NH 256 rake

[wolfman]

Someone said New Holland no longer makes the old standard 256 rake. Wonder how many years the 256 was made?

 

[rustred]

that is a 50, well 45 year old rake for sure , how could they still be making them . i have 2 i use.

 

[Northvale PA]

I stopped in Ag Industrial in MD. The sales person told me the rollabar rakes are no longer made, correct. Basically, they last for decades, thousands of them out there and many guys going to the wheel rake for faster work. Oh well, mine will out last me, I am sure.

 

[SVcummins]

They were making the 256 five or 6 years ago and they were 9000.00$ 256 replaced the 56

 

[Philip d]

We still have our old 56 in the parts pile. Dad said my grandfather bought it used in 63.

 

[greg oliver]

My dad bought a brand new 256 in 1978 for $1800. It is still raking hay in the hills of Delaware County N.Y. Found this ad for a 256 check out the price!

 

[farmallboy15]

Messicks shows it being made from 1967-2019. so 52 years! I have one that does a darn good job as well.

 

[Bill VA]

I would say it's a reflection of the demise of the small farm - both full time and part time (w/full time day job).

I remember a guy at the local manufacturing mill with a small cattle farm could buy a New Holland haybine (7ft 472), a 256 rake and a 273 square baler - affordable and a lifetime purchase.

When this old equipment is finally finish and scrapped out (already happening), what is the next generation small farmer going to do for equipment?

Pretty sad IMHO...

Bill

 

[Bill VA]

(quoted from post at 04:39:34 08/06/21) I would say it's a reflection of the demise of the small farm - both full time and part time (w/full time day job).

I remember a guy at the local manufacturing mill with a small cattle farm could buy a New Holland haybine (7ft 472), a 256 rake and a 273 square baler - affordable and a lifetime purchase.

When this old equipment is finally finish and scrapped out (already happening), what is the next generation small farmer going to do for equipment?

Pretty sad IMHO...

Bill

I should have mentioned - throw this equipment behind a Ford 3000 or MF 135 too.

 

[NY 986]

I don't know about that. There are better ways to rake hay and how many farms have 15-20 thousand dollars to place into a rollabar rake? Back when I was a kid no small dairy ever bought a brand new rake. New purchases were limited to primary tractor, manure spreader, baler, mower conditioner, and forage harvester. Everything else came used. Larger dairies that bought more new equipment would in turn trade it in providing the source for small dairies to buy used.

 

[Bill VA]

(quoted from post at 05:39:28 08/06/21) I don't know about that. There are better ways to rake hay and how many farms have 15-20 thousand dollars to place into a rollabar rake? Back when I was a kid no small dairy ever bought a brand new rake. New purchases were limited to primary tractor, manure spreader, baler, mower conditioner, and forage harvester. Everything else came used. Larger dairies that bought more new equipment would in turn trade it in providing the source for small dairies to buy used.

I've never seen a new New Holland 256 rollabar rake sell for 15-20 thousand.

 

[cdmn]

I wonder if the engineer who designed it got a gold watch when he retired?

 

[Ellis Kinney]

I bought one in the late 90's I think for about $3400.00. It rakes 25 acres twice a year. At the end of the season I power wash it and blow it off with the air compressor and grease it. It goes back in the barn and gets covered with a tarp to keep birds from dumping on it. It still looks brand new. My neighbor gets it when I am gone, for keeping downed trees out of the fields. Ellis

 

[MARK ROBKE]

Those rakes last forever-I bought a model 55 that sat outside 20yrs from a widow, replaced tires and some teeth and worked great. I later replaced it with a model 256 that also had sat out. The 256 has the offset axle and I wanted it to follow the ground contour better. I did paint both rakes; when I sold the 55 I made money on it! Mark.

 

[SVcummins]

Ive got one of the first ones ever built and still rolls hay

 

[Traditional Farmer]

A thousand$ in my area will get you a nice NH 256, $2000 will get you one that is like new.No better way for me to rake hay than my NH 256,you couldn't give me one of those tall wheel contraptions if I had to keep and use it.

 

[Philip d]

Perfect, ours wouid too but it needs an axle housing for one side,they wanted $1500 for the part and I bought a Super 55 rake for $1000 that needed nothing

 

[SVcummins]

Thats sometimes what you run into on some of this stuff you can a lot of times find another machine cheaper than fixing what you have although Ive fixed a lot of things that most people Never would

 

[4520BW]

We still have a 256 that dad bought used in the mid 80s. I bought one in mids 90s with dolly wheels and it was about 5 grand I believe. I now have a 20 foot claas rotary rake and would not go back to a bar rake.