# jd square baler 346



## cutter (Aug 18, 2013)

I bought a used 346 jd square baler, it might tie 10 or more bales good then bust 3 or more till I fix it, usually will have 3 or so strings hung in bill hook going into bales that didn't tie, could my knives being dull or wore out be the problem, they look awful cuved probably from sharpening and look original with rivets and all.


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## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

Cutter, welcome to haytalk. Lots of good info here, and somebody with more experience than me should be by shortly with a good suggestion. Until then, if I get the attachment right, here's a "Common Baler Problems and Their Remedies" page I loaded from somewhere. Good luck!


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## Josh in WNY (Sep 7, 2010)

Sounds like you may have more than one problem, but it could be the twine you are using. Are you running sisal or plastic twine? JD used two different style billhooks in the 3x6 series balers. One for for sisal twine only, the other was multi-twine. The multi-twine billhooks have an indentation for the "tooth" of the billhook jaw to sit in when closed. The sisal billhooks do not have this. What you are describing sounds a lot like what happened when I tried plastic twine in my 336 years ago.

If the twine isn't the problem, then the twine knives sound like they could use replacing by your description, but it also sounds like the wiper is not cleaning the knot off the billhook. If the baler has the original style knotters, then the wiper arm will need to be "molded" so that it properly contacts the billhook to wipe the knot off. The newer style wiper arms have a wiper plate that is attached with two small bolts and can be adjusted.

If you haven't already, get the owners manual from JD. It will have all of the information you need on adjusting the knotter.

Hope this helps, Josh.


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## cutter (Aug 18, 2013)

Josh in WNY said:


> Sounds like you may have more than one problem, but it could be the twine you are using. Are you running sisal or plastic twine? JD used two different style billhooks in the 3x6 series balers. One for for sisal twine only, the other was multi-twine. The multi-twine billhooks have an indentation for the "tooth" of the billhook jaw to sit in when closed. The sisal billhooks do not have this. What you are describing sounds a lot like what happened when I tried plastic twine in my 336 years ago.
> 
> If the twine isn't the problem, then the twine knives sound like they could use replacing by your description, but it also sounds like the wiper is not cleaning the knot off the billhook. If the baler has the original style knotters, then the wiper arm will need to be "molded" so that it properly contacts the billhook to wipe the knot off. The newer style wiper arms have a wiper plate that is attached with two small bolts and can be adjusted.
> 
> ...


well, the twine is plastic but it looks awful small compared to the other bundles I have around. not sure about old style or not knotters, I know each knotter has 2 bolts with springs on side but figure tier for bill hook. How do you mold the wiper to clean that bil hook. I do have a book orderd but haven't picked it up yet, I am wondering if I made a bad buy and whole darn knotter is wore out .


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## Josh in WNY (Sep 7, 2010)

cutter said:


> well, the twine is plastic but it looks awful small compared to the other bundles I have around. not sure about old style or not knotters, I know each knotter has 2 bolts with springs on side but figure tier for bill hook. How do you mold the wiper to clean that bil hook. I do have a book orderd but haven't picked it up yet, I am wondering if I made a bad buy and whole darn knotter is wore out .


If I can figure out how to put it up, I'll take a picture of my baler tonight as it has a new style and an old style knotter side by side. As for molding the arm, the instructions are in the owner's manual, but I've never done it myself. The old style knotter on my baler could probably use a little bit of adjustment, but the bushings are worn out and it has a pretty big grove worn were it slides over the billhook, so I'm just going to replace it.

Given that it is tying some of the time, I don't think it is necessarily a bad buy, knotters are always troublesome at some point. 3 years ago my baler was missing 2 out of every 5 bales. By the time the year was over, I had it tying ever single time and knew a lot more about how knotters work!


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## triabordofarm (Apr 8, 2013)

When I bought my used 328 it had plastic twine in the box so I used it. I had the same problem as you. Just for grins I switched to sissal twine and have not had a failed tie since. Apparently my 328 likes sissal over plastic.


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## Josh in WNY (Sep 7, 2010)

Here is a screenshot from the PDF of the technical manual for the JD balers that shows the two different billhooks.


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## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

Josh in WNY said:


> Here is a screenshot from the PDF of the technical manual for the JD balers that shows the two different billhooks.


Thanks for posting that!! I asked what the difference was @ the dealer before I bought new bill-hooks, and was just told "there's not much."



> well, the twine is plastic but it looks awful small compared to the other bundles I have around.


When I bought my 336 my buyer wanted the plastic twine instead of the sisal, so I tried what I was using in the round baler, which is a lot smaller than square baler twine. I was as green as it gets with hay @ the time & didn't know better. When it didn't work I went ahead & ordered multi-twine hooks & got some plastic twine @ the same time.

I have wondered if I had the multi hooks originally, but didn't know how to tell. I'll look @ them next time I'm at the baler. (I keep the old ones in the tool box just in case.)


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## cutter (Aug 18, 2013)

jd mechanic said twine looked awful small, try other twine and see if wiper sweeps it better, I haven't looked at bill hooks to see what kind I have. What did those knew knotters cost you andon the other are you going to replace whole assembly or the worn wiper thing.?


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## Josh in WNY (Sep 7, 2010)

cutter said:


> jd mechanic said twine looked awful small, try other twine and see if wiper sweeps it better, I haven't looked at bill hooks to see what kind I have. What did those knew knotters cost you andon the other are you going to replace whole assembly or the worn wiper thing.?


Yeah, small twine might be a problem, I normally run 9000 sisal through mine. The newer style knotter was already on the baler when we got it, but JDparts lists a new knotter at around $1350, but that's just the parts. I will probably only replace the wiper arm. The new kit comes with new bushings, knife, wiper plate, etc.

In the attached picture, the new style knotter is on the left. The big differences are the adjustable wiper plate (which you can't see in the picture), the adjustable spring tension for the twine disc (spring and bolt coming off the right side of the knotter frame), the nut which holds the worm gear on the bottom (allows for easier adjustment of the twine disc timing), and the two-piece mount around the knotter shaft (the old style requires you to pull the shaft out and the new style you can just unbolt it). All these changes just make the knotters easier to adjust, the actual operation is exactly the same.


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## cutter (Aug 18, 2013)

hmmmm mine may be the new style but it has lots of play, because I have the bolt on side with spring.


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## Josh in WNY (Sep 7, 2010)

cutter said:


> hmmmm mine may be the new style but it has lots of play, because I have the bolt on side with spring.


Does it have the split collar around the knotter drive shaft? Someone may have updated an older knotter with some newer style parts.


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## Fowllife (Sep 10, 2010)

urednecku said:


> When I bought my 336 my buyer wanted the plastic twine instead of the sisal, so I tried what I was using in the round baler, which is a lot smaller than square baler twine. I was as green as it gets with hay @ the time & didn't know better. When it didn't work I went ahead & ordered multi-twine hooks & got some plastic twine @ the same time.


That would be the first thing I tried also. Some people don't know the difference in round & square baler twine & just throw in whatever is cheaper, ie round baler twine.

Granted you should be able to get your knotter adjusted for either kind of twine, but getting a couple difference balls may say you some aggrivation & money. From what I have heard on here the 180 knot strength poly will tie like the old sissal. There is also a difference in size of sissal twine also.


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## davang (Apr 7, 2010)

Get those wipers adjusted tight to the bottom of the billhook. You might have to bang the wiper arms

with a hammer to get them close enough. They should scrape just a little. Take all the play out of the wiper with shims. Sharp blades are key. Make sure the tucker fingers are bringing that twine into position and the twine disk is holding firm. The twine must be cut and the knot pushed off the billhook. Use modern plastic twine. I did everything to my 346 including new knotter pinion gears, blades, billhooks and tension arms, tucker fingers and springs. You name it. (THats just my knotter repairs!) The only thing I didn't change were the intermittent gears. I never could get it right. Problem is there are NO JD techs around here who know these old machines. He couldn't even time it right. All the square balers around here use NH. So I got with the program.

The learning curve on these is steep,steep , steep. You have to learn how to bale AND repair the machine. JD parts are high. Look for discount places such as best baler parts .com. Shawn the balerman is the JD guru. They have already rebuilt knotter halves for $450 per side. I should have gone with that. Also Greenfarmparts.com

There are so many adjustments that must be perfect and older machines have wear in places you don't even know exist at this point.

Best best is to bite the bullet and get "new" knotters or sell off the machine and get a NH 575.


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## Coondle (Aug 28, 2013)

JD and NH knotters are basically the same design, designed in the late 1800s early 1900s

If the twine cuts are ragged then it is most likely a dull knife, if clean cut then look to the billhook tension being too high ie too much tension on the billhook cam.

A dull knife will also try out the twine holder tension so tighten the twine holder tension a fraction

The knife arm scraper needs firm contact with the bottom of the billhook AND needs to have full width contact , sometimes the can be worn away on the leading edge so the twine slips under it and wedges it away from the billhook.

Other problems can include knife arm travel, retarded twine holder (twine disc) , retarded twine finger timing and damaged/grooved parts.

Keep the knotters well lubricated, the only place you may have too much grease is in the grease gun!!! it doesn't lubricate there.

Knotters with regular lubrication, sharp knives and attention to billhook tension and twine holder tension will last for hundreds of thousands of bales.

I have a nh 570 since new (2006) and probably done over 150K bales from 11500pa to 35000pa with little trouble with the knotters

Good luck!but much adjusting whenever a bale miss tie for other than twine ball changeover.


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## Josh in WNY (Sep 7, 2010)

Coondle said:


> Keep the knotters well lubricated, the only place you may have too much grease is in the grease gun!!!


The only comment I would have to this is to make sure and wipe up any excess grease that is squeezed out. That helps keep the chaff from building up on the knotters and causing problems. I usually use the old "hand pump" grease gun on the knotters and stop pumping as soon as I see new grease starting to squeeze out. Then a quick wipe with a towel and it's off to the field.

As Coondle points out, regular maintenance is the key to good knotter performance.


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## InterLake (Nov 28, 2012)

I have learned a few things reading this thread. Last year one of the knotters on my 346 suddenly started pumping out broken bales. The knots were hanging up on the bill hook. After a while I figured out that the wiper was not going as far as the other one and the wiper arm needed to be "modelled" back into the proper shape. (A number of years ago, the twine got hung up and my helper didn't notice. The wiper arm got badly straightened. I realized that the modelling tool pictured in the 24T operator's manual looks a bit like an old style adjustable wrench, so that's what I used to get that knotter working again. Perhaps I didn't get it quite right.) I didn't feel like messing with the arm, so I got some J-B Weld and built up the lobe on the intermittent gear so the wiper could do the whole job. Still works.


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