Rare Self-Propelled Baler Restored

Rare Self-Propelled Baler Restored BALERS Balers When Conard DeHaven Jr retired in 1998 after more than 30 years of fixing farm equipment for other people he decided he wanted to restore something for himself     DeHaven had been the resident baler expert for Winchester Equipment a New Holland dealer in Winchester Virginia Since I d worked with balers most of my life I decided to find a baler to restore he says     In his search for just the right machine he came across a rare New Holland 166 self-propelled baler sitting along a fence row I d never seen anything like it before he says     Using the serial and model numbers he began looking for information on the self-propelled baler which was built by New Holland in the 1950 s The 166 self-propelled balers were based on New Holland s popular model 66 square baler and were made from January 1956 through December 1957      I was able to track down another one at a junk dealer in Pennsylvania Then I bought a pull-type 66 baler that was in decent shape and from the three machines I made one good 166 self-propelled model he says     The self-propelled baler features two identical 15 hp Wisconsin 2-cylinder air-cooled engines One powers the baler while the other powers the drive train     The baler has a narrow tricycle type front end with worm gear steering It weighs 4 130 lbs empty Overall length is 16 ft 7 in so it turns much shorter than a tractor with a baler behind it The drive wheels which bear most of the weight of the baler are 18-in truck-type wheels with lugged tractor or combine tires He says the axle and differential appear to be from a 1-ton Ford truck     The baler has an automotive-type clutch on the drive train engine with belts to drive the 4-speed transmission A chain drive on the back of the transmission puts power to the differential First gear on the baler is about 1 75 mph while in fourth gear it will motor along at 11 2 mph At full throttle it ll go 1 4 mph in reverse If you re idling in reverse it just barely moves DeHaven says      It has hydraulic brakes on the rear wheels he adds Each wheel has its own master brake cylinder The old brake shoes had æFORD stamped in them but I couldn t find anything made to fit a Ford truck from that period that was like them They were closer to those used on a Jubilee tractor but those weren t right either I finally had to have new brake shoes custom made     DeHaven would like to hear from anyone who has information about this particular model of baler     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Conard W DeHaven Jr 260 Myers Lane Winchester Va 22603 ph 540 888-3667

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