We had a 273 growing up, pulled it with a JD 4000. My uncle just about rebuilt from the front back. We ended up buying a Deere 346 and never looked back. Poor 273 sat under the shed until I sold it a few years back. The story of how my grandfather ended up buying it was kinda funny. They were demoing the 273 and a Deere baler the same day, and my grandfather REALLY liked the Deere baler, but it wouldn’t tie a bale. My uncle went up to the salesman and told him if they brought another baler out, my grandfather would buy it that day. Salesman said it had to be that baler for whatever reason. Long story short, they hooked up to the 273 and finished baling. Couple weeks later, my uncle was at the Deere dealership and happened to ask one of the mechanics if they ever figured out what was wrong with that baler. Turns out, there was a burr on the needle from the factory that was cutting the string every time it came back down. Little grinding and sanding, and the baler never skipped a beat.
Good day from Ontario. We had 273 with short tongue, yes driving on hay, you could move tractor tongue over 1 notch. 273 runs 1 stroke/sec 60 strokes min. slowest running baler. But looking at tractor you have Dunham loader too. Thanks
