more power.

I don't think you're gonna enjoy baling with a VAC, but that's your business. 336 John Deere balers are good, though maybe a bit beyond what a VAC can handle.
 
(quoted from post at 21:18:42 06/15/16) I'd stay away from the 640 rake. They're typically 4 bar, and the front dolly wheel assembly isn't as heavy duty as it should be. A lot of them have been busted and welded back up. Deere started making good rakes with the 660 and newer. I have one I bought last fall. It's every bit as good as any New Holland rake. I also have two of those as well - a 258 and a 260. I use those rakes on a gooseneck hitch built to pull them tandem. All three of these rakes are very good, as well as a 256, if your mower is 9 feet or smaller. The little VAC will pull any rake fine. I pull a single rake with an 18 hp 1944 B. Never wish I had more power.

I don't think you're gonna enjoy baling with a VAC, but that's your business. 336 John Deere balers are good, though maybe a bit beyond what a VAC can handle.

I have had a 640 for some time that I bought used. I agree that the front wheel set-up is light, but here is how I overcame it. When I got it two of the bolt holes at the front were wallowed out, and wouldn't hold a bolt. After fighting it for two seasons I bought a new block for the front junction and welded washers onto the frame pieces to strengthen the holes. I then carried a 3/4 wrench on the front of the rake and tightened the bolts every time I used it until they stayed tight. It took probably eight times before they got tight enough. The rake has stayed straight and solid now for probably ten years.
 
IH rakes are rope makers, always have been whether bit is dry or not. That's why I don't like them. it's just the way it is.
 
And that is why I like that type of rake, a nice TIGHT winrow, not something that is spread out wider than baler pickup and so loose that the pickup will not pick it up and that the slightest breeze has the hay scatered all over.
 
(quoted from post at 07:11:11 06/16/16) And that is why I like that type of rake, a nice TIGHT winrow, not something that is spread out wider than baler pickup and so loose that the pickup will not pick it up and that the slightest breeze has the hay scatered all over.

Leroy, What do you suppose all these guys who hate the roll-a-bar rakes, now that they have rotaries, used before they got their rotaries? Maybe horse drawn dump rakes?
 
Years ago we had a Case VAC and had to bale a couple times with it hooked to a 24T JD baler way too much for the VAC,good tractor to rake with though.Find yourself an old
Allis Chalmers WD or WD45 they are cheap and with the hand clutch they're really good to run a square baler.As far as rakes New Holland 256 or 56.I tried one of those big wheel rakes
hated the thing had about to rake in road gear to get it to rake hay and then it loosened up every rock in the field.
 
The only bailer your going to be able to pull with a VAC is a bailer with an engine on it. I have a 4 cyl air cooled engine on my 140 W Case hay bailer. Its so heavy that I don't think a VAC could keep from nosing up, but it could be pulled with the HP of a VAC.

SPEND PLENTY OF MONEY on a good bailer. There NOTHING more of an irritation than having a bailer that don't tie. When you get a bailer REPLACE A L L OF THE CHAINS. Grease the fire out of it. and oil where necessary. There are DANG FEW square bailer mechanics left around now. Im in hay country and my bailer hasn't tied in years. I moved and maybe found someone who can fix it. Well see.
 
Tractor data says 17 claimed, 21 tested so their may be other figures floating around depending on how they were rated or tested.
 
Ya but either way 17 or 18 or even 21 is on the small side of pulling and powering a hay baler
 
How many bales a year do you plan to bale? I used to bale with a VAC and a New Holland Super 66 baler. The rake was an Allis Chalmers ground driven rake that had a belt to turn the rake teeth. They worked pretty well. You need a baler with a motor. I have baled with a Case SC and a PTO driven Massey Ferguson No. 12 baler. That's a pretty good baler.
 

I have a NH 270 square baler that I bale around 500 bales a year with. Before we switched to round bales I baled thousands of bales with a Massy 12, It wont bale as fast as a NH but it made really nice bales.
As for rakes get a NH 56 or 256, some parts for the 55 are becoming hard to get.
 
other brands of rakes will make a nice windrow without winding it up so you pull in 20 feet of hay when you stop, the point I am making is that there are several good rakes and there is no reason to own a bad one
 
I have never seen where it would pull in hay like that in my 72 years, could it be the type of hay you have. Here it is alfalfa, red clover, timothy or orchard grass. None of it could hang together to pull like that.
 

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