NH 280 baler?

[flusher]

I'm interested in one of these. It's a 1972 model.
How do NH balers compare to JD's like the 14T?
Are parts readily available for the NH 280?
Anything special that I should be looking for when I check out this baler?

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I'm not familiar with that exact model of New Holland baler, but they do offer good parts support on their older balers as a rule. I started off with a New Holland 273, and after a few years switched to a Deere 336. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend either brand, but I tended to like the Deere baler more. New Holland balers, from my experience were more "adjustment critical", or at least seemed to require constant adjusting to conditions to eliminate the dreaded New Holland "bannana bale" . The Deere seemed to be more "get it right and leave it alone".

 

[flusher]

I'm not familiar with that exact model of New Holland baler, but they do offer good parts support on their older balers as a rule. I started off with a New Holland 273, and after a few years switched to a Deere 336. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend either brand, but I tended to like the Deere baler more. New Holland balers, from my experience were more "adjustment critical", or at least seemed to require constant adjusting to conditions to eliminate the dreaded New Holland "bannana bale" . The Deere seemed to be more "get it right and leave it alone".

FWJ: thanks for the input.

I forgot to mention that this is a 2-wire baler with hydraulic tension adjust.

What are the tradeoffs between wire and twine?

 

[jimg]

There was a recent discussion here about twine vs wire under the title 'Small Square Baler - Wire vs Twine Tie? '

 

[dgl24087]

I wouldn't bank on it being a 1972 model, the 280 was manufactured from 1961 through 1963. 16x18 bale. It was upgraded along the way with different model designations, 281 in 1964, 282 in 1966, 285 in 1967, 283 and 286 in 1972. the 285 and 286 were the same baler as the 282 and 283, but carried different model numbers as NH decided to make the balers with hydraulic bale tensioners seperate models from the standard configuration. Information is from "A Century of Ford and New Holland Farm Equipment" by Norm Swinford, published by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers.

 

[flusher]

There was a recent discussion here about twine vs wire under the title 'Small Square Baler - Wire vs Twine Tie? '

Thanks for the lead.

 

[flusher]

I wouldn't bank on it being a 1972 model, the 280 was manufactured from 1961 through 1963. 16x18 bale. It was upgraded along the way with different model designations, 281 in 1964, 282 in 1966, 285 in 1967, 283 and 286 in 1972. the 285 and 286 were the same baler as the 282 and 283, but carried different model numbers as NH decided to make the balers with hydraulic bale tensioners seperate models from the standard configuration. Information is from "A Century of Ford and New Holland Farm Equipment" by Norm Swinford, published by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers.

Thanks for verifying that year/model number info.

 

[jimg]

Should have also mentioned theres some discussion of the twine vs wire 'debate' over on ytmag (implement alley) which is worth reading thru.