New Holland 273 baler

The baler has sat outside unprotected for about 5-6 years. There is modest surface rust, but the sheet metal is great. The knotters are rusted but look like they've had little wear; I've been using an old NH Super 68 baler for the last few years, so I've got some experience tinkering with the knotter mechanisms.

Thanks for any input.

There is a company advertising in the Progressive Hay Farmer that has stroke counter. They are called Lehman Brothers in Amity, Oregon. Might give them a shout about their units.

Jim

We have added the following to our baler to help improve our baling:

Lights - Added one light shining into the pickup, one light shining forward from over the pickup, two lights shining back to help with stacking.

Moisture Tester - A Farmex in-chamber moisture tester to monitor the moisture as we bale.

Stroke Counter - We added a stroke counter to better regulate the number of strokes per bale. This has helped our bale consistency quite a bit.

Preservative Applicator - We added a preservative applicator with a remote control rheostat for the use of either Propionic Acid based hay preservative or a blend of Organic Acid Salts, Antioxidants, and Microbes. We have "saved" several cuttings of hay by using a preservative.

We will be upgrading our baler in the near future. I don't know which baler yet, but it will be in the NH 570 class. We will look hard at the Hesston in-line balers, though.

Jim

I have a NH 273 Hayliner that I've had for about 8 years now. I frankly don't remember what year it was made, but I imagine it's about 30 years old. I bale at least two and usually three cuttings of grass hay on twenty acres every year. I usually have about 5 or 6 bales each year that fail to tie, but other than that, it works perfectly.

Since I'm not nearly as clever as most of the guys on this forum, I don't do any maintenance on the baler except that I grease it EVERY time I take it to the field. I leave the old hay in the chamber and the bale that is in the knotter mechanism at the end of each year. When those first two bales come out the next year, I just throw them away.

I have had tremendous success with my 273. I hope you do too.

Tom in TN