Ford 532 Baler

As for who built this baler I will answer here for both this post and the one from yesterday. Long Manufacturing of Tarboro NC built the original Dearborn baler (I have the numbers at the house but am not there) it also sold as the Long Model 60 baler. I actually have a letter from a Ford regional rep asking dealers to send people in to a centralized location for training by Long. Long continued to manufacture the following Ford balers the 150, 250, & 350 until the early 60"s. Somewhere around that time Long produced a new design for Ford known as the Model 530. It was the first blue and white baler. The Model 150 was then painted blue and white and called the Model 520 and the 350 was re-colored and sold as the model 540. Long was producing its own baler, the 680, to compete with the 530 and apparently Ford was not pleased. Soon it seems that Long sold the design to Ford and stopped production on its 680 and Ford took the design elsewhere and had it manufactured. I have not been able to determine exactly where that was but some indicators point to New Idea as the contract manufacturer for Ford. Minor modifications to the 530 led to the 532 and 542 and the 520 and 540 were dropped. If you go to the FBBA website below, I have pictures of a Long 680 and an advertising brochure as well. The information I have put here is law and gospel but it is the best history I have been able to piece together from interviews with long time Long employees and internal Ford / New Holland sources. Go to the website and look at the photo album.

• FBBA Website