John Deere 116W Baler

Bill VA

Well-known Member
Was the John Deere 116W the first "automatic" square baler they made? What years were they made, was the 14t the replacement?

Who was the competition/model of that baler's production run?

Just saw a 116W on YouTube. Definitely an unusual looking baler.

Below is a link to the JD 116W

Just curious.

Thanks!
Bill
JD 116W Video
 
Seen one at a show p.t.o drive on a b . Can see why they didn't go kinda hard to pull a wagon and load behind but the design and idea is good
 
46 to 56 in two versions and I have one of each. Took to shows a few times as that is why I got them, getting too old to do that anymore. The 14T came out in 55 as the first twine tie made by Deere with the 14W following after the 116W was no longer produced. Was not a Deere wire baler sold in area after the twine baler came out. And the previous model (cannot think of model now) was punch the wires and hand tie. The New Holland 66 was out a few years before the 14T and if not for that doughtfull Deere would have gotten away from wire tie. There was a 114W that was a 2' smaller bale chamber than the 116W and it went into production in about 50, same time that they went to second version of the 116W. The 116W compition from IHC would have been the 55W. Not sure of the New Holland number78?, 77 was twine. Don't thik you could around here give away wire tied hay. Those 116W would leave a short piece of wire loose on every bale. Too many cows got hardware diease from that.
 
The wagon loading equipment was designed and first built be a blacksmith-welding shot 30 mile from me but they never pattened it so when Deere saw one they started making them. I have one of the orignal loading units for each of the 116W that I have.
 
Heres my JD 116W sitting in a shed 10 miles away just before I bought it 7-8 years ago.....I have another one thats pto driven but can't find a picture of it...

Many years ago I used to ride a bale sled behind the neighbors 116W..That was a fun job..
ri803n.jpg
 
I agree about the design. Hay only has to make one 90 degree turn instead of two. Far as loading goes that would not have been an issue for us. We just went along with the Farmall M with the Farmhand loader/basket and scooped up 10-12 bales at a time, dumped on the back of the grain truck with the sides removed, stacked them, and hauled them to the farm.
 
JD offered wire tie balers up into the 7 series which would be the 80s. My neighbor has a Freeman that is about that vintage that is wire tie. Guys were still buying them but I think most hay was commercial.
 
My uncle had a 116. they pulled a hay sled also off to the side. as I remember bales were pretty heavy
 
I have one that I was going to restore, but have too many projects ahead of it. It is complete with the wagon hitch and the curved bale chute. This was the first baler I had back in the late 50's/early 60's. Traded it for a 46 IH baler which would never bale the hay that the JD did.
 
(quoted from post at 22:32:27 10/07/16) JD offered wire tie balers up into the 7 series which would be the 80s.

JD 348 balers are available with wire tie. My neighbor has a 348 wire tie that I've helped him with wire tying problems.
 
(quoted from post at 21:35:32 10/07/16) The 14T came out in 55 as the first twine tie made by Deere with the 14W following after the 116W was no longer produced. Those 116W would leave a short piece of wire loose on every bale. Too many cows got hardware diease from that.

In wire tie a 214W model followed the 114W/116W models as there was no JD model 14W sq baler. I agree 114W/116W & 214W('57-'59) were notorious for leaving pieces of wire sitting on the bales because those models twisted wire on each end of bales utilizing twister boxes. 214WS('58-'63) & later model wire tie balers with twister hooks didn't leave these pieces of wire if it was adjusted & tying properly

41239.jpg
 
(quoted from post at 19:19:50 10/07/16) Heres my JD 116W sitting in a shed 10 miles away just before I bought it 7-8 years ago.....I have another one thats pto driven but can't find a picture of it...

Many years ago I used to ride a bale sled behind the neighbors 116W..That was a fun job..
ri803n.jpg
Would be cool to see that one restored! just my opinion. Does anyone know how many were manufactured?
 
I have a engine drive one here I would sell in Wyoming been sitting for at least 45 years that I know of, I wanted to restore it but I really doubt I will
cnt
 
The 116W was the first auto tie bale for WIRE, but NH had a twine tie out prior, I believe. My grandfather bought one of the first 116Ws, one of the first 100 built. All the intital balers were recalled and modified the first year, as the case that held the knotters/twisters was not heavy enough at first. The case would flex, and the baler would not tie. My grandfather never had the issue, but his baler went back anyway. He claimed his didn't bother because he only had a JD B to run the thing, and it didn't have the power to cause the flexing.

He did a lot of custom baling that first year or so, and paid off the baler and a mountain of wire in one season. He then bought a later model 116W, one of the later style and traded in the original. We still have the 2nd one in a back corner of the shed.

They are a kind of a neat machine. The design was not compact, but it was effiecient in that there were no bevel gears to run the plunger, and the hay did not have to change direction to enter the bale case.

A last downfall to the design... the plunger crank came out the side. If you werent careful, a turning crank could beat the #$%^ out a fence that got to close, or even a hay rack!
 

The REAL nice things about the 116W was it didn't work the baler forward and back..wearing the drawbar and transmission..and how NARROW it could be compacted down to for travel or storage..

Remember...the pick-up raised and ended up on top of the PTO (Hitch tube), the tensioners would slip right under the top Forks.

Every concrete floor I have was Broken from the weight of pallets of 80 lb boxes of wire...!!

My Mother actually did more Custom baling than Dad,,we used a Late styled JD "B" at first, then used an AC WD-45 on it .

It sure would punch out some Hay..Dad liked to have a bale every 5-6 strokes of the plunger ( 52 cycles per minute)..

When Fall came, he would bale Hay at Big Bear Farms..for "Pre-Season Football Practice"..He'd make em any way the Coaches asked..!!
 
You had to go to a newer model to get one with only 2 coils. All the 116 & 114 used 4 coils, one on each side on both top and bottom as bale was tied at both ends, not like the later balers that tied with only one knot like the string models. And there was no reserve coil so you had to know exactly when the coil was going to run out to get a new one put in. And those coils are heavy.
 
Saw one of these at an auction last winter. Sold really cheap, $150 or so if I remember. It was one owner and had never spent a night outside. I think it would have made bales with nothing more than a few pumps of grease. This one even had the bale chute to turn the bales and hook a wagon to. Looked like a terrible set-up but thought it would have made a neat restoration piece for shows. I still kick myself for not buying it but it was up on a hill in terrible conditions with thawing snow/ice.
 

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