ford 532 baler

[Gary in Mozarks]

Is a ford 532 baler any good? Were they the same as some other baler but labeled as ford? thanks

 

[Anonymous-0]

I had a Ford 542 and after needing parts, I realized they didn't make some of them anymore. The only parts that we could find were ones that were still left over from years back. If you have one of these balers, you may need to start looking for parts balers. I got sold it shortly after for what I could get for it.

 

[georgeky]

Gary, they are decent balers. Some parts are still available and some are not. The knotters are the same as NH and old IH so parts can be had for those. Needles are still available. Teeth and stripper shields are available. I even bought a new over running clutch for one last year and a hud for the flywheel. They are Ford balers however there has been questions about that. All castings have Ford or FoMoCo, so that tells me that Ford cast and made these. They bale as pretty straight square bale as any out there. They are a little slower than some as the pickup is belt driven and will slip if crowding it too much.

 

[RodinNS]

YEs, they're a good baler. I could never figure out exactly who built it, but most of the information I have points towards a New Idea design... I don't know that it crosses directly to anything though.
They are at the point now that virtually any hard parts related to the structure of the baler are NLA. The wear parts are still mostly available... or I should say PARTS that were OUTSOURCED when the machine was made like bearings, pickup fingers, etc...
I have a 532, and honestly... if it gets to be any trouble it'll get parked or scraped for that reason. Right now it's working well and mostly rebuilt, so we keep using it...

Rod

 

[georgeky]

Rod, I don't think the castings would have the Ford logos if they were built by someone else.

 

[RodinNS]

I don't take that to mean too much. I'm not saying you're wrong. I just don't take names on casting to be indicative of who built the baler. They may have cast the parts or simply built the baler themselves under licence. Deere built discbines for years using Kuhn components in the cutterbars, and built the remainder of the abortion themselves...

Mabey Ford did build it, but the information we were given by the dealer nearly 30 years ago was that it was made by NewIdea. On top of that, if yo go to NewHolland technical today they either can't or won't provide information on it's origin. There's a fair number of critical parts they don't supply any more either, so the baler is a poor canidate for every day use. It's one thing to restore a Ford baler to say you have it, and quite another to try and depend on it.
It's not a road I'd advise anyone to travel on...
The 532 was a good baler in it's day, and that was 30 years ago. Get something else today if you need a baler.


Rod

 

[georgeky]

I have heard that same thing before, but don't know. I used a 530 and 532 for years, but have since sold them. I never had any trouble getting parts up until I sold the last one last year. I use my 276 NH and a 430 IH now as they are faster machines.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Gary; a few years ago I wanted to get back into a square baler, but would not invest big $$ on one. I found a decent looking old 532 at a Deere dealer in Lebanon for about $850. Dealer told me he took it in on trade just because the guy wanted rid of it and never used it, and should go right to work. I have had to replace a few wear parts - teeth, spring in the hay dogs, bushing on the packer forks, etc, but it has ran reliably since. It may leave me sitting with a field of hay one of these days, but I figure it is 'paid for' and if I scrapped it tomorrow I would come out ahead. I do have an old 850 NH round baler (no one wants that either)I can drag out if I get in a pinch. I only have about $400 in my round baler and it does a decent job. I do have a few that ask what baler i use and a few will not touch those bales I make with the New Holland. I do tell them I haul them on a JD wagon (I have $9 in it) if it helps the quality, but they don't see the humor in that. Bottom line is the 532 is a good baler, but some parts could be a problem. Don't put a great deal of $$ in it.

 

[Jim.UT]

I use a 542 Ford baler (big brother to the 532). I got it for free and put $300 of bearings in it. It still works, but I'm not a full-time farmer. If I had to depend on a baler, I'd have to get a better one or do some serious work on this one, but it gets the job done for me and the price was right.

I know there are two complete 532 balers on ebay right now. One is asking $1500. If he gets it, the buyer is the biggest sucker in the world. The other was at $270 last time I looked and would be a good price for even a parts baler.

I broke the driveshaft bearing bracket this year (operator error....completely my fault). A new one from the NH dealer was quoted at $200. I spent $100 for a used one out of a boneyard in Oregon. Billhooks are $140 new. So if you dive into the world of old Ford balers, a parts machine would not be a bad investment.
Ford Brand Balers Association (FBBA)