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cross_7

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we have never tried growing or baling hay but i am thinking about giving it a try.
i'm not a farmer or a mechanic but i think i'd like t o start with a old square baler.
i have heard the good and bad about some of the old jd balers and a guy i know has an old jd 336 for sale.
what would be a good old baler for a beginner ?
 
336 is a good baler if it ain't worned out but you have to be able to work on em
br
 
cross_7":3j70q2c4 said:
we have never tried growing or baling hay but i am thinking about giving it a try.
i'm not a farmer or a mechanic but i think i'd like t o start with a old square baler.
i have heard the good and bad about some of the old jd balers and a guy i know has an old jd 336 for sale.
what would be a good old baler for a beginner ?

You will be a mechanic, welder, machinist, jack of all trades and need to go to church every Sunday.
A hay baler can make a preacher cuss. You will have a good set of tools before this is over.
Remember this hay balers only break down in the hay field at a 105 degree's or with rain on the horizon.
 
I use on old New Holland Hayliner 68. I picked up 2 more 68's and one 69 from the bone yards of other farmers just for parts. In 3 years I have only had to rob parts once.
I don't know anything about the Deere but parts availability is always an issue with these old machines. That is why I picked up extra machines. Rebuilding the knoters alone can cost an arm and a leg.
 
If you aren't a mechanic or don't have mechanical skills I don't recommend buying on old baler. At least buy one that has been through a shop and been checked out.

I don't see how guys can afford to buy a baler or farm equipment and not have the know how to fix it themselves. I can not imagine having to call on the dealer and wait for them to show up. Nor can I see how they can pay the dealer for the repairs and make any profit. Heck, to me the parts alone are too dang expensive

As Caustic Burno says if you plan on being successful in this business you need mechanical as well as electrical skills. I would hate to figure how much we have tied up in tools and supplies but if something breaks I can fix it. With hay on the ground, rain always magically appears from nowhere especially if you are broke down.

Last Sunday I was baling hay and keep having trouble after trouble- either clogging up the baler from trying to bale some clumps of too green hay (trying to beat the weather) to another field being so dry that the pickup would just roll the hay instead of pick it up, to netwrap troubles. If it wasn't Sunday I would have been cussing. My baler is the only machine that I have that is complicated enough that I carry the owner's manual around with me.

But when its all said and done, and you look across the field at the pretty net wrapped bales, it's all worth it.
 
johndeerefarmer":2xxd7gqd said:
Last Sunday I was baling hay and keep having trouble after trouble- either clogging up the baler from trying to bale some clumps of too green hay (trying to beat the weather) to another field being so dry that the pickup would just roll the hay instead of pick it up, to netwrap troubles. If it wasn't Sunday I would have been cussing. My baler is the only machine that I have that is complicated enough that I carry the owner's manual around with me.

I think I may have discovered your problem. :cowboy: When we quit haying on Sunday we had a lot less problems. :D
 

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