Pulled the trigger on an old baler

[powerscol]

Yep - once he mentioned it I went back to the photos and noticed the arm location. On many of these old balers the stuffing forks can be messed up depending on the care. Looks like the OP found a gem.

 

[ovrszd]

Good find on the baler.

Getting harder to find old equipment. Many, many perfectly useable old implements went to the salvage yard when the price was up. I hated to see that.

Friend of mine runs a yard. Two years ago I bought a 12' tandem wheel disc that needed one bearing replaced for $120 from him. Got a 3x14 Massey plow for $50. Two prong big bale carrier for $25. 6' Ford 917 Flail Mower that needed two bearings for $100.

Makes me sick that our AG heritage has mostly been sold off to China and we buy it back in the form of a hammer.......

 

[CDennyRun]

Good find on the baler.

Getting harder to find old equipment. Many, many perfectly useable old implements went to the salvage yard when the price was up. I hated to see that.

Friend of mine runs a yard. Two years ago I bought a 12' tandem wheel disc that needed one bearing replaced for $120 from him. Got a 3x14 Massey plow for $50. Two prong big bale carrier for $25. 6' Ford 917 Flail Mower that needed two bearings for $100.

Makes me sick that our AG heritage has mostly been sold off to China and we buy it back in the form of a hammer.......

Yup, between the downed economy, "cash for clunkers", and sky high scrap prices, much of our history disappeared. Very sad!

Chis

 

[Nissan197]

I also have an IH46. Bought it at an auction and have used it for the past three years. Usually it would miss tying a bale once every 100 bales or so, but last year went great and it didn't miss a single one. Did about 600 bales last year. It has been a great baler.

 

[hawkeye08]

We had a IH 56 and two IH 57s growing up. Dad had old equipment generally but bought the first 57 new, made a big difference not to have to replace a bunch of parts each season... he then picked up the 56 and other 57 used. All three had the 4 banger gas engine on them so could pull with any tractor. Dad went through the used ones so we did not have any breakdowns usually. We could put alot of alfalfa up each day when we used all 3. Lots of memories, wishing you many years of enjoyment.

 

[CDennyRun]

I also have an IH46. Bought it at an auction and have used it for the past three years. Usually it would miss tying a bale once every 100 bales or so, but last year went great and it didn't miss a single one. Did about 600 bales last year. It has been a great baler.

Glad to hear that! I've heard mixed feeling on the older IH's. On the same token, I hear mixed feelings on just about every baler out there. I hope this year it performs like last year for ya.

I'm hoping to have this old boy ready by the end of this month. Hopefully I'll find a good deal on a rake, and get in the game this year!

Chris

 

[CDennyRun]

I got the baler home, and gave it a good pressure washing. Got it all lubed up, and cycled it by hand. It was really cool to trip the knotters, and watch it do it's thing turn by turn. Most everything is in decent shap with the exception of the pickup cylinder. I'm pretty sure I need to rip it apart and rebuild it. It hangs up because, three of the five pickup finger rods don't rotate like they're supposed to when it cycles towards the auger. Other than that, the flywheel shear bolt is sheared, and I noticed one of the needels is set lower than the other, and that knotter looks like it was adjusted to compensate for it not being adjusted properly.



Aside from rebuilding the pickup cylinder, I'm going to replace all the springs, shear bolts, chains, u-joints, sharpen the knives, and change the gearbox fluids. At that point I think it'll be a great little baler.



Chris

 

[ovrszd]

No wagon hitch and ramp, but she's a beaut!!!!!

 

[CDennyRun]

No wagon hitch and ramp, but she's a beaut!!!!!

Thanks! I'm glad I was able to keep it from going to the scrap yard. I could always fab up the hitch and ramp, but I'll probably never bale more than 10 acres, so it's not too big of a deal. Plus my tractor doesn't have the ponies to pull both! ha ha

Chris

 

[ovrszd]

Anxious to see it in use. I too am glad it got saved. I'm in negotiations to save a Ford 7ft sickle mower. Should know for sure this week. Scrap prices are climbing back up so we'll lose some more heritage.