|
Here in East Texas there are still a few running. Aquired a 542 year before last as the baling season was ending. The man I got it from was quiting baling (age & health reasons, plus he said the old baler just wasn't making as nice a bale as it used to and was miss tying a lot and he didn't want to have to spend any money on it)and was included in deal with cutter, tedder & rake -- needed the tedder, but the deal was all or none and the price was right! (The man was 'not' greatly mechanically inclined, fixed only the absolutely have to fix stuff! Never adjusted nothing till it completely quit!) He had run it for approx. 10 years @ 1000 - 1200 bales per year. Adjusted the needles to get them close to where they should be, tightned the bolts holding the knotter assy to the frame and hooked it up last year and run about 30 bales with it just to see if it 'might' still work. Results were promising, dealer costs est. for bearings, bushings, missing springs & hay dogs was close to $300 not counting the billhooks that I filed the grooves out of. Only thing I know of that he ever replaced on it was the clutch a couple of times and had the drive shaft redone (reinforced with pipe) from twisting it with the clutch being too tight..... ...the baler doesn't have a shear pin, just the clutch that goes to slipping (burning or twisting the drive shaft) if you plug it up or if something gets out of time and the plunger stop stops the plunger. This is the worst thing I think I don't like about it!! Second worst would be the pick-up, doesn't clean grass hay up off the ground nearly as well as my NH 273. Garry PS.. Ya'll be sure to check and make sure that the spring that pulls the plunger stop in place and the needle carriage brake is working.....this old baler didn't have any brake padding and didn't even have the spring on it!! The man said he didn't know if it had ever even had them to begin with!! Talk about being lucky all those years...never broke a needle...
| 
