I have a theory as to the mystery of the Long 680 and 580 (?) balers and where they came from.Long made balers for Ford up until the early 60's and then Ford bought the designs etc from Long. New Idea then made the Ford balers until the New Holland purchase. Among these New Idea balers produced were the 542 and 532 balers. After Ford dropped their own New Idea balers, Ford sold their baler design to New Idea, who prior to that had not sold a square baler with their own name. New Idea then sold the 532 as the New Idea 551 and the 542 as the New Idea 571. They also sold the same baler, badged as a Long - to Long. These balers were the Long 580 (aka: Ford 532) and the Long 680 (aka: Ford 542). When IH desided to get out of making their own balers - perhaps with the encouragement of New Idea, they chose New Idea for their baler. I think the IH made balers made for IH were the 435 and the 445. I have not seen these balers, but my guess is they are the same as the Ford 532 and 542 with some minor sheet metal and design changes. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!!! Bill
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