# 18K baler repair estimate



## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

A customer has a JD 567 and said he had them do a estimate on it and came in at 18K for repairs.Is that even possible?As far as I know it wasn't broke down just getting in tough shape.I could see maybe 1/2 that with new belts,chains,sprockets,rebuild pickup and stuffer.


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

Dealer list price on everything plus $160 an hour labor I suppose. In any case the baler isn't worth that. Hardly even half that.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

And the 7 series was not nearly as desirable as the 8 or 9. I would sell the 567 and look for a good used 568.

Regards, Mike


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

He got a CNH with 7000 bales for about that money,not sure if he traded or outright.

It's probably his way of convincing the banker to let him trade!


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## KYhaymaker (Jun 7, 2018)

Is he gonna advertise it as “field ready”? Thats what the jerks around here do lol.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

KYhaymaker said:


> Is he gonna advertise it as "field ready"? Thats what the jerks around here do lol.


I would never buy anything he has owned.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Vol said:


> And the 7 series was not nearly as desirable as the 8 or 9. I would sell the 567 and look for a good used 568.
> 
> Regards, Mike


My neighbor that's been custom rd baling longer than I have will disagree with you & he's owned 530,435,467,468 models. He states the only real difference in 467 & 468 is the RC80 chain that wears out as fast & cost a lot more to replace.

I know the 2 467 balers that I've owned are the best rd balers I've baled with.

A person can replace a lot of parts on rd baler for 1/2 of $18K but I think spending $18K in repairs on a used baler is ridiculous.


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

Maybe he should buy some tools and get his hands dirty....


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

Tx Jim said:


> A person can replace a lot of parts on rd baler for 1/2 of $18K


And doubling that for labor would get you back to that $18,000. Nowhere near worth that, especially for an old baler.


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## E220 (Feb 10, 2016)

I can't quite picture that price. As near as I can figure, all bearings, belts, teeth, sprockets, and chains should be around $9000-10000 max. That leaves 50 hours at $160 per hour. I would hope that a mechanic worth $160 per hour would not take 50 hours to replace everything, but I may be wrong.


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

E220 said:


> I can't quite picture that price. As near as I can figure, all bearings, belts, teeth, sprockets, and chains should be around $9000-10000 max. That leaves 50 hours at $160 per hour. I would hope that a mechanic worth $160 per hour would not take 50 hours to replace everything, but I may be wrong.


General rule if thumb when bidding repair estimates is to take dollars in parts and double it. It will get ya close.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

E220 said:


> I can't quite picture that price. As near as I can figure, all bearings, belts, teeth, sprockets, and chains should be around $9000-10000 max. That leaves 50 hours at $160 per hour. I would hope that a mechanic worth $160 per hour would not take 50 hours to replace everything, but I may be wrong.


I agree and thats what i came up with in my head also as far as parts.Not sure how many hrs it would all take but i would think under 2 days,16 hrs???Maybe more like 10 hrs?


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

It would depend if using laced belts or endless belts for sure. Laced belts can be replaced in a couple hours, endless turns into a royal PIA. Endless are worth the money and time spent though. Also rebuilding the pickup is a lot of piddle time, not hard work but takes lots of time.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

E220 said:


> I can't quite picture that price. As near as I can figure, all bearings, belts, teeth, sprockets, and chains should be around $9000-10000 max. That leaves 50 hours at $160 per hour. I would hope that a mechanic worth $160 per hour would not take 50 hours to replace everything, but I may be wrong.


Maybe they somehow found a way to include a big expense like a tailgate or something?


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

stack em up said:


> It would depend if using laced belts or endless belts for sure. Laced belts can be replaced in a couple hours, endless turns into a royal PIA. Endless are worth the money and time spent though. Also rebuilding the pickup is a lot of piddle time, not hard work but takes lots of time.


To my knowledge JD has never offered endless belts on model 567.


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

Tx Jim said:


> To my knowledge JD has never offered endless belts on model 567.


Concur. I think only NH offers them. I have two balers that have them, one that doesn't. They aren't all they are cracked up to be. Less maintenance for a while, then have to keep cutting off tails that peel up from the splice, then if the belt splice does fail, there is no way to redo the belt and have it long enough to work in that dia. baler.


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

These up time inspection programs are getting popular and i have seen some crazy numbers s . I would not spend $18k on that baler but if a deere dealer inspected a worn out baler it is possible . Every belt chain bearing and ssprocket and replace the entire pickup because it is shot . Maybe the entire driveline plus the gear box couple of rolls may also been on the list $18k is possible &#8230;&#8230;..

We get hoobers to do an up time inspection on the combine . than we chose what WE will replace


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

endrow said:


> These up time inspection programs are getting popular and i have seen some crazy numbers s . I would not spend $18k on that baler but if a deere dealer inspected a worn out baler it is possible . Every belt chain bearing and ssprocket and replace the entire pickup because it is shot . Maybe the entire driveline plus the gear box couple of rolls may also been on the list $18k is possible &#8230;&#8230;..
> 
> We get hoobers to do an up time inspection on the combine . than we chose what WE will replace


I got one of those. And it'll be the last. Service mgr thought I'd spend $1,000-$1,500.

Called me and said its done...$3,600

And one of the kids working as a "tech" power washed part of my NH decal off the side of the baler. Gee, thanks.

Prolly should have told him to power wash the whole NH decal off


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

JD3430 said:


> I got one of those. And it'll be the last. Service mgr thought I'd spend $1,000-$1,500.
> 
> Called me and said its done...$3,600
> 
> ...


Make sure you get estimates in writing and signed. At least it used to be that a dealer can only go over the estimate by 10%.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

stack em up said:


> It would depend if using laced belts or endless belts for sure. Laced belts can be replaced in a couple hours, endless turns into a royal PIA. Endless are worth the money and time spent though. Also rebuilding the pickup is a lot of piddle time, not hard work but takes lots of time.


Exactly what I was thinking, I have a few belts getting a little rough and think about changing them, then I look at all the rollers and bearings that have to be undone to change endless belts, about then decide they ain't near as bad as I thought and will run another year.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Had a friend have a 469 pickup rebuilt about two years ago and replaced chains, bill was $9500


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## mike10 (May 29, 2011)

My dad would not make an estimate for a repair, strickly time and material. His thoughts were there were two possibilities when an estimate is made. Either he would get screwed if he made the estimate too low or the customer would get screwed if he made it high enough to protect himself.

I believe the estimate on the OP post is strickly a CYA move.

By the way we are strickly time and material. We stay in contact with the customer and if we run into some unusual situation we let them know so they do not have the big one when the bill arrives.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

swmnhay

Do you happen to know the bale count on this 567 rd baler that needed according to dealer $18K in repairs?

Thanks,Jim


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Tx Jim said:


> swmnhay
> Do you happen to know the bale count on this 567 rd baler that needed according to dealer $18K in repairs?
> Thanks,Jim


no I don't but it's seen a lot of corn stalks.and the guy neglects his eq maitainence,all his eq looks rough.Ill see if I can find out how many bales on it.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Tx Jim said:


> swmnhay
> Do you happen to know the bale count on this 567 rd baler that needed according to dealer $18K in repairs?
> Thanks,Jim


20,000 mostly corn stalks.The rest ditch hay.
They told him stuffer needs replacement and would take 12-15 hrs just to replace that


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Probably also needs side enhancement sheets installed that cost about $1800 plus installation


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

somedevildawg said:


> Had a friend have a 469 pickup rebuilt about two years ago and replaced chains, bill was $9500


I think if I had owned your friends baler I would have purchased/installed a used pickup attachment from a salvage baler


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

swmnhay said:


> 20,000 mostly corn stalks.The rest ditch hay.
> They told him stuffer needs replacement and would take 12-15 hrs just to replace that


From what I've seen, a 567 that has 20,000 stalk bales through it is junk. They didn't hold up real well to that. The 568 was quite a bit better for some reason.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Can someone explain the main differences between a 567 & 568 rd balers other than RC60 main drive chains on 567 vs RC80 main drive chains & the roller in frt of pickup on a 568?

Thanks,Jim


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## ozarkian (Dec 11, 2010)

KYhaymaker said:


> Is he gonna advertise it as "field ready"? Thats what the jerks around here do lol.


.

When advertised,* "Field Ready"*, run away!


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

60 chain on the main drives?? No wonder the guys that ran 567s around here kept a chain breaker and new rolls of chain in the cab. Even 80 chain wasn't really enough on them. I once saw a 569 Premium starter roll drive chain that had a blue tinge on the plates from heating. Deere should have put Diamond O ring chain on them right away.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

I suppose it's totally different scenario when rd baling silage hay which I've never done but I've had very few problems baling hay at <16% moisture with RC60 chains with no o-rings in chain on my JD rd balers. Yes I carry a chain breaker tool in my toolbox but I don't call a dealer to come repair a broken chain.


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

The combination of the higher drag of cornstalks and running maximum pressure on the baler to make a respectable cornstalk bale is no doubt harder on chains than what you see.


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## chevytaHOE5674 (Mar 14, 2015)

Guess I should feel lucky that in 16k bales (8k+ silage bales) on my last NH I never carried a chain breaker and never had to repair any of the #80 chains... ha


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Gearclash said:


> The combination of the higher drag of cornstalks and running maximum pressure on the baler to make a respectable cornstalk bale is no doubt harder on chains than what you see.


YEp, when baling cornstalks I give the screw on the self oiler two full turns out.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

I've baled more corn stalks than I like so I have an idea how much wear it puts on a baler. Due to local drought this year before the monsoon I got the "privilege" to bale 650 bales of corn stalks. I tried a chain self oiler several years back but it seemed to accelerate chain wear because of the local sandy textured soil so I stopped utilizing the oiler.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

chevytaHOE5674 said:


> Guess I should feel lucky that in 16k bales (8k+ silage bales) on my last NH I never carried a chain breaker and never had to repair any of the #80 chains... ha


I feel lucky also because in 26,000+ bales I haven't had to replace any sledge rollers or corresponding brgs. Life is GOOD.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Tx Jim said:


> I feel lucky also because in 26,000+ bales I haven't had to replace any sledge rollers or corresponding brgs. Life is GOOD.


Every brand of baler has issues,I've heard plenty.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

swmnhay said:


> Every brand of baler has issues,I've heard plenty.


I never stated or implied any different. I've heard & read plenty myself.


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## TopKut (Aug 11, 2021)

I have been in the hay business for 32 years. Rebuilding a 67 series baler is better than buying a new. And yes, I have owned and operated them all. 67 series balers are the best Deere hands down.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Welcome to HayTalk
Ditto on JD 467/567 rd baler giving good service. My 467 is at 28,500 bales


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