Boy wants a guesstimate on used rakes and bailers

Farmallb

Well-known Member
My boy called me. We talked about the place he is getting.He said he had seen prices on CL in round Tulsa for rakes at tween $350 and $750. And bailers for $1000/$1500. I said it sounded high for the rakes, and low for the bailers.
I go to a BIG sale outside Tulsa run by the Amish the first Sat of the month. I told him he should check out hay rakes there, as they are cutting hay by now, and in 2 weeks most of it will have been cut and people will be bringing their equipment back to sell. Okies don't like having machinery set around, so they buy it, use it, then resell it till next time. I said that there, there would likely be several rakes to look at whereas a rake for sale on CL will likely be only one unless he wants to drive all over looking at various rakes which could be sold by the time he got there.
I said that he might should look for bailers on CL, as he could guage the sellers spiel about it and maybe even see a demonstration, BUT I said that id rather think that bailers would run from $1,500 to $2,000 for one worth hauling home.
Whats your thoughts. Hes got only 10 acres. Probably 9 in pararie grass.
 
i would say your $750 might get you a rake that is in good shape,,,,$2000 should get you a good useable baler,,its all going to depend on brand and shape equipment is in.
 
Around here you have 2 ways to get a cheap implement: Go to an auction and hope nobody else wants it or buy from a retiring or upgrading farmer. On what you get, that's anybody's guess. It really helps to know what you are buying so you don't have to learn the hard way the soft points of your potential investments and know as to whether or not it is a good or reasonable purchase. Want more just ask me. I spent 37 years attending Hard Knocks U. and still have no sheep skin.
 

I bought my first baler at a dealer's surplus auction for $25.00. It was a rusty old Ford 250 that needed work but it appeared to be all there. I don't think that I put much into it and that I used it for three or four seasons before upgrading. I am pretty sure that I got $450.00 when I sold it.
 
Around here that would be low for a rake. I can't believe what folks want for old rakes. 1500-2000 easy.
Decent price for a baler though. Prices on those seem a bit lower lately.
 
a baler, combine and bar mower can be some of the most worrisome tools you can ever use.

tell him to save his money and buy the (best baler) he can buy or have a neighbor lined up with a proven good baler to bale his hay, when its down on the ground, his baler will not work and rain is coming.

you can hang an old rake together and keep going (sometimes)

first thing to check, what dealerships are local as with a bailer you are going to need parts.
I would only buy a used new Holland or john deere baler.

just my two cents.

however, others will chime in with stories of other brand balers that have been in the family for years and have baled 1000's of bales of hay, but I bet they did not buy those balers at a farm sale or used equipment sale for a $1000

good luck with the bailer
let us know what you buy and show a picture of it baling
 
If you get real lucky you can find a baler for $500-1000 around here. Probably have to budget $1500 tho. The trouble is sorting out a good well kept one from a worn out one. They all seem to go the same price, just depends what you stumble upon. I'm assuming you are looking at more or less nH 69 through 271 models, good older proven if lower capacity type balers. Couple JD models in the same status. I would rather have a good $2000 one than a cantankerous $250 baler, life is too short to put up with a poor baler....

Rakes, well a good nh 55-256 goes $300 when I hear about it, $1800 and higher when I'm standing there looking at one at auctions. Crazy. You can get by with a poorer rake pretty easy, at least starting out.

Paul
 
LOL

I bought a 750 dollar baler 9 years ago cuz I had my hay rained on twice while waiting for my helpful neighbor to show up with his baler.
Very little trouble, I have had 1 broken part that I was able to weld up and keep going till I had time to buy a new one.


hay3.JPG
 
I bought my IH 47 baler for $600 from a retired farmer. Replaced several wear parts on the pickup and used it two years without an issue until the pinion bearing went out (I should have paid more attention to the extra noise it was making). Couldn't pull the gears with my cheap tools and paid the dealer do it. Apparently it required a lot of heat and no small amount of knowledge on how it all pressed together. With 2 new bearings and retiming it I spent $800 in repairs. Two years later its humming along after a few adjustments this winter to the needle cradle. I've made over 1200 bales this spring so far without an infield repair or even a broken bale. So I have $1400 in a "good" working baler but it doesn't stop me from looking out for a spare/replacement. In their prime any baler can make you pull your hair out, at 50 years old a good working one may be just a matter of luck.


Recently watched another 47 baler sell at a retirement farm auction - missing a few pickup teeth and a little neglected (operator was 80+) but overall looked like it had less wear than mine - except the exact same pinion bearing was going out on it. I thought I'd see if it went cheap enough to buy for parts - some guy ran it up to $1450 - hope he has the knowledge to replace that bearing.
 
In my case $500 was the magic number. After looking a long time, (all one fall at least) I found a MF 3 baler at $500, a New Idea belt drive rake for $450 and a New Holland 467 Haybine for $500. I did have to work on the Haybine a bit to get it functional, but the rake and baler worked from the get go. I hay about the same amount of acres your son has, just in 4 different locations.
 

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