# JD 347 baler repair



## fisherman3825 (Jan 24, 2016)

My John Deere 347 baler is getting to the point of needing repairs. I have always kept it very well maintained and have had it for many years. It still makes nice bales but I want to make sure it continues to do so. I think it will at least need plunger bearings, plunger wear guide rails and some new springs but I'm sure what else.

I can do the work myself. Can anybody make a suggestion on where to start (I have a service manual) and what I should look out for, what I should definitely do and what you have heard? Thanks!


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

If you're concerned about PH & associated parts then pull PH and inspect the parts. With the aid of an air wrench the PH can be removed within 10-15 minutes. After PH is removed would be a good time to inspect/sharpen knives.


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## fisherman3825 (Jan 24, 2016)

I just went out and wiggled bearings. I'm noticing some movement on the drive shaft support bearing, clutch bearing, flywheel bearing, auger bearing and large gear bearing. Wondering how much is too much wiggle. The auger bearing seems the worst to me - lots of slop. Not real concerned with any of them except maybe the auger. Don't know how much slop is acceptable on the large gear bearing. Don't know how much slop is a problem with the others either. The plunger head guide rails don't have as much wear as I remembered but again I don't know how much is okay. The plunger head has a lot of up and down and side to side movement. Have any suggestions?


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

The plunger head I pulled out of my 336 the bearings had locked up long ago and had been sliding on the races and it was still pounding out good bales. I pulled plunger to repair the crank pin bushing as it hadn't been greased enough.

Checking other bearings some where obviously rough turning or sloppy to the point the dust seals were damaged.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

fisherman3825 said:


> I just went out and wiggled bearings. The plunger head guide rails don't have as much wear as I remembered but again I don't know how much is okay. The plunger head has a lot of up and down and side to side movement. Have any suggestions?


Drive brgs would have to be very loose for me to replace them. PH can be shimmed at the top & slide toward stationary knife by moving lower guide rails. I still think if it was my baler I'd pull PH to check PH brg's condition. I don't remember ever replacing very many auger brgs. Normally the wooden block in the end of auger gets worn excessively and requires replacement


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

I would agree that a good place to start is the plunger. Haven't pulled a JD plunger - yet, but have on my old New Holland 68. I got to believe it's pretty straightforward on the 347.

Once out, the plunger can be easily evaluated. I knew the knife and plunger bearings needed sharpeded/replaced on mine, what I didn't expect was that the plunger pitman bushing needed replaced too. Also, once you pull the plunger (at least for me) it was easier to see how how the whole assy was held in place and adjusted.

Good luck,
Bill


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## 6125 (Sep 14, 2009)

The operator's manual covers all that is needed to pull the plunger and re-align after install. We pull the plunger in ours every year to check for worn out rollers on plunger. When they lock up, you keep running and running and end up wearing a groove on the angle iron wear guides, and then it becomes almost impossible to get the plungerhead to guide rail tolerances adjusted correctly. Plus they're not cheap to replace. Have not yet needed to replace the main pitman arm bearings yet on the 348, but did already on the 336. It's a tedeous job setting all the tolerances up, but after a couple times it becomes relatively easy as long as you follow the steps in the manual.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

6125 said:


> Plus they're not cheap to replace. Have not yet needed to replace the main pitman arm bearings yet on the 348, but did already on the 336.


End of PH pitman arm that attaches to PH on 336 has a bush while same area on 348 has a brg which IMHO will last much longer


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

If your 347 doesn't have the grease nipple extended back to an easy spot to reach, put the extension on while its out and you'll keep that pin on the plunger greased better.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

slowzuki said:


> If your 347 doesn't have the grease nipple extended back to an easy spot to reach, put the extension on while its out and you'll keep that pin on the plunger greased better.


IIRC all 347's had the grease hose to ease greasing pitman brg that attaches arm to PH


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## fisherman3825 (Jan 24, 2016)

Yes, my 347 has the grease hose extension to the pitman bearing and it has a bearing instead of a bushing. The pin that goes through the bearing is surprisingly expensive. There is some back and forth slop on that bearing/pin so I'm thinking that while I have the PH out I will replace that bearing while I'm at it.

The auger is so loose/sloppy that I need to get that fixed, looking at the parts breakdown it looks like there are several bearings to replace and a bit of a mystery to me how it will come apart.

Anybody know how much wear on the wear guide angle iron I can live with if the bearings are new? Mine are worn but I don't if too much.

Out of curiosity, haven't looked at the book yet, which direction does the PH come out from, I would assume to the rear? Does it slide out easily?


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

PH comes out same as completed sq bales.. To remove auger or replace brgs one needs to pull auger frame(parts key 11) out the RH end of baler


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## 6125 (Sep 14, 2009)

Just about any wear at all on the angles makes it a bit of a pain to get the tolerances dialed in right as far as adjusting clearances go. We're talking thousands of an inch here. I'll admit mine has a bit of a groove worn in it, and I should really replace them.

Then on the other hand there are guys around town that have had these balers for a long time and never had the plunger out and I know for a fact the roller bearings are gone and locked up, but they keep pounding away making bales year after year, so maybe I just worry a bit too much about it.


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## Wethay (Jul 17, 2015)

I have a 348 that needs plunger bearings and guide rails. Is there any options for the rails except rob a bank and get them from mother Deere ? Has anybody had any experience with aftermarket knives?


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Best baler parts sells them aftermarket but made in the U.S., still 300$ or so for a pair.

I've never looked to see if a milling machine could skim them flat again.


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## thendrix (May 14, 2015)

A decent machinist could really be a fine man to know in this case


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## fisherman3825 (Jan 24, 2016)

I found gtengineparts.com to have reasonable prices on the bearings and rails. They are at 954-353-1143 or [email protected]

I have been shopping and this is the least expensive so far, much less than JD. I'll report if I find lower prices anywhere.

I like the idea of a machine shop milling back to flat but I think it would only work if they aren't very worn.


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## fisherman3825 (Jan 24, 2016)

Sure would like to talk to somebody that has gone the milling machine route. More shimming and how much is acceptable.


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## thendrix (May 14, 2015)

Our local Napa will match bearings if you take them to them to measure. That usually works pretty good for me.

As for machining, that might be a little more difficult then meets the eye. I don't know how big of a rail we're talking but if they're bowed or twisted, you have to cut the bow or twist out which means taking a pretty fair amount of material off. If you don't cut the bow out, you'll have to shim different thicknesses for the length of the rail to accommodate for the thin or thick spots caused by the bow. If you have counterbores for bolt heads, they will likely have to be cut deeper.

Fisherman, where are you located?


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

thendrix said:


> As for machining, that might be a little more difficult then meets the eye. I don't know how big of a rail we're talking but if they're bowed or twisted, you have to cut the bow or twist out which means taking a pretty fair amount of material off. If you don't cut the bow out, you'll have to shim different thicknesses for the length of the rail to accommodate for the thin or thick spots caused by the bow.


IMHO there's no good way to shim plunger head if guides are bowed or twisted. I see no way to shim different thickness for the length of the guide.


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## thendrix (May 14, 2015)

The only way to shim different thicknesses is with different shims on the back side as needed. I didn't say you could or that it would work. I just said that's how you have to accommodate different thicknesses of the rail caused by bow or twist during machining.

I also wonder if you could take 1/16 of the rail and go with a bearing that has a 1/8 bigger od? Just a thought


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

thendrix said:


> I also wonder if you could take 1/16 of the rail and go with a bearing that has a 1/8 bigger od? Just a thought


If one machined the PH guides without removing more than 1/16'' of material on a JD baler one could probably use original brgs as guides & shims are what adjusts the PH in bale case. I've replaced brgs on JD baler that were worn down considerably more than 1/8'' in diameter. Also because of brg design it might be difficult to locate an alternate brg 2.625 in diameter


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## thendrix (May 14, 2015)

I would think 2 5/8 would be a common size, not nearly as common as 2 1/2, but then you may be right. I've never messed with any john deere balers I'm just going off of general machinery knowledge


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

May I ask why you think a 2-5/8'' diameter brg would be close to as common than a 2-1/2'' diameter brg utilized on 1000's upon 1000's of JD sq balers since the 70's?


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## thendrix (May 14, 2015)

Because 2 5/8 isn't a bastard size. If you'll notice I did say not nearly as common as 2 1/2.

As for locating one, we use a company called bearings and drives to replace bearings on extrusion presses that are anywhere from 30 to 80 years old. Some American made some German made. The German made press has a lot of bastard sized everything on it. It was made by Hydraulik for the German army to use to make airplane parts during WWII. There's an article about it in popular mechanics. Look for "world's largest extrusion press"


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

thendrix said:


> Because 2 5/8 isn't a bastard size. If you'll notice I did say not nearly as common as 2 1/2.


I never stated or implied that a 2-5/8 dia brg would be difficult to locate BUT I'll bet locating one similar to brg utilized on JD baler won't be easy. The spec's are listed in my post so check with "bearings and drives'' on 2-5/8'' brg availability.

Have a nice day,Jim


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## thendrix (May 14, 2015)

I agree. A standard 2 5/8 bearing is going to have a larger ID then a 2 1/2. I'm not recommending using a bigger bearing, just saying you can. The shaft would have to be bushed to fit the bigger bearing.

You have a nice day as well


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

thendrix said:


> BTW I don't really appreciate the snarky attitude. I say if we can't have a conversation/disagreement like adults then let's don't have them.


Actually I think my question to you was "polite not snarky" as did I not state "MAY I ask you"? If you chose not to reply to my post then so be it. If you make a post that I think contains incorrect information I will probably reply. Correct me if I'm incorrect isn't that the reason this a .''''DISCUSSION FORUM''''?????????

Jim


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## thendrix (May 14, 2015)

Please look back and see that I edited my comment very soon after posting because I thought I might have taken your comment the wrong way. Thank you


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

No problem I'll also apologize, Actually all this discussion is mute as I think original brg will operate fine if only a small amount of material(1/16-1/8'') is removed from PH guide.

Jim


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## thendrix (May 14, 2015)

I appreciate your last reply and I'm glad to see we're both adult enough to have a difference of opinion and not get personal. I'm on several other forums and it's pretty amazing, and sad, how such little disagreements can turn into metaphorical fist fights.


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## 6125 (Sep 14, 2009)

Isn't there quite a bit of vertical adjustment on the plungerhead bearings? As many times as i've had them out I should know, but i'm currently incompacitated at the moment with too many other thoughts on the brain...

Biggest thing I can see being a problem with milling them down a touch is maybe the heads on the countersunk bolts. Other than that, can't really think of anything else...


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## fisherman3825 (Jan 24, 2016)

Having the milling done and then adjusting the countersunk holes is probably more cost than buying new wear guides unless you have your own milling machine.

Anybody aware of limitations on the number of shims you put in for vertical adjustment? The only adjustment for vertical is shims, correct?


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

I think one can install as many upper shims as necessary to remove excess slack. Limiting factor would be length of wear pad bolts. JD parts catalog list number of shims as AR(as required)


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