# John Deere 430 Baler Question



## [email protected] (Mar 23, 2015)

Hey everbody,

I am looking at getting into cutting hay this year and have a few questions about the balers. I have been around hay operations my whole life, but never actually baled any. Ive found a good deal on a John Deere 430 baler and was wondering what to look at on on the baler that will cause it not to bale correctly or will cost money in the future. Also my main question is I would like to make 4x5 bales for storing and handling reasons, I know the 430 baler is a 4x6. How do you make the bale smaller than 4x6? or is this even a possibility. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!


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## CBarM (Mar 1, 2015)

I can't remember if it was the 430 or the 435 I've heard problems people having problems with. I think they may of done something with the starter roller with one of them. If it was me I'd try to get a 467 or 468 if possible. You'll see a huge difference in them and a lot less problems IMO.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

IMHO 430 will bale a nice tight bale of hay if tension cylinders & tension valve are in good condition. Starting the core can be made easier if most of the pickup teeth are in place.Also look at the leading edge of rectangular bars on starter roll(parts key 9) and if rounded off the bars need a welding bead placed on the leading edge to help core get started plus belt tread wear affects bale starting.. Also look a bale chamber side sheets for excessive wear(holes in side sheets. Automatic bale size can be set by moving knob(parts key 20) forward/rearward in slot. IIRC 430 rd balers were introduced in the mid 80's


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## [email protected] (Mar 23, 2015)

Alright thanks for the info! I would love to get a newer baler like a 467 or 468 but I am trying to get into it on a budget right now. I want to learn how to bale and then possibly get newer equipment. I had heard about the starter rollers being bad to wear down and sometimes needed attention. That schematic makes it pretty clear about where to look and to check the roller. Thanks again for the info, I will check out that roller and sidewalls closely.


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## LaneFarms (Apr 10, 2010)

I would look for a 467. For the difference in price you will thank yourself later. The 467 is head and shoulders better than a 430. It will start a roll a lot easier, is easier to adjust bale size, and the big one has net wrap. If you are going to sale hay or custom bale net wrap is a must. You will also up your productivity greatly by putting 2 wraps and kicking it out. On average you can bale 15 more rolls an hour with net compared to string.


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## Bazooka (Sep 17, 2013)

Another thing to look at is the twine pump operation. As the linkages wear the spool valve that shifts the arm direction will not travel fully and makes the arm travel painfully slow. If it is acting like that you can just pull up on the spool valve and see if it moves faster and if so adjust the linkage to fully stroke the spool valve. If you raise the gate, then lock it and lower the gate back to get belt tension you can trip it manually and watch it work. Some times those pumps would lose prime after sitting over winter, usually running it at pto speed and tripping it would get it going. Those twine arm pumps may look familiar, they are a power steering pump like the old GM's had.


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## central va farmer (Feb 14, 2015)

I wouldn't limit myself to green balers. Have had both and I prefer the red ones. A 7 series deere baler is a baling trick, but a less expensive option is a 654 new holland. We had one and it would bale circles around friends 435 deere, and would stay with our 567 deere. You can change bale size on monitor on 654 and my experience it would make a tighter bale than 435. If your going to sell by weight make your bales 66 inches tall best bang for your buck weight wise plus you can be right at legal limit height wise on trailer.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

central va farmer said:


> You can change bale size on monitor on 654 and my experience it would make a tighter bale than 435.


A 435 will make a tight bale "if operated correctly" and belt tension components are in good condition. Did you actually weight the bales from both balers?? Down here where I live one could wear out a pickup during hay season driving around looking for many red rd balers baling hay.


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## snowball (Feb 7, 2015)

Tx Jim said:


> A 435 will make a tight bale "if operated correctly" and belt tension components are in good condition. Did you actually weight the bales from both balers?? Down here where I live one could wear out a pickup during hay season driving around looking for many red rd balers baling hay.


TX Jim you surly mean a ford pickup , cause a Chevy or dodge would just be getting broke in


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## central va farmer (Feb 14, 2015)

Yes I weighed the bales, if I didn't how would I know the 654 made a heavier bale than 435? I sell all my hay by the ton and pretty much weigh every load except a few singles that horse people come after. I bought a 535 new and my friend has 2 435 1 he bought new other used. If memory serves me right you adjusted density under front shield near tongue with a knob on a valve. I baled alot of hay with 535 and I have to say it was biggest p o s made. Traded it on new 567 and buddy that was a baler. We had a 500 deere baler that dad bought new and it would not make as tight of bale as 535 but would out bale it. I wanted a 4 ft wide bale so bought a 654 and ran around 12000 bales through it traded it on a br7070. The 7070 is a baling trick also.
Bale weights on a 535 made 66-68 inches tall around 1300 pounds.
567 same size bale 1500 pounds
654 around 1100 pounds, friend helped bale that summer and his bales were lucky to hit 1000 pounds, with 435
Br7070 will hit 1200
These weights are on certified scales at stone quarry. Stone quarry is about 1 mile from my homeplace.
So yes I have actually weighed the bales.


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## central va farmer (Feb 14, 2015)

I have never ran a 467 but if it's like 567 it's a good baler. I was just telling that a 654 is a good baler and in my opinion a better baler than 430/435 and would be a cheaper alternative than a 467.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

central va farmer said:


> Yes I weighed the bales, if I didn't how would I know the 654 made a heavier bale than 435? I baled alot of hay with 535 and I have to say it was biggest p o s made. . We had a 500 deere baler that dad bought new and it would not make as tight of bale as 535 but would out bale it.


To answer your 1st question a lot of people GUESS the weight of bales. I bought some 18 wheeler loads of rd bales of Brome from Missouri a few yrs back because of the drought. I asked the gentleman if he knew what the 4X5.5 bales weighed. He stated "I think" the bales will weigh 1100-1200#s as right before I started baling I had my nearly new NH rd baler run through the dealers shop & tuned up. Long story/short story bales averaged 920#s. I was not buying by the ton as I bought & sold by the bale

When you state the JD 500 rd baler which was JD's 1st attempt to build a rd baler that only had spring tension and a wide bottom floor belt and was ""closed throat"" would outbale a JD 535 did you mean bales per hr or tons per hr?? Actually the 500 was just a bundler of hay similar to NH chain balers. If JD 535 rd balers were so bad then a lot of farmers made some bad purchases as a whole lot of 535's were sold and worn out. On the 535 did you ever weld beads on the metal starter rectangular bars to aid in starting the core??? Other than the feeder fingers on the 567/568 there's not a lot of differences between them & a 535.

The worst JD rd baler I ever owned was a 466 Mega-wide pickup. After the feeder finger crankshaft got worn I couldn't keep the feeder fingers in place.

Is it still cold in VA as it was 80 here in Tx yesterday.


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## snowball (Feb 7, 2015)

I ran a 535 for 10 yrs and if you did the maintenance and keep the starter roll on good cond. and the belts sized even with the belts worn it would make a good tight bale I did trade it for a 2001 NH 688, I like the net wrap better but was a little more work to load a roll . made a little tighter bale, liked the baler untill it got about 7000 bales then the thing got expensive to maintain. Tx Jim made a very good point if the 35 series JD baler were so bad why were there a ton of them bought and run into the ground and resurrected again & again. I don't think that would have happened if they were a POS. JMO but when they came out in the late 80's they were a hell of a lot better than the leaf beaters that NH had at that point in time.


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## CBarM (Mar 1, 2015)

On round balers you can't go wrong with green. New Holland needs to do away with that sledge frame design in my opinion.


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## [email protected] (Mar 23, 2015)

Thanks for all the input. I have found another baler I am interested in I am going to look at this weekend. It is a New Idea 6344 (looks just like hesston to me) has not had many rolls and looks pretty good. I am new to making round rolls and would like a smaller baler. I will be pulling with a Ford 3930, a Kubota m4900 cab tractor, or a JD 2355. I just want to make sure I get a baler that I can pull with these tractors without straining them too much.


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## snowball (Feb 7, 2015)

It is a hesston


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## JDSquareBaler (Aug 11, 2015)

I pull a 435 with a 4010 diesel syncro transmission in 5th gear. Runs it pretty good. It knows its back there but it doesn't work the crap out of it and it gets the job done and makes a nice tight bale.


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