Baler Won't Quit And Neither Will Owner

Baler Won't Quit And Neither Will Owner BALERS Balers 33-6-16 Want your hay and straw baled right? Look no further than 90-year-old Albert Koski and his 60-year-old Allis Chalmers Roto-Baler. He's been using the baler since it was new and this past year made 4,000 bales with it. "You have to keep every moving part well oiled and greased," says Koski "If you keep them well greased and under roof, it seems like it'll last forever." Over the years Koski has made an estimated 300,000 Roto-Baler bales. He bought his first Roto-Baler in 1950. That baler is one of three that son-in-law Jake Jahfetson and daughter Elaine still use on the farm they took over from Albert. "We talk sometimes about switching to a square baler," says Jake Jahfetson. "But we just keep using the Roto-Baler. " Koski says his reason for staying with the Roto-Baler all these years is simple. They make good hay. Hay can be baled a little sooner than with a square baler and left in the field for a few days to cure. Unlike a square baler, there is no knife cutting through and dropping leaves. "I once had a square baler salesman ask me why I stayed with the Roto-Baler," says Koski. "I told him that the top three dairy herds in the DHIA test, with ours being first, all used Roto-Balers because they retain the leaves better. He said he was sorry he had asked." Koski said the key to making good hay with the Roto-Baler is the windrow. "If you make good windrows and keet the baler oiled and greased, you will have no problems." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jacob A. Jahfetson, 13418 Bennink Rd., Baraga, Mich. 49908 (ph 906 353-7768).

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