Ih 430 baler, square baler in general question

[bcompton53]

I need a square baler for just a few acres of hay. I found an ih 430W that had the mechanicals all gone through, and it ran very well. Up until the guy loaned it out, and that guy left a bale in the bale chamber and left the baler outside....the bale chamber right above the needles is rusted out badly.
My question is this....I found a GOOD replacement bale chamber. I would be into the machine for like $1500, and it appears to be solid mechanically. I have normal mechanical ability for a farmer, can rebuild engines, weld, all of that stuff. Replacing the entire bale chamber seems like a big task. It's all bolted together, so I'm sure I can do it, I just need a little reassurance. Am I going to run into a timing nightmare if I have to unbolt basically the entire machine to replace the entire bale chamber? Am I in over my head?

Yes I have manuals on the way to me now.

Thanks!

 

[flying belgian]

I would think it would be easier to patch it. I wore through my 65 NH. In a couple places having baled a quarter million bales over the years. Just kept patching and replacing wore out chains, bushings, bearings. This summer baled about 8500. Missed 3 bales.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

I don't have any experience with this particular project but I do have some "sage advice:"

That replacement bale chamber didn't remove itself from the baler. Try chatting up the person selling the chamber and see if they'd give you an idea of how much of a job it was to remove it.

430W is a wire baler, right? That's pretty much the only way I'd even consider an IH baler these days. Those all-twine knotters can be a nightmare even if everything is perfect...

 

[DeltaRed]

Look for another baler. NewHolland,JohnDeere,even Massey is/will be a far better machine than an IH baler.

 

[paul]

Not putting any other brands down,butNew Holland figures out how to make a good knotters which is the heart of a baler and figured out a pretty good rest of a baler starting with the model 69. All other NH balers after that are sort of small upgrades but they all are good balers.

Johnny Deere wasnt far behind and also has a pretty good design since the old 14T and on up.

Any other brand of baler is playing catch up, and you have to get into a pretty modern model to get the dependability and good design these two manufacturers came up with.

Does the W in your model stand for a wire tie? In my location that would be a deal killer instantly. Wire tie balersare not used here, you wouldnt be able to sell a bale, it would be difficult to source wire. It might be different where you live.

You can find a running working pretty good shape old New Holland baler around here for $1500. It might need a little love, but not a total rebuild.

Paul

 

[DeltaRed]

New Holland;JohnDeere;Hesston/AGCO inlines all use the reliable Deering knotter.IH balers use the unreliable McCormick knotter. Massey ferguson uses yet another type of knotter,however it is better than the McCormick knotter used on the IH balers.The 'Deering' knotter is NOT a JohnDeere knotter,rather designed by the Deering harvester Company before they merged with McCormick to become the International Harvester Company in 1903.So that (Deering) knotter is 150 (+/-) years old. Pretty good,as a better knotter has not yet been invented.

 

[DeltaRed]

Bcompton, Yes,you could do the work. Be a lot of work.Doable. And yes you will have to retime everything. But in the end you will still have a $500 dollar baler.If you are paying 1500,you are getting screwed. So,send the books back,and run away from this thing as fast as you can.

 

[paul]

I will have to stop replying here, the iPad keyboard, the tiny text of this sites input window, the ever more stupid auto correct makes my messages about impossible to read! Yikes. Sorry about that.

 

[Leroy]

The McCormick 46 baler was a good one, no tying problems. When we bought it there was a old plunger laying there and no one could figure out why it was replaced. Found out the slides were welded on and it had been cheaper to just replace the plunger than replace the slides We went with it because of the thrower. Had a New Holland 66 and got to where there was always untied bales. Finaly a good baler mechanic said plunger slides, Dad said go ahead and replace but I don't believe you. and he did, no more untied bales, figure that was the problem with the 46 IHC that the plunger was replaced. And with the thrower you HAD to have good tying.