Got a baler

Tracy Brown came down today and delivered the baler I bought from him. Shed kept New Holland 315. Can't wait to give it a try. Need to get the last bale and a half out of it ,clean it up and grease it. Any tips , advice before I hook the PTO up and try it? I'm thinking about getting a round bale and unrolling it just so I can bale it up!! I gotta get the manuals.

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Roll it over by hand first to make sure everything turns right. Trip the Knotters too and run them a cycle before you run the PTO, if it's out of time it's better to find it by hand than by broken needles. It will turn easier if the PTO is hooked up, just not running. The over running clutch will allow it to turn.

Run it by hand. Trip knotters make sure nothing hits. Thread the knotters and then pull some twine to the rear of the baler like an invisible bale either hook the twine on the back of the chamber or have someone hold it. Keep some tension on it and trip the knotters again to see if it will tie a knot. Easier to do it empty then dig out a chamber of hay every time.

Keep in mind I have never used a baler before...... trip knotter, fingers? I got some learning to do! Luckily I got good friends on here to help me figure it out!

The 315 is a good baler, we still have ours that we bought brand new in 1982. Don't know how many thousands of bales we made with it over the years, our 315 has been a very reliable baler for us.

Buy the owners manual ASAP if not yesterday. As for getting the old bale out I was told by my uncle who is long dead that he used a 2X6 and put ti in the plunger area and by hand turned the flywheel to clear the old/last bale out. Loosen the adjusters up so the bale slides out easier do not use the tractor power

Nice baler. Go ahead and get you some extra shear pins, correct wrenches, hammer and long punch before you have get hay on the ground.

To trip the Knotters you pull up on that flat bar that goes to the shaft with the star wheel on it behind the Knotters. It's on a spring and pulls against that small wheel on the shaft. You should be able to pull it up til it drops into the slot at the bottom. That will trip the Knotters so they will cycle and you can see if everything works as it should.

First-looks like you need a new tire on the right side.
second-cut the strings on that old bale and dig it out slab by slab. (takes about 60 seconds)
third-make sure the spring is not broken on the plunger stop and that stop is greased and working freely.

Those are nice balers.
Might be all that 900 wants though; even without a wagon behind it.

EVERY time I use it be sure the plunger safety stop is working or you can/will turn it into scrap iron real fast. Guess how I learned that one

That why I have told him a couple time he should use his Oliver 77 it will play with that baler

Not if he's gonna pull loaded wagons behind it it won't. Had to run ours with a super 88 when the big tractors were down once. It really grunted with every plunger stroke when the wagon was getting full..

The Oliver 77 will out pull his Ford 960 hands down. I have pull balers behind a Ford 841S and my Oliver 77 and the Oliver played with the balers and the Ford had to work hard plug the independent PTO of the Oliver made it a whole lot better. A Ford 960 is the same HP as the Ford 841S by the way but the 960 has the 2 stage clutch that the 841S does not have

you better have a seat belt for that small tractor as that baler will give you whiplash. gonna be like a bucking bronco! lol.

You have that right. Back when I stilled used my Ford 841S with loader every time the plunger went forward an back the tractor in turn went forward and back so it made it a not so fun thing. When I switched to the Olive 77 there was no more rocking chair motion

That's a medium duty baler....at full capacity, it will keep a 60 hp tractor busy.

Ben

Have a 14T used it on my M, had enough power but that plunger pushed it all over the place, switched over to my 756 and still would feel the push but wasn?t as bad. Good luck with it, don?t let your enthusiasm drop your guard and run anyone through that baler, know your equipment well before you start feeding it. They are very unforgiving.

Used a 315 for about 15 years behind my massey 245 diesel, something like 45 horse. Mostly flat ground no problem at all. Even used my 28 horse John Deere once in a pinch. That was a workout but it finished the field.

You're right the 77 would be the better choice for baling.I've baled a whole lot of hay over some hilly ground with am Oliver 77 hooked to a JD 24T no problem.

Back the slip clutch off a little that lets that big flywheel do it?s job that?s why it?s there to help carry the plunger through so the tractor doesn?t have to on a big Hesston baler it that clutch is to tight you can feel every time it shoves a wad of hay even on a 250 horsepower tractor if you back that off it?s as smooth as silk

Maybe too late already but, unless you have some particular reason to want to clean it out, I'd leave the hay in there. It'll make getting started much easier if you don't have to gradually build up back pressure. Only possible concern might be weed seeds in that hay- just be careful how/where you dispose of it.

Good one! Should be a great old baler. Clean it out, blow the dust off everything and everywhere, grease it, turn it over by hand (including tripping the knotters) and, if it checks out, off you go! Your first bale will be very loose because there's nothing to push against, the next one will be better etc. Don't forget to keep checking the bale tension - as the rust rubs off, the bale chamber wil get more slippery, and some more turns of the compression screws will be needed to get a firm bale! Adjust your forward speed so that each bale has around 10 to 12 'flakes' in it (ie 10 to 12 strokes of the plunger per bale). Happy baling! Jim

It do get a round bale and unroll it I would unroll it and then rake it into a windrow no way would I feed it by hand. Another thing that you could do is get two or 3 little bales and scatter them out that would probably be the easiest and safest .
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Pull it better than the Ford,that is his two choices.

Kevin, I looked up manuals for New Holland 315 baler. There are a few on EBay . Just throwing it out there looks like a good baler I used balers in a lot worse shape. Good luck and before you cut the strings take some pictures of how the string is fed to the needles. I had a girl bale for me and string pulled apart so baler puked a few bales. By the time I got back with an empty wagon she had threaded the needle and tied the string off and was baling away. Her dad was a dairy farmer and she had paid attention.

3 small square bales would cost about as much as a 4x5 round bales! I was planning to unroll it , scatter it around good and rake it too. . . . Just because! Lol.

holy ****, that is a far cry from the 14Ts and Fords you were looking at originally. verrry good choice as to model. next door neighbor has a 315 with kicker.

Kevin, I found an old NH 67 baler manual. I try to keep stuff. Lol

Nice looking equipment. Giving up on fencing and going into the hay business?

Probably not! fence business
pays for the hobby! Lol.

Yes, nearly any tractor will turn it.....but if you feed it to capacity and pull a wagon with 2 or 3 tons of hay on anything less than level ground, you will need something bigger....60 hp will feel right and have a bit of reserve.

Ben

Now I want one. You should like that. Let?s see some bales.

Good baler for sure, I ran a 315 hayliner for my long time friend and farmer for a number of years. I'd buy hay from him and literally put it up myself, filling my own orders so to speak. It had a thrower on it, I used his JD 3150 MFWD tractor, was a good combination. His newer 7420 was on the round baler, so it was either the 4440 or the 3150 on the 315. He got it from someone that did not use it too much, it was shed kept and in good working condition, I sort of regret not buying it when he passed and the equipment was sold. I would have had to moth ball it until I got the other equipment to fool with hay again, was a good buy knowing its history and having run it a bunch.

Two thing come to mind. The 77 is heavier plus the independent live PTO over the 2 stage clutch of the 960 and both make a lot of difference

I went looking for a baler a year or so ago and settled on a NH 315. It is the real deal as far as older square balers go. Meant to handle volume.....for example, twine box holds 3 spools vs. 2. This is what it did for me earlier this year.....



Agree with everything the others have said about it's ability, etc. I have used 3 tractors on it. Last year, the neighbor's 1100 Massey.....and that was a dream. The Massey has near perfect gear range for baling....with a high low range to step it up and down for the windrow.....plus it has the heft to handle it. The whole experience was smooth as silk.

Since then, I bought a Ford 5610 and baled with it this year. Handled it ok, but you knew it was back there. I also pulled it out earlier with the D15 Allis to rebale some loose busted bales in a stack. Sitting still, baler was rocking the D15 several inches per stroke......I would not want to bale with it. Would not be kind to the old girl. A D17 would be a better fit. I know a guy with a White 2-70 I'm trying to goad into letting me try on it.......purely for educational purposes you understand.

As for what to do.....if the baler has been sitting in the barn for a few years, you appear to have two paths to follow. The high risk plan is to assume it was baling OK when last used and would do so again. Grease it and go.

Safer plan is to take no chances, at the minimum, pull the old hay out, turn it over by hand to make sure all is working ok, trip the knotters while someone is turning it over by hand to see if it ties good knots. BTW, if the twine that was in it was sisal, I'd assume it is rotted enough I would start over with fresh. Sisal or plastic will work ok.......just get the 170# plastic.....not the thin stuff used in round balers. Basically do a full walk through to recommission it. When they are working right, they will spit bales out one after another with no worries. But when something goes wrong, it goes wrong in spectacular fashion.

Mine kept breaking shear pins......and while I was able to figure it out and get it working right, I decided to bring in a better set of eyes than mine to go over it. Good that I did as it was in need of some attention. In all, three guys with about 150 years combined experience between them helped me go through the entire baler......replaced plunger knives (and set knife clearance to specs)...... replaced plunger bearings......went through the knotters, timed the needles, checked slip clutches to make sure they would slip before something broke, etc.....in short, is back to almost new condition and it behaves as such.

Bottom line is you have assumed stewardship of a dang nice baler........it you do your part, it will spit out bricks.

PS:

If you have the ability to unroll a big round bale and string it out, that is what I would do. Then hit it with a rake to make a clean windrow. You will want that much hay to give it a proper test. You will be 3 bales in before the first one falls to the ground. Will take a few more to get the tension right so it makes a decent bale.

And unless you are going to do more this year, I'd get in the habit of cleaning out ALL the hay before storing it for the season. One guy I know won't leave it in there overnight.

Have had 3 or 4 of those balers. You will really like it. I will look and see if I still have an owners manual. E-mail me with an address.

That?s a nice looking baler and a very good model too.

Well it?s a good idea to try it .

I would pull the old hay out and roll it over by hand a few times to make sure everything is clear before hooking it up to a PTO - parts get broke real fast that way. Watch a couple You Tube videos on repairs and operation and you'll gain an understanding of how everything is supposed to work. And you'll need the manual if one wasn't included. The 315 is a really good baler with a fairly high capacity especially compared to the 14T and others you were looking at. The wider pickup makes operation a lot easier too. The Ford will pull it no problem. It doesn't appear to have a hitch so you won't be pulling wagons behind it. It basically looks like a newer version of my 276 with a bigger twine box. I pull mine with a Farmall 350 (about 38hp) or a Allis D17 (about 60hp) - neither has any issue handling it - you'll slug it and have the PTO clutch slipping before you run out of power.


Those balers were built to make several thousand bales a year and came onto the scene just as big round balers started taking over the market. Good chance you have a low use model. Most of the balers that were produced in the mid 1970s and earlier saw a lot of hard use and were basically worn out by the time the big round balers took over.