Ford Square Baler

[olderguy]

Just bought a series 504-1, model 14-80, serial 12988 pto twine tie baler.Thought it would look good behind the jubilee.Dont know of any other like it in the area (northwest Ill.)probably around just havent seen em.Is the model 250 just a later 504 series version?

 

[Errin OH]

Do not have my book handy but the model 250 is one of 3 sizes (150, 250, and 350) Ford put out in the 50's. The 150 is often referred to as a 509 series, the 250 a 504 series, and the 350 as the 506 series. I do not know why but think they were Fords entry into the baler market and dropped the model number when they went blue with the 530's and 540's. So a Series 504, model 250 is the long version of the baler.

I4-80 signifies its configuration. Yes that is an “I” not a 1. Your configuration fits the number you gave. There were 6 or so variations for the 250 (motor driven, PTO driven, and other options like electric start and such). I think s/n 12988 would put it in the later range and you should have rollers on the plunger vs. the wood slides on the older ones.

I can tell you that if you need needles or knotter parts they can come from the early NH balers (66, 68) or the later blue ford balers (knotters for sure, not sure on the needles though from the blue balers). I haven’t crossed up is the knives, but I haven’t needed to yet as I got a set out of a scraped baler. Most bearing can be crossed.

As far as I am concerned they are a great little low cap baler. 66 strokes per min, makes about a 50lb bale. Only down side I have ever had with mine is in real dry stuff it can be a bit tricky to make a tight bale. Feed it well and try to punch a bale out in 12-14 strokes. Anymore and the bale will be missed formed, loose, or become banana's. Sharp knives and proper adjusted plunger is a must.

As for the tractor, in good conditions the Jubilee will work. Trouble is the baler does not have an over ride clutch. Put one on the tractor, a good one. The cheapies from TSC will not hold up to the push pull shock and bust the roll pin (BTDT). Windrows are going to be an issue. They need to be uniform. A short fall on the tractor is 1st gear is going to almost be too fast. So you need to keep the windrows consistent and sized to just fill the pickup. And do not be tempted to run more than 540 PTO rpms. It may seem slow driving across the field but it is perfect for baling.

You will also want to remove the pressure plate on the flywheel and make sure the disk in between is not frozen to it. I know mine is running at peak performance when I can just start to hear it bark on a compression stroke. If frozen you can ki11 the tractor real quick and cause other damage.

 

[Cody Hileman]

(quoted from post at 20:08:42 04/17/12) Just bought a series 504-1, model 14-80, serial 12988 pto twine tie baler.Thought it would look good behind the jubilee.Dont know of any other like it in the area (northwest Ill.)probably around just havent seen em.Is the model 250 just a later 504 series version?

I have a Ford hay baler similar to yours. How much do you think yours is worth? I am considering selling mine and cannot find any information about it.

 

[Larry NCKS]

(quoted from post at 00:47:05 04/18/12) Trouble is the baler does not have an over ride clutch.

We had to replace the over-riding clutch several times on our 250. Was this an option? Because we sure had one on ours!!!!!

 

[showcrop]

504 followed the 250. I had a 250 when I started out. I pulled it with a 19 HP Kubota. It did pretty well. Just don't try to baby it by running it slow, that is hard on any baler. The flywheel smooths out the pushes of the plunger and the inertia of 540 RPMs enables the knife to cut right through the hay.