Posted 8/22/2009 10:50 (#820224 - in reply to #820210) Subject: Re: Freeman small balers
Western Oregon
Allied is not an ag company. I think Freeman was always sort of a "niche" company anyway. Things got really tough for them as the numbers of medium to small sized farmers went away. In our area there were fleets of 4 to 20 balers doing grass straw. The advent of the center feed balers with engines on them really killed the three-tie market in our area.
If you put a Hesston 4690 against a 370 hydro the Hesston will walk away from it. If you put the Hesston against a 370 with an engine the difference is not as dramatic and the Freeman bales stack a little better.
We had a 370 hydro and the needle yoke busted the summer after the Allied buyout. Of course the local dealer that stocked parts but no balers had sold his last needle yoke and the JD dealer didn't have it and didn't care-and the price had gone up 30%.
Our local Hesston dealer brought me a used 4690 to try out. I never gave it back. The difference was amazing. Of course our 370 was due for a rebuild and it was a hydro on a tractor with only a 3-speed powershift...
If I get the 200's going I'm basically going to figure I'm not buying parts from Freeman. I've got another bearing kit for the feed arm and buckets of parts stashed in the barn. If I bust something like a needle yoke or a needle I'll probably park the baler again.
I think Perk Freeman is still around and still cares but he doesn't run the company anymore...
Freeman small balers
