I now own 3 ss balers in various states of disassembly. IH 430 and two NH 273. I tried 3 times to buy a working baler. All 3 owners said how great these balers worked. Is anybody honest anymore? The IH pickup broke after 6 bales. Hole in cam. $700 later still needs some more minor parts. The old NH273 needs a knotter bill hook, some teeth, finger feeder parts and 2 brass balls on knife arms. I good buy at $500. I like the design so much I bought a newer $1200 273 that was all covered in hay but original owner and looked great. What a mistake. The $500 old rusty baler is much better with less use. After a pressure wash I found finger feeder shot, plunger bearings shot, knotter disc pinion gears shot, chains shot, etc. I finally know what to look at, everything! I was planning on using the $500 baler for parts but that is now vice versa. I recommend buying a baler that's in use. Stored balers were stored for a reason, they were parked for repair later but owner forgot that they needed repair when they dug it out to sell, haha!
For those looking for a baler have someone with that knows what to look at. New Holland finger feeder system is shot on the two I bought and about $260 worth of bearings and blocks to fix. Look at knotters carefully, check 4 rollers, two on bill hooks and two on knife arms. Check pinion gear to cam for tight fit and wear on gear back side. Look at twine wear grooves on knife arm and needles to get idea of amount of use. Plunger bearings are hard to inspect unless there is a squeek or you can see one that is not rolling. They will still work with shot bearings.
My question is are there any aftermarket parts for the New Holland plunger rollers, finger feed bearings, finger feed wear blocks and aluminum fingers.
The 2 things that look real easy to make are the aluminum fingers and plastic wear blocks. I think the bearings will be hard to find. Aluminum rod is cheap all the way up to high strength 7075. I have a lathe and it looks like the straight rods wood be easy to make or are they special alloy that you can't buy? What are wear blocks made of? Delrin is cheap, at least compared to $20 a block. I realize that if you are making a lot of bales then buying factory only makes sense as the baler is making money but this is just a start for me. 20 acres planted and working more. I am more of a mechanic and may want to some day buy and fix a few balers right and sell a great baler not a piece of junk. I only recommend NH for simple design and excellent parts availability. I think John Deere would be similar with slightly higher parts, from what I have looked at. IH may be OK but parts are about double and limited. Design is terrible on pickup, nightmare to change a tooth compared to NH. One last ? I have seen a lot of MF 10 and 12 for sale here in Minnesota lately and cheap. Are they any good and what about parts availability. MF won't let you look up parts online like NH and JD.
My Finnish blood is poking through, sorry mom, or is it my Norwegian side?
For those looking for a baler have someone with that knows what to look at. New Holland finger feeder system is shot on the two I bought and about $260 worth of bearings and blocks to fix. Look at knotters carefully, check 4 rollers, two on bill hooks and two on knife arms. Check pinion gear to cam for tight fit and wear on gear back side. Look at twine wear grooves on knife arm and needles to get idea of amount of use. Plunger bearings are hard to inspect unless there is a squeek or you can see one that is not rolling. They will still work with shot bearings.
My question is are there any aftermarket parts for the New Holland plunger rollers, finger feed bearings, finger feed wear blocks and aluminum fingers.
The 2 things that look real easy to make are the aluminum fingers and plastic wear blocks. I think the bearings will be hard to find. Aluminum rod is cheap all the way up to high strength 7075. I have a lathe and it looks like the straight rods wood be easy to make or are they special alloy that you can't buy? What are wear blocks made of? Delrin is cheap, at least compared to $20 a block. I realize that if you are making a lot of bales then buying factory only makes sense as the baler is making money but this is just a start for me. 20 acres planted and working more. I am more of a mechanic and may want to some day buy and fix a few balers right and sell a great baler not a piece of junk. I only recommend NH for simple design and excellent parts availability. I think John Deere would be similar with slightly higher parts, from what I have looked at. IH may be OK but parts are about double and limited. Design is terrible on pickup, nightmare to change a tooth compared to NH. One last ? I have seen a lot of MF 10 and 12 for sale here in Minnesota lately and cheap. Are they any good and what about parts availability. MF won't let you look up parts online like NH and JD.
My Finnish blood is poking through, sorry mom, or is it my Norwegian side?
