Going to look at a couple balers and have ????'s

Starting to get a little feedback on balers closer by me and will be going to look at a couple. Not knowing a thing about a haybaler, what should I be looking at? Just forget that it's a baler and just make sure that if it should move it moves and if not it don't? No obvious wear or damage?
Let's say that I need a part in the future and it's not available, is there anything on these that a decent machine/welding shop couldn't make?

I expect to find something with trees (maybe not that drastic) growing out of it. If not rusted beyond salvage, can these things be saved by TLC?

Thanks, Dave

Save yourself allot of frustration and stay away from rusty hulks in the weeds. No one will leave a good baler outside to rust. If it's in the weeds it's there for a reason. Buy one you can get parts for. And you will need parts sooner or later on a used baler. Check out the gear box, plunger, and knoter's. Everything else can be a less expensive repair. Also check for "stress marks". all over the machine. These marks are left by a frustrated operator with a large wrench or steel bar.

Save yourself allot of frustration and stay away from rusty hulks in the weeds. No one will leave a good baler outside to rust. If it's in the weeds it's there for a reason. Buy one you can get parts for. And you will need parts sooner or later on a used baler. Check out the gear box, plunger, and knoter's. Everything else can be a less expensive repair. Also check for "stress marks". all over the machine. These marks are left by a frustrated operator with a large wrench or steel bar.

Everything on them is expensive to fix nowadays. Its too easy to
find one in good shape for a good price to bother looking at junk.

Go to a dealer and check out parts prices. A new driveshaft
assembly if missing is hundreds. Overrunning clutch rebuild is a
couple of hundred. Cracked knotter frame, hundreds, even needles
are pricy and these are all basic parts. To completely rebuild a
pickup is into the thousands. It just goes on and on. Find a good
one.

Dave, I have to differ with LEH in that I have seen many times that farmers have parked perfectly serviceable equip. due to fairly minor problems. I know of one farm that parked three serviceable tractors over a twenty year span just for want of tires. My first baler was an old Ford that I got for $25 at auction. That was some time ago but I know that I didn't spend much on it to get it to work well. My second one was a JD 336 which had a hidden problem-- rust under the knotters which would cause a problem in heavy going. Which brings us to what I see as a big caution in balers is to check carefully for structure weakened by rust. If a baler is not at least cleaned frequently the build up of hay and chaff and dust holds moisture making a very good environment for rust.

I wouldn't say that no one would leave a good baler in the weeds - I've seen it happen several times. Problem is after a season or so in the weeds it isn't a good baler anymore.

If you have doubts have them hook it up and toss a couple broken bales into the feeder and see what it kicks out.

We don't have a square baler, but from what I've read, they don't do well when left outside.

The replies here are good ones. I especially agree with dhermesc. If you find one you're interested in, take a couple of bales with you, have them hook up to it, and test it. A couple of bales could save you lots of $$ and frustration.

If you know what brand/model they are You may want to post that info too so the guys here can comment on specific brands for pros/cons parts availability ect. .

If you are planning on a couple of thousand bales a year or less AND can find a reliable custom operator, I'd stay away from one altogether.

But to answer your question. It would cost 5 times as much to rebuild a junker compared to buying a good one. You can spend $1500 on the knotters alone if you hire it fixed.

Things to look for:
1) Do you know the seller/can you trust him to be honest with you about how the baler works?

2)Look for sloppiness in the plunger/crankshaft area. Its a matter of degrees, but things should be fairly tight.

3) Knotters--can you see it tie or trust the seller that it will tie? Check the bill hooks for wear--don't get cut--there is a twine knife on each knotter assembly.

4) If stored outside, walk away.

5) Turn it over by hand using the flywheel, and look at the tightness/sloppiness of all moving parts.

6) If a private sale, the tidiness/cleanliness of the seller's place will tell you a lot.

7) Alfalfa/clover ties easily. Grass hay ties ok. It takes a darned good baler to tie oat or wheat straw. Cornstalks bale hard. The Deeres bale stalks better than the NH's.

8) Spend a little more now and avoid spending a lot more later.

9) HIRE IT DONE




I have had a New Holland 270 and 273--both were good until they just became wore out. I have also had 2 JD 336's and they are REALLY good.

I would just make sure everything works on it. The biggest problem with them being stored outside are the knotters and that whole assembly.
If you can tell that the knotters were always covered up(paint not faded) I wouldn't worry about the outside thing too much. Make sure that you can watch it work. Just undo a couple bales and feed it through if you can. I wouldn't buy if if they can't prove it works. You should also check flywheel play as those bushings are expensive to replace($80cdn)Also check for any major wear on the pickup and fork tracks(that feed the chamber) unless your looking at an auger type set up. Most New Holland balers are good if not worn excessivly. 270 series are particulary good for the price.$500-900

If they have chains be sure to check that the sprockets are not worn.Lots of these on round balers and they can be a b.... to replace.

Hiring anything done is a big problem, just can't find anybody that will do it or they run so fast they leave half the crop on the ground.

(quoted from post at 18:17:49 09/23/09) Hiring anything done is a big problem, just can't find anybody that will do it or they run so fast they leave half the crop on the ground.

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Was going to buy most of my hay from my neighbor. He had it all ready and a guy laid on to roll it. Showed him where everything was and went on about his other work. The guy rolling got sidetracked and forgot more than half of the patches. Rained on it and there is 21 rolls that noone wants. Sucks depending on someone else.

Dave

We have a newholland 311, and it lives outside 24/7 365 days a year. It bales great. I wish we could get it inside (one of the works in progress). One of the biggest things is make sure it looks like it has been maintaned. At the beginning of hay season, everything gets greased and oiled. Gets another grease job mid way through, and another good greasing and oiling, along with cleaning at the end of hay season.