haying a small farm (need implements)

Hi all,

After buying square bales for the past two years to feed the goats and horses (we go through about 1000 square bales/year), we decided that we"ll give it a shot baling our own hay. This spring my father-in-law plowed, rock-picked and tilled and planted about 12 acres of hay field that had been out of use for several years. The man is a machine.

Now, I"ve got to buy implements... I"m a novice on hay implements.

One baler that has come across my path is an IH 430 "all twine" model. Went to see it today and it seems to do the job well. It grabs the hay, forks it over and plunges it into nice tightly-tied bales.

It does have a few rough spots though - particularly, the axle on the pick up side is bent slightly from what must have been a tree hit or something (rear of the tire is about 1"" further in on the baler than the front). The small wheel over on that side (that attaches to the pick up) is also missing. The whole pickup section seems to shake just a bit when the baler is running and I"m not sure if this is normal.

Anyways, I"ve searched the archives and found a lot of positive posts about the 430 and I think it is probably a suitable model for us. Just wanted to get some more opinions and see if you agree and also to see whether you have any input on the issues described above.

Also - I"ve seen posts in my searches about buying decent balers for ~$500. It seems like you can"t buy more than scrap metal for that price up here in Maine...

I think most older balers that you have seen put thru their paces on a field would do good for you on that small field. I started baling hay 12 years ago on about 10 acres with a SMTA, JD #5 mower, JD 224T baler and a New Holland 56 rake. All of the above were winners except the mowers which I replaced after about 4 years with various others ending with a IH 115. I do quite a bit more hay now and bought an IH 990 mower/conditioner this Spring...nice machine. I like the older equipment as it is affordable and easy to repair. Just make allowances for what you are using, it takes an extra day to dry hay that has not been conditioned and even then check it carefully. Hard work but I still like doing it.

The 430 Alltwine is the best you will find.no other baler will gobble up the hay like a good 430 will.been using a 430 here since the mid 1970's be warned only someone familiar with Alltwine knotters will even attempt working on them. parts are still available at CaseIH get a good manuaal for any baler you decide on and study it.

After playing around with a JD #5 sickle mower and a JD siderake, both of which were just crap, I picked up an IH 275 swather with conditioner. I paid $1000 for it. Then I bought a JD 346 baler. It worked great after I had the JD traveling mechanic come out and properly time everything, and replacing one of the knotters. I could really bale the hay then. The only setback was picking up the bales. So I picked up a very used New Holland bale wagon. That really saved me a lot's of time.

Look for a IH990 Haybine. Or a Ih 1100 sickle mower.
Then a NH 275 or newer ssb baler. And an IH 16 SD rake. You can get all three for about $4000 and you will be in business Avoid the old pitman mowers, and the old balers. Buy good clean equipment, go through it and make repairs, and you can sell it year slater for more than you paid for it.
I have a very nice IH 1000 9 ft mower I don't need.

> One baler that has come across my path is an IH
> 430

I have an IH435. It"s absolute junk. The knotters cannot reliably tie sisal and the thrower burns through plastic.

I"ve had two New Holland Model 68s and a 270. All three were excellent.

Just an example, What I have and use on about 15ac of hay and whatever acres of wheat straw and bean straw. An IH 120 hay mower, NH 400 hay crusher, A NH 56 hay rake and a NH 67 hayliner baler. Jim

Thanks for the thoughts, guys.

Turns out this fellow also has both a side delivery rake (New Idea - I forget the model #, but it is wheel-driven) and a tedder/rake combo (Fransgard RV390). I had been thinking I"d have to buy a separate tedder and side-delivery rake for this project, but he made the comment that if I"m trying to pinch pennies I might be able to do both with the one machine.

Reading through some of the archives on here, I found a number of people who were not fans of this sort of combo machine. Any thoughts from you guys on what is the better way to do it?