# 348 JD Square Baler



## DC Cattle (Jun 27, 2012)

I am getting ready to upgrade my square baler. I am looking at several JD 348 balers. One is a 2005 and the other a 2006.

First of all what can you tell me about these models/years. Both look great and appear to be tight. Anything to be wary of?

Secondly both have some sort of pressure system for bale tension. No hand cranks. Whats that all about? How do that work.


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## gradyjohn (Jul 17, 2012)

I have a 348. It is wire. I changed my tension for the crank years ago. It is great. I turn the knob 3 and 1/4 times and toss the first bale. When finished I release the tension and clear the chamber using assorted blocks with the help of the tractor. Mine is wire so I don't know about twine. I have been looking to go to twine because mine is 'bout 20 years old. Wire cost bunches. Question ... is the place you are getting them from going to give your support? I am in horse country in north Texas and they like the wire. Why I have not a clue. Most horse people don't know good hay or not. There is a guy down that does more squares than me and he went to twine and won't be back. In fact he now has a second 348 Twine. Sorry ... look for rusted out areas and paint missing in the pickup. Check for cracks around the auger power end. Which one has the less wear?


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## DC Cattle (Jun 27, 2012)

Thanks for your input. Both are twine balers. I am in Central Illinois and also seel to horse people. They prefer plastic and then twine. Noone used wire up herre.I have exclusive JD equipment with the exception on new New Holland 7220 disbine. JD dealer is 5 minute away. My dad retire from this dealer and my brother currently works for them. They support me on the service side very well. Can't say that on the sales side. Too greedy.


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## Whistling Dixie (Jan 18, 2010)

Having owned an older JD 338 baler, I would recommend checking the auger bearings on each one. They're not fun to replace. As new as the balers are I doubt they're out but just grab the auger and give it a tug, you're looking for excessive wobble, a little is ok as some play is required for it to rotate. Another way is to spin the flywheel by hand listen for any bumping sound that would show the auger bearings to be out. The old ones use persimmon wood bearings, not sure if the new ones still do. The pressure tension is hydraulic tension and I find it to be wonderful. My old Deere baler didn't have it but when I traded up, i made sure the new one did. For me the best thing about hydraulic tension is the ability to adjust the tension to current crop conditions. I won't have another square baler without it. Other things to look for would be the standard items, knives, teeth, chains, belts, plunger bearings etc. Very difficult to inspect the plunger bearings visually but you can hear them as you turn the wheel or run it slowly on a tractor. I never had any knotter problems on mine, it would be great if you could see it bale and tie before deciding.


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## gradyjohn (Jul 17, 2012)

The auger bearing ... I replaced my because it cracked. I keep mine oiled by putting some oil on the shaft and using a hole in the auger end. That stops the noise when it runs dry.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

Why are you just looking at John Deere balers? I'm biased, but I wouldn't own one. I'll edit this and say the reason I don't think I would own a JD baler. The auger. I've never operated one, but I have a feeling I would be unplugging one alot and I don't see how I could bale very fast with it either. The things seem to take up the whole chamber. I would think it might trash alfalfa leaves also more then a NH or Hesston due to the auger, but I could be wrong with that.


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## davang (Apr 7, 2010)

Me too. I have a 346 that I've spent thousands on and many hours of work. If I had known then what I know now... switched to NH 575. There's a NH dealer here in town who took in a 348 in trade, can't give it away. Our JD service here is pitiful when it comes to squares. If you have a good service guy I can understand.


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## 6125 (Sep 14, 2009)

I replaced the wooden augor bearing on ours last winter. I didn't think it was a hard job at all really. After bolting the new wood blocks in place, I drilled a small hole through the outside of the augor down through the wood block, stuck a short piece of metal brake line down through the block, then welded a grease fitting over the hole on the outside of the augor, so now it gets a shot of grease everytime the rest of the baler gets it. The augor shaft had no wear itself, and even with new wood blocks, there was still some play there.

Ours has the spring tension. We like this because we know where we have to be at in certain conditions just by the distance in the exposed threads on top of the springs. You don't even really need a moisture tester for hay if you bale enough with the machine and know where the thread distance needs to be at for dry hay. If you have to loosen up more than a half inch of threads than normal to keep the bale wieght down, you know things aren't right quick. We borrowed a baler with hyd. tension one time and I was lost as to wear the dial should be set. I was on and off the wagon way too many times tweeking the knob until I was satisfied with the weight. It is a quick adjustment, I can't knock it for that.

As far as looking for wear, I like to stick my head in the chamber with a flash light and look for worn wear guides. Mine had grooves worn in the two lower angle guides that the rollers ride on because rollers became "fast" and didn't turn, wearing a groove on the whole stroke of the plunger. It's very hard to adjust the clearance on the plunger with those grooves in those wear guides. If there's grooves in the guides, you'll likely spend $130-$200 a peice for the new guides from deere.

Also check at the very end of the augor, just before the hay enters the chamber, at the sheet metal where it is bolted on to the edge of the bale chamber. Deere uses paper thin sheet steel at that point, and if it baled alot of abrasive material, it wears through very quickly. Not a real critical thing, but something to look for nonetheless.

As far as other mfg. balers, I'm sure they're good. I've only ever been around deere. Our neighbors here have pounded deere balers for as long as I've known them, and I can't beleive how they hold up. They've baled 30% moisture hay on a semi-regular basis, putting it in a dryer to dry, and I cringe listening to every stroke of the plunger in their balers, and they just keep on going without much trouble at all. Are they the fastest balers built? Don't know. Maybe not. No one can say they're not tuff though.


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## rpierce749 (Aug 14, 2012)

My family uses a 20+ year old JD 336 and only have to replace twine and shear pins. Runs great and never ever causes trouble.


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## DC Cattle (Jun 27, 2012)

Well what an interesting twist to my story. Ordered a new New Holland BC5060 square baler with hydraulic tension option. I bought this from the local NH dealer for $18,200 out the door for a 2013 model. That was only $3-4K more than the used 05 and 06 JD 348s.

JD sales guys again did not come to the party.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

I think you'll be happy, people seem to really like that style of NH's. I've been very happy with my JD 336 other than the pickup being narrow and the speed, it was bit of a step down from our MF 224, bought a 2001 or so JD348, bringing it home sunday morning if the rain holds off. I only paid 3000$ for it, but it doesn't have hydraulic tensioning, missing the chute, manual swing, etc. I think one or two plunger rollers may be shot or out of adjustment. He baled mostly straw the last 5 years it was used so I'm guessing the knife clearance being wide never mattered to him.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

From your looking, could you explain to me what they mean by new rotary feed system, from all the pics I can see it looks they have the MF style multiple timed packer forks. Is there something I'm missing? The system worked great on our old MF, I can't knock it, I just wouldn't call it rotary. I'm not a fan of the older NH chain and other linkages and breakable aluminum teeth hanging out in front of the knives. Neighbours ate them last year. Big mess.


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