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northeastern Ohio | I am currently on my third CIH 540 (exactly the same as the NH 575). I run 100,000 bales through and then trade. The first 540 I had to replace one chain and one belt in those 100,000 bales. I sharpened the knives once. The second 540, I had to replace one belt. The third 540 has 25,000 bales through it with no problems.
I had three JD348's before. We bought them all brand new. I have forgotten all the problems with the first two, but the last one is still fresh in my mind. The first day with it was the worst. The knotter drive was welded incorrectly which resulted in a major misalignment and caused most of the problems. The hitch was also welded incorrectly. The wood block bearings fell out of the auger about half way through the first season. Dealer had to put $7000 in parts and labor into it in one season. It was a good machine the second year, but we sold it after that. The other 348's we had, were ok machines, but it seemed like we were always fixing something on them. They are not built as heavy as the NH/CIH machines. And I prefer the thrower on the NH/CIH machine over the JD kicker. The thrower is safer and less maintenence than the kicker.
I do admit that the bales were "prettier" with the JD. But we can do more bales per day with the NH/CIH. | |
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Whats the best hay baler(small squares) ??????
