This is not a bash one color vs another thread, more of a historical/experience thread.
Was out and about today and drove buy a farm field I'm familiar with and the baler used there and on a few nearby partials is an old John Deere 336. The hay was third cutting mixed grass and plenty of weeds. They milk these fields for all the grass they can get with few inputs each year.
Bottom line - the bales spit out by old 336, from a close highway view, looked to be solid bricks. They were baled out on the ground. Not a lot of bales given how dry it is here and a surely thin windrows, but the field was littered with really nice looking bales of hay. Impressive.
I gather in the early 70's, square bales were still king as round balers hadn't made inroads on the farms so much???
I'm thinking the New Holland 268 and 273 balers were the 336's competitor. However, the 336 brought with it 80 strokes per minute, I'm thinking the 268/273 were 65? Would the 336 have been priced out of range of a small acreage farmer with a MF 135 or Ford 3000 tractor and they turned to the 268/273 balers (assuming they were lower priced). There are certainly a ton of 273 balers out there.
What did New Holland counter with on square balers to compete with the JD 336? Was there ever a time JD out sold New Holland square balers? I'm guessing if they did, it was with the 336.
What do you remember from those days when new New Holland and new John Deere 336 balers dominated the hayfields?
Just curious.
Thanks,
Bill
Was out and about today and drove buy a farm field I'm familiar with and the baler used there and on a few nearby partials is an old John Deere 336. The hay was third cutting mixed grass and plenty of weeds. They milk these fields for all the grass they can get with few inputs each year.
Bottom line - the bales spit out by old 336, from a close highway view, looked to be solid bricks. They were baled out on the ground. Not a lot of bales given how dry it is here and a surely thin windrows, but the field was littered with really nice looking bales of hay. Impressive.
I gather in the early 70's, square bales were still king as round balers hadn't made inroads on the farms so much???
I'm thinking the New Holland 268 and 273 balers were the 336's competitor. However, the 336 brought with it 80 strokes per minute, I'm thinking the 268/273 were 65? Would the 336 have been priced out of range of a small acreage farmer with a MF 135 or Ford 3000 tractor and they turned to the 268/273 balers (assuming they were lower priced). There are certainly a ton of 273 balers out there.
What did New Holland counter with on square balers to compete with the JD 336? Was there ever a time JD out sold New Holland square balers? I'm guessing if they did, it was with the 336.
What do you remember from those days when new New Holland and new John Deere 336 balers dominated the hayfields?
Just curious.
Thanks,
Bill