balers

[Chief 83]

My New Holland 315 baler has been pronounced DOA. Just too much wrong to be repaired. So, I'm in the market for a newer baler, much newer. My heart just can't take another used baler that requires you to be thankful for every bale that comes out without an issue. The 315 was a good one but it's just plain worn out.
I'm looking at several options but probably going with a New Holland BC5050. I do 3000 to 3500 per year so it's just a small farming operation. I've found a couple used ones that seem pretty good. Is there a website somewhere that I can determine the year of the baler from the serial number? Anyone have good or bad to say about the 5050?
 

[Deere Scotty]

Tried & True! They are a good baler, & it will be more than You need. More is better in this case.
 

[Bret4207]

I don't have any opinion on the newer stuff, but how do you justify the expense for so few bales? I'm seeing prices in the $12-16K range. Do you have a market that justifies that much? No insult intended, I'm just trying to wrap my head around why people spend what they do when the future is so uncertain.
 

[Shale]

I am in almost the exact same situation as Chief83. EXCEPT my wallet is not nearly as big. I am partial to New Holland and would really like to get a 565, but it is very tough To justify even that model, unless I get one with a lot of bales gone thru it, and then I am in the same situation as now, a guy with a worn out baler. I think my options are limited to a NH326 or NH320. Any opinions on whether I am thinking straight?
 

[Doug in IL]

This would be a good time to move up to Deere.
 

[Chief 83]

Bret, you sound like my wife! It is damn tough to come to grips with a new baler that is for sure. Where we live though if you want to have a farm you have to have the stuff to do it with. Most of the farming is gone and you can't get anyone to do hay for you. I do sell some hay and provide hay for my dad and my sisters horses. That said it would be smarter to get rid of my cows try to give the horses away and move into a condo thats for sure. Nobody every accused me of having any brains. But I've had it with standing in the middle of my hay field with a broken baler waiting for the rain to start.
 

[Shetland Sheepdog]

Did you say move up to Deere? Son, you are confused!! He's already got the best baler out there, even if it's plumb wore out! Why would he want to go backward?
 

[GordoSD]

You are doing at least 14,000 dollars in hay per year and don't want to spend a little for a baler? Do the math man.
 

[mschwartz]

I was in a similar situation as you, upgraded from two well used JD 336 balers to a new caseih SB531 last spring. I think that this is one model up from the NH5050 baler. I wanted the extra bar on the pickup for doing better job on light windrows and the heavier driveline. Bought it with the bale chute extension and manual tension. Worked great, was about 12K less than the new JD baler. I do about the same amount of hay as you and I guess I justified the new route as thinking I was going to pull it for the next 20 plus years. Good maintenance on a new baler has to be better than trying to correct abuse and neglect on a used baler. Mike
 

[Plowboy1]

well, once you own the baler, you got it even if the economy tanks. I figure "stuff" that works is better than money that may be useless and hey, you can always sell it.
 

[Bret4207]

I dunno. 3K of squares in my area would only be about $6-7K if you had nice stuff and delivered it. Hard for me to wrap my head around the investment. I'd love to, please understand that, but the money isn't there. I'm doing about half of what the OP is with a NH 68. Had to rebuild it, but I don't have $500.00 in it. No insult intended to anyone, just trying to understand how other folks look at things.

Now, one of those rotary rakes...that I could almost justify- used of course.
 

[Shale]

Hey Bret, please let us know where you live. If you are only getting $2.30 a bale for nice stuff and you have to deliver it for that price to boot, I am willing to buy as many bales as you can sell. Right now in the eastern corn belt you can consider yourself very lucky indeed if you can buy a bale of 'nice stuff" for less than $5.00, out of the mow, no delivery. Actually, if the best you can do is $2.30 delivered, I have a hard time believing you can make any money haying even if someone GAVE you your hay equipment.
 

[Leroy]

Worn out machines can always be rebuilt no mater how bad they are, now if it is rusted away that is a different story. I would try to get it rebuilt and also find a second baler of same model for a backup. I rebuild up to 80+ year old machinery for the folks that want that type of machinery and nothing has been made for the last 50 years that they are allowed to use. So rebuilding is the only option.
 

[david1]

I agree. The old stuff was made way better that the stuff being made today.
 

[WyoDave]

You really think so? I love old tractors and machinery, but new machinery, especially balers, are much, much better machines then their predecessors. I expect my new balers to punch out 25-30,000 bales per baler, every season, with mininal maintenance. Show me an old one that can do that.

David