[noacres]

I'm going to do one better on my small square baler.

I need one that's going to put together about 450 bales on a run without me needing to be too smart.


What is the old bullet proof baler that was king of it's day, they made a million of them and they kept on chugging day after day?


Somehow my guess is it's going to be one of the New Hollands.


I see a lot of 273's and 315's out on the sale boards.


Looking to spend under $5k, might go about 6k for a pretty special old unit.


I'm pretty sure on PolyTwine or Sisal, not wire. No thrower, probably hay rack hitch.


Is there a model you think I should zero in on, and perhaps a bit about why?


Thanks in advance for your advice. -NoAcres

 

[uthinkyourwet?]

I bought a 276 a few years back. Has missed 2 bales out of a thousand maybe. I really like the old girl. I bought it at an auction for 1000 bucks. I made a turner for it this summer and bought a 1033 wagon, which is heaven.

Parts are still available. There is a GREAT youtube video about the tying and timing etc. of new holland knotters and balers. It save me PILES of heartache when I was not familiar with how it all worked. Once you know, it is easy to set and maintain.

My NH dealer has everything available for it.

I know some guys have had real good luck with MF balers, like the 124 etc. Chris H would know, maybe he will chime in. Or do a search about my query a few years back on this site. I think it was called small square baler. There was a duplicate, but with different responses called small square MALER, which gave a few a bit of a chuckle. Still don't know how that happened.

With small squares selling for twice the price per lb as rounds, and high demand for straw bales, I got the wagon to explore this field as a bit of a market to try to tap into.

 

[Boondock Farmer]

Try to find a New Holland 375 or 385. Those are pretty good.

 

[tbone95]

First, no, you don't want wire unless ....well, no, you don't want wire.

We bought an NH 273 brand new in 197x? '75 maybe? In any case, in those days we put up 8-10,000 squares a year, until about 1990 we started making some rounds. Since then we put up 2000 - 2500, and the only time it misses a bale is usually when you tie a crappy splice in the twine. You can't cram hay in there super fast, but it will go and go. You can do your 450 in an afternoon, no problem.

 

[Christian A. Herrnboeck]

Massey Ferguson 124 with a SureTie knotter.


Make really nice, heavy bales. Easy to maintain. Well Built. Parts readily available.

Can buy one for $2,000. and you'll almost never have to fiddle with the knotters.



Edit: You called it, Dale! LOL!!!!

 

[noacres]

Thanks for the feedback, It will take me some time to get one bought, so I appreciate further input as people have a few minutes.

-noacres

 

[uthinkyourwet?]

Massey Ferguson 124 with a SureTie knotter.


Make really nice, heavy bales. Easy to maintain. Well Built. Parts readily available.

Can buy one for $2,000. and you'll almost never have to fiddle with the knotters.



Edit: You called it, Dale! LOL!!!!

Chris, my cell service has been deplorable, and I hardly carry this time of year. Even though we haven't chatted in a bit, I still know you well enough that you were red before red was on fashion! lol.

Was the sure tie what MF called it, or was it an add on? And how much bigger was the 128?

Do you still do some baling?

 

[gwagen]

We have a new holland 311 hayliner that was bought new on the farm late 70's early 80's somewhere in there. Up until 97-98 it did 20,000 squares of hay and straw every year.

Now it does maybe 5000 per year, but aside from new belt on the thrower, new drive belts, some wear items on the knotter, really not much more than maintenance has been done to it.

Been a great baler and is still going strong.

 

[RWT]

Our farm has owned several kinds of square balers over the years.Massey 12 was ok for its time,New Holland has those tracks and rollers on the forks that sweep hay into the bale chamber,always problems with that system.JD 336 worked the best for me.

 

[deetwocat]

Go with a old NH I have a old 316 I bought new in 1986 it has done 20,000 bails per year for the first 15 years just only did normal wear stuff for repairs ,only do 1000 straw now days that bailer put a few kids through universit. Nine out of ten small sq here are New Holland .

 

[RCCFarmsMN]

I've really liked our JD 336 baler. My grandpa has had it since new and I run it now. IMO one of the best small square balers around, plus I like the kicker mechanism better than NH's. I have never run any other baler than a 336 , but I have never had any problems with them at all. One thing though, just because you see a lot of something on the sales lots doesn't always mean its good .

 

[Trent]

JD 346. Solid bales, no problems in 20 years.

 

[Christian A. Herrnboeck]

Chris, my cell service has been deplorable, and I hardly carry this time of year. Even though we haven't chatted in a bit, I still know you well enough that you were red before red was on fashion! lol.

Was the sure tie what MF called it, or was it an add on? And how much bigger was the 128?

Do you still do some baling?

SureTie was the pattented knotter system that MF came up with... The very first 120/124s didn't have it but it quickly became standard. Much better than the old setup with all the gears and cogs of a MF12.


128, now if I remember from the service manual... operates at higher plunger strokes, and is built a bit heavier... I have no idea how much more capacity it has though.

 

[YODA]

I would recommend getting and older Hesston inline like my 4550 model. It has been flawless so far and dummy friendly. Parts are pretty interchangeable with current models and easy to come by.

 

[farmshop]

We run a 336 deere. We only do 2000 a year but no problems. For 4-500 a year they should last for ever. We had a new holland for a while just didn't seem to work the 24 t deere would bale circles around the bigger new holland.

 

[brazil07]

Different opinion of MF 124

Was many years ago, but we only ran MF 124 square balers(had good relationship with people that serviced them - only good thing) and do not have any good memories of them - actually could expand that to all parts of the square baling operation. Must be getting over those memories as have been fiddling with some hay business past few years and actually looking to expand on this. Have not committed to any new equipment yet, but would have to agree with the "good" JD comments on this thread - and we do not run another piece of green equipment.

 

[dutchdeutz]

Used to run nh 278, have a 228 MF now and am amazed with easier setting of knotters. Both good balers but this MF is my favorite so far.