Best "cheap" square baler?

[Tx Jim]

Are you running with a YM1802 or an YM1820?

My machine is rated at 26Hp PTO and the balers I posted about work with this range, just like his Ford models.

I once tried the JD19T. The only downside with that series is the hard kick each cycle that shakes the back-end of the tractor. It's a common theme with the series. With filled rear tires, the kick/jolt isn't as badly felt in the seat.

JD didn't manufacture a model 19T maybe you meant 14T.

Many yrs ago just for kicks I successfully pulled my families baler which was a JD214WS with my JD BO that has trans driven/no live pto that has only 14 horsepower.

One good thing concerning JD sq balers built when 336/346 began being manufactured is the models have not changed much up through todays balers & a lot of parts will interchange. JD small sq balers of that era have only 2 roller chains that might require timing.

As other stated JD small sq balers are known for making square bales if operated as designed.

 

[Cycledude]

Growing up I bailed a lot of hay successfully with John Deere 14T bailers.
Later years switched to New Holland bailer, which seemed to be a little more reliable at tying bales but the bales didn’t look as good as John Deere bales.
Surprisingly I did bale some with a Massey Ferguson bailer and was pretty impressed with everything about it, really wasn’t expecting that.

 

[Hay Dude]

IMO, it’s more the way the baler is tuned, than the brand. If you have a good local guy who can tweak your baler to run just right, or you can do it yourself, that’s the best situation.

 

[jack9166]

I pulled a New Holland 310 sq baler with a wagon behind it with a 30hp Kubota. I baled 30 acres of hay with that set up for years. Never had a problem. I have flat ground. I say to go with the NH 316. I tried a couple older balers but they were just worn out

 

[Southernspeed]

I had a Ford 530 , very well used, tired example. 'ran when parked'! I messed around with it for weeks before I could get it to reliably tie. I bought some new, some used parts and made a couple of unavailable parts. I did one season with it, it would drop a knot on around 3-4% of bales which I was ok with. But doing squares on your own sucks when you're in your 60s. Picking up and loading a wagon gets old quick.
I ran that behind a MF 2850M, it really rocked me about with the push/pull motion.
Also, consider where you're getting it from. They'll fit on a 8ft wide trailer but are hard to load due to the offset. Same applies with flat towing, the offset makes you a wide rig running down the road, wide and slooow!

 

[Hay Dude]

I pulled a New Holland 310 sq baler with a wagon behind it with a 30hp Kubota. I baled 30 acres of hay with that set up for years. Never had a problem. I have flat ground. I say to go with the NH 316. I tried a couple older balers but they were just worn out

It’s funny because I had one of them, too. Or maybe it was a 315….can’t remember.
Anyways, I had a JD 336 and a NH 315 or 316.

Both were pretty good, but I paid a lot less for the 336.

 

[Lstlk2hi]

I've been looking a bit for a "cheap" square baler. (We've been thinking about making an acre or 2 for small use).

I don't have a square baler and haven't actually owned one to date. Used, yes, owned no.

looked at an old ford "504", ford 530 and a New Holland 316 so far. The 316 would probably work best on the Ford 5000, but I want something a bit smaller.

I have a variety of smaller tractors available and would prefer to use one with my Zetor 5211.

I'm looking for a cheap machine that's (somewhat) easy to find parts for AND makes a good bale that doesn't look like a dishrag.

When I say somewhat easy to find part for, I mean on Ebay/Facebook Market place as well as some new parts here or there.

How do other balers like a Ferguson stack up?

Have one with 4 cylinder gas, new blades, tires might hold air or can snag off swather. Think it is an IH located near San Jose, CA. Eekmail best option if you are interested. Lol@dishrag blades will clean edges and ends, compression stroke adjustment will make sheaves tighter or looser and you are smart to consider smaller. It used to make MF in icon pic hop every time one dropped off. It makes JD 301a industrial loader/scraper hop to side on drop and eventually will crack/break diff housing.

 

[CH4Ohio]

I had a Ford 530 , very well used, tired example. 'ran when parked'! I messed around with it for weeks before I could get it to reliably tie. I bought some new, some used parts and made a couple of unavailable parts. I did one season with it, it would drop a knot on around 3-4% of bales which I was ok with.

Did about the same thing with a JD 336. Got it running and in the barn it seemed like it was good. In the field, it would miss a knot now-and-then -- some days a lot. Even 3-4% is every 25 to 30 bales and really slows you down. It's also a lot more hassle and hectic when you're constantly on the watch for a missed knot so you can tie it by hand. If you have someone on a wagon behind you to watch for it, that helps a LOT!

But doing squares on your own sucks when you're in your 60s. Picking up and loading a wagon gets old quick.

True! I remember really fun days baling with a couple teenagers on a wagon behind the baler. Some of my worst days were spent doing the same thing with no help.

Also, consider where you're getting it from. They'll fit on a 8ft wide trailer but are hard to load due to the offset. Same applies with flat towing, the offset makes you a wide rig running down the road, wide and slooow!

Takes a deckover trailer to haul one and, as you say, they're hard to load. Also need to be sure all your sheet metal shields are tied down or otherwise secured. We lost a side shield on a baler pulling it home on a trailer. Never was able to find it. Didn't affect the operation but it sucked to lose it and they're expensive to replace.

As far as towing, I think they tow pretty decent when folded up. Much better than a haybine, for example. The narrow pickup on the old small balers lets you keep it in one lane if you crowd the center. But unless you're going to check the wheel bearings (and possibly replace them before towing), it's wise not to plan to pull very far very fast.

Once you experience a baler that does a good job, that will punch out bales reliably and might only miss a knot every few hundred bales when it switches twine balls, you'll understand why it's best to find one that's truly ready to work. It's the difference between enjoying the process and getting your hay in the barn vs. standing in the field cutting twine and cussing all day. You should be able to bale without touching your baler other than to switch wagons.

 

[Lstlk2hi]

It’s funny because I had one of them, too. Or maybe it was a 315….can’t remember.
Anyways, I had a JD 336 and a NH 315 or 316.

Both were pretty good, but I paid a lot less for the 336.

Met and skied with Sylvester in Telluride, CO. He was pretty good at dancing down frozen mountains

 

[Lstlk2hi]

Did about the same thing with a JD 336. Got it running and in the barn it seemed like it was good. In the field, it would miss a knot now-and-then -- some days a lot. Even 3-4% is every 25 to 30 bales and really slows you down. It's also a lot more hassle and hectic when you're constantly on the watch for a missed knot so you can tie it by hand. If you have someone on a wagon behind you to watch for it, that helps a LOT!



True! I remember really fun days baling with a couple teenagers on a wagon behind the baler. Some of my worst days were spent doing the same thing with no help.



Takes a deckover trailer to haul one and, as you say, they're hard to load. Also need to be sure all your sheet metal shields are tied down or otherwise secured. We lost a side shield on a baler pulling it home on a trailer. Never was able to find it. Didn't affect the operation but it sucked to lose it and they're expensive to replace.

As far as towing, I think they tow pretty decent when folded up. Much better than a haybine, for example. The narrow pickup on the old small balers lets you keep it in one lane if you crowd the center. But unless you're going to check the wheel bearings (and possibly replace them before towing), it's wise not to plan to pull very far very fast.

Once you experience a baler that does a good job, that will punch out bales reliably and might only miss a knot every few hundred bales when it switches twine balls, you'll understand why it's best to find one that's truly ready to work. It's the difference between enjoying the process and getting your hay in the barn vs. standing in the field cutting twine and cussing all day. You should be able to bale without touching your baler other than to switch wagons.

One year on the last field something felt wrong. Turned around in time to watch big wheel on baler fall over. Half the hub stayed on rim, other half on ground. Helper came wandering from cabin and asked why I'd stopped. He had no idea how close he was to receiving a pipe smacking his head. After getting the hub pieces off, welded and back from town we had a 'chat.' I hadn't told him to crank the lugs down HARD! Aieeeeeee was my reply. Not having used a baler with rope because wire is str8 forward, know how it goes and have been lucky with it. At 71 loading bales, even with the mech platform that picks up, transports 20' back and 8' up then does 90 on bale... can, usually will, make a mess.

 

[slingworks]

Have one with 4 cylinder gas, new blades, tires might hold air or can snag off swather. Think it is an IH located near San Jose, CA. Eekmail best option if you are interested. Lol@dishrag blades will clean edges and ends, compression stroke adjustment will make sheaves tighter or looser and you are smart to consider smaller. It used to make MF in icon pic hop every time one dropped off. It makes JD 301a industrial loader/scraper hop to side on drop and eventually will crack/break diff housing.

I plugged all that into Google Translate, but appears to come back as English. I think I maybe got the general idea of some of it though?

Joking aside, I'm too far from California to make it worthwhile to go after a baler. Looking mostly Ohio/WV. Ideally Ohio (It's hard to buy such things in WV and expect function/decent pricing).

I wonder if the IH balers are decent options? I don't see many around, but that doesnt mean anything. Could be probably just didn't have dealers here in the 60s and 70's?

 

[slingworks]

Takes a deckover trailer to haul one and, as you say, they're hard to load. Also need to be sure all your sheet metal shields are tied down or otherwise secured. We lost a side shield on a baler pulling it home on a trailer. Never was able to find it. Didn't affect the operation but it sucked to lose it and they're expensive to replace.

We have the use of one about like this:

I think it's a 20' Getting it off might be harder than getting on if we end up using it?

 

[CH4Ohio]

We have the use of one about like this:

I think it's a 20' Getting it off might be harder than getting on if we end up using it?

Nice trailer -- That'll do it if you can get it loaded and unloaded. They're plenty awkward when you're trying to load them. Ideally, you can find one within 50 miles or so and just tow it home slow behind your truck.

 

[HayFarmer]

I'm still using my old 310. My Ford 530 is in the woods because parts are unobtainable. When I bought a "parts" 310, I checked the bearings and put it behind the truck. The 565 came home behind the truck, too, but only about 15 miles away. Doing 45 with good tires.

 

[slingworks]

'ran when parked'!

I love that expression. Every time I hear it, no matter what it was it tells me there was usually a reason why something was parked and not used again. It should be a saying "it's broken or worn out and I thought I'd get around to fixing it someday"

I guess that's not as bad as it sounds though. If a guy intended to fix it sooner or later had to be a somewhat worthwhile project?

 

[lman]

I plugged all that into Google Translate, but appears to come back as English. I think I maybe got the general idea of some of it though?

Joking aside, I'm too far from California to make it worthwhile to go after a baler. Looking mostly Ohio/WV. Ideally Ohio (It's hard to buy such things in WV and expect function/decent pricing).

I wonder if the IH balers are decent options? I don't see many around, but that doesnt mean anything. Could be probably just didn't have dealers here in the 60s and 70's?

When I was a kid in the 60's-70's we had a McCormick International baler. It didn't tie reliably though. When I was about 10 Dad gave me a job of sitting on the twine storage cabinet and watching the bales as they moved past the knotter. If one didn't tie, I tied a square knot as we baled. I guess my labor($0) was cheaper than a new baler.

 

[tjandrews]

What do you consider "cheap"? I'd think any baler that is field-ready and makes a good bale and isn't about to fall apart would be worth $4000 or so.

You could buy something "cheap" that someone is tired of fooling with . . . something that won't tie or misses a lot of knots . . . something that makes banana bales, etc. But it's hard to know what you're going to spend to get it running . . . IF you can get it running.

There are quite a few New Holland and JD balers out there. I'd stick with one of those. Tell the seller that you want to see it run. Take 5 bales of hay with you or ask if he has some available and run them through it to see it in operation. I would expect to pay about $4000 for a JD 336 baler that is truly field-ready. I would advise to NOT buy anything older than a NH 273 or a JD 336. Those balers are already 50 years old.

You'll find balers that don't run well at all priced about the same as ones that do. It's hard to know unless you actually see them run. A "cheap" baler may not be the one that costs the least.

We ran an Oliver 62T for many years. Pulled it out of the previous owner's woods for free. Took a lot of work to get it going, but we managed it. But we had nowhere to store it inside for the winter, and eventually, something like 30 years later, rust took its toll. We cobbled it back together again and again enough to run for a good 10 years longer than we should have. But in 2020 we picked up a piece of metal that should have broken a shear bolt, but collapsed the chamber instead, and that was that.

With hay still on the ground, we made an emergency hunt for another baler, finding a 336 just three miles away. It had baled a couple of years before, but was worn and had had some issues. And it had a thrower on the back but we didn't have the wagons for it. (We still pulled bales out of a chute to load them.)

He wanted $3200, but we were desperate. And the owner was throwing in a second "parts" baler with enough good parts that it supposedly could have been made functional again, too. And he offered to tow them both from his place to ours for free.

We took it. Used our Trump Covid payments to pay for most of it, so technically they went into supporting the local economy as they were supposed to. Pulled the thrower off, and modified the chute from the Oliver to work with the 336. Needed some work here and there, but we baled some hay while parked after one day, finished baling the hay that was down the next. Even though it had been used with sisal twine, the knotter worked almost perfectly with our plastic twine from the start.

Still using it, towing it behind a JD 4600 tractor. We've had people nod knowingly and tell us that tractor is too small for that baler, because it's a "compact utility" tractor, but the manual says 40HP is enough, and we say a 40HP tractor is a 40HP tractor, "compact utility" or otherwise. Without the thrower, and with smaller wagons, and not baling at capacity because the old guy on the wagon couldn't keep up if we did, you don't need as much tractor as one might think.

 

[5000girl]

I've been looking a bit for a "cheap" square baler. (We've been thinking about making an acre or 2 for small use).

I don't have a square baler and haven't actually owned one to date. Used, yes, owned no.

looked at an old ford "504", ford 530 and a New Holland 316 so far. The 316 would probably work best on the Ford 5000, but I want something a bit smaller.

I have a variety of smaller tractors available and would prefer to use one with my Zetor 5211.

I'm looking for a cheap machine that's (somewhat) easy to find parts for AND makes a good bale that doesn't look like a dishrag.

When I say somewhat easy to find part for, I mean on Ebay/Facebook Market place as well as some new parts here or there.

How do other balers like a Ferguson stack up?

We use a 530 , makes great bales, our 67 hayliner not so much, 67 has shear pins while the 530 uses a ( i call a swivle clutch. No pins.. we have 2 deisal 5000s, row and general purpose, case 430.

 

[Gord Baker]

I've been looking a bit for a "cheap" square baler. (We've been thinking about making an acre or 2 for small use).

I don't have a square baler and haven't actually owned one to date. Used, yes, owned no.

looked at an old ford "504", ford 530 and a New Holland 316 so far. The 316 would probably work best on the Ford 5000, but I want something a bit smaller.

I have a variety of smaller tractors available and would prefer to use one with my Zetor 5211.

I'm looking for a cheap machine that's (somewhat) easy to find parts for AND makes a good bale that doesn't look like a dishrag.

When I say somewhat easy to find part for, I mean on Ebay/Facebook Market place as well as some new parts here or there.

How do other balers like a Ferguson stack up?

Not worth it for a few bales. Hire it out.

 

[slingworks]

Not worth it for a few bales. Hire it out.

Gord I'd love to agree or do just that.

We did make a hundred or so round bales on shares with the neighbor who has a great baler.

Problem is, there are so few farmers within a reasonable distance who either have a square baler or are willing to work. (Or work for somebody else). Some of it's the nature of the locals, and some is the fact that pretty much every other landowner is a millionaire now just from the fracking. They're allot choosier in what they do.

I hate to put it that way, but kinda how it is around here. I've seen allot of hayfields untouched, sometimes for years, because nobody wants to put it up. Before my dad passed away in August he went around begging a few farmers to put something in his bottom ground, just so he could claim agriculture status on his property taxes.