Ford 532 square baler--any insights?

[Niji]

I've been using a junk yard JD 336 square baler this year which looks terrible but baled like a scalded dog (1247 bales with about 20 misfires). I thought she was mine, but it wasn't to be, another had first dibs.

So, I've located, but not yet laid eyes on a Ford 532 up the road. I hear it was baling when they parked it a couple years ago, and I know a tractor was hooked to it last week long enough to be certain everything moved when in gear. I'll be getting to it in the next couple of weeks and feeding a couple of bales through it to see what really happens.

I've never been around Ford machinery other than trucks, but know the New Holland and JD balers well. From a very little research I've done it seems like Ford only made a few square balers, and from the pictures I've seen on-line they look pretty basic and pretty beefy. Any insight on the 532 would be appreciated. Especially any peculiarities to the Fords to look out for.

 

[redneckford]

unless you buy two or three run!!!from it----no parts stock, slow baling and available parts are even higher than JD parts. If you can get two or three you will have your own parts but it will take you some time to bale---probably better off with a JD or a NH.

 

[RickB]

unless you buy two or three run!!!from it----no parts stock, slow baling and available parts are even higher than JD parts. If you can get two or three you will have your own parts but it will take you some time to bale---probably better off with a JD or a NH.

Agreed, there are only two older balers to consider, New Holland and Deere. Support for other brands is expensive or nonexistant. More modern balers to look for include New Holland, Deere and the inline Hesston machines of whatever brand happens to be on the side.

 

[Niji]

Hey, thanks for the advice, and I will definitely keep that in mind. In the mean time, I got the baler and ran a couple of bales worth of hay through it today. I couldn't get it to tie, so I went through the knotters. I found broken flat spring metal pieces in there. Then I discovered the knotters must be the same as is on the old NH's, as those parts were exactly the same as on a friends parts NH baler. So I stole one, went through the knotters checking everything and replacing the busted spring, and it ties bales like brand new money.

So, I pulled it home and am going to give it a try for our second cutting coming up in a month or so. I'm impressed with how little rust and wear it has overall--far less than the JD I used first cutting. If the Ford has a catastrophic breakdown, I'll just call the vet and have it put down and vividly remember ya'll's heads-up on the parts black-hole for this old machine. If I can get a couple years' usage out of it, at $400, it would hold me over until I can upgrade.

I hope for the best, but won't be surprised to be let down by this blue heap at the worst possible moment. It'll be out of sink with all the other green equipment around here too--maybe if I paint it green...?

 

[Rara Avis]

John Deere Square Baler For Sale at Fastline.com

 

[zzvyb6]

Just wait until you find out that all knotter parts from that era are virtually the same...

Other than needles, you can count on interchanability. I suggest you scout out an extra PAIR of needles. Also, remove one and trace it out on your shed wall. This will allow you to put a busted one back together in the same profile and determine another brand's compatibility. A needle welded with a nickle rod is just as good as a new one as long as the profile is nearly identical.

 

[zzvyb6]

I found your baler on the New Holland parts website. Just compare the parts you need to the parts from the JD 14T and 24T and you can be back in business. I have found many parts for my baler on eBay. You can also ask the sellers to show you other things from their parting out machine.

 

[Niji]

My old 14t used to bust needles once in awhile, and I remember the nickel rod trick. New ones were $70 back then, and I'd hate to see that price tag now.

One of the first things I did when I went to look at this 532 was crawl under and have a look at the needles, and the passenger side one has been welded, and the other hasn't. It seems, though, that this one runs fine and if it was out of time in the past, whatever caused it must have been repaired.

I'll take your advice on the needles.

 

[slowzuki]

Be careful if you get an original manual and try to go through the machine. The original timings were misprints and causing much cursing with those ford balers. RodinNS on ytmag has one and knows how to tune them up, theres a few other fans of the ford balers on there.

 

[Niji]

Now that is good to know! Thanks for the heads-up. That would make for a really bad day to have defective advice from the manual.

Oddly, I just saw another one of these balers up the road today (I've never noticed one in two decades, and now 2 in one week; the blue is unmistakable). It is in service, but I thought I'd drop by and see what its status is--who knows....