# More JD 346 Baler trouble



## davang (Apr 7, 2010)

Well, I'm goin' along making nice tight bales (i'm a newbie) the windrows are pretty full but the bales look great. Ground speed is about 2 mph. All of a sudden the baler jams up and the slip clutch starts a-slippin'. So I stop the PTO get out and look we try it again and still slippin'. So I wait a few minutes, it decides it wants to work again, I get 5 loose bales then she jams up again for good. We tighten the slip clutch, check the operation of the dogs the shaft operates correctly but now the flywheel is freewheeling I can no longer operate the baler manually with the flywheel. I think I've got a problem in the main gear case. ANy thoughts anybody?

Thanks


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## freedomfarm (Jul 8, 2010)

Shear pins? My old 24T has a shear pin on the flywheel . . . hopefully it's that and not the gear box. What stops working that causes it to jam up? or do you think you're trying to feed to much hay in?


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## davang (Apr 7, 2010)

freedomfarm said:


> Shear pins? My old 24T has a shear pin on the flywheel . . . hopefully it's that and not the gear box. What stops working that causes it to jam up? or do you think you're trying to feed to much hay in?


Could be too much Hay, my buddy says he's seen people feed more than I was but you know how that is... There is a key that syncs the flywheel to the spline shaft. I'm thinking that since the baler jammed the flywheel prob is a symptom and not the main cause. Those gears and shafts in that gearbox are way expensive. The main gear is $1170 alone.
what I don't understand is how could it jam and then work again and re-jam. Maybe a bearing burned up? They're cheaper I suppose. Thanks for the input.

Jeff


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## davang (Apr 7, 2010)

freedomfarm said:


> Shear pins? My old 24T has a shear pin on the flywheel . . . hopefully it's that and not the gear box. What stops working that causes it to jam up? or do you think you're trying to feed to much hay in?


Could be too much Hay, my buddy says he's seen people feed more than I was but you know how that is... There is a key that syncs the flywheel to the spline shaft. I'm thinking that since the whole baler jammed and the slip clutch won't turn the main shaft the flywheel prob is a symptom and not the main cause. Those gears and shafts in that gearbox are way expensive. The main gear is $1170 alone.
what I don't understand is how could it jam and then work again and re-jam. Maybe a bearing burned up? They're cheaper I suppose. Thanks for the input.

Jeff


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## freedomfarm (Jul 8, 2010)

Hhhhmmmmm . . . someone else may need to jump in here and advise. If you don't have a book, you really should get one, especially if you're not familiar with balers. I don't want to tick off the JD folk, but if your buddy saw someone feeding lots of hay into a baler it may have been a NH or something other than green. Clean out all the hay in your baler, find out where all your protection is (slip clutch, brake disk, shear bolts or pins) make sure all is in order and adjusted correctly. With your baler empty (after you correct flywheel problem) run it by hand and watch everything that happens . . . You may want to change the gear lube in the hearbox if you can't find the flywheel problem and see what comes out . . . gear teeth? shrapnel? etc . . . I would have to believe that gearbox is protected somewhere by a shear pin or bolt.
Need a JD 346 owner to jump in on this . . .


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## davang (Apr 7, 2010)

freedomfarm said:


> Hhhhmmmmm . . . someone else may need to jump in here and advise. If you don't have a book, you really should get one, especially if you're not familiar with balers. I don't want to tick off the JD folk, but if your buddy saw someone feeding lots of hay into a baler it may have been a NH or something other than green. Clean out all the hay in your baler, find out where all your protection is (slip clutch, brake disk, shear bolts or pins) make sure all is in order and adjusted correctly. With your baler empty (after you correct flywheel problem) run it by hand and watch everything that happens . . . You may want to change the gear lube in the hearbox if you can't find the flywheel problem and see what comes out . . . gear teeth? shrapnel? etc . . . I would have to believe that gearbox is protected somewhere by a shear pin or bolt.
> Need a JD 346 owner to jump in on this . . .


Gonna tear it apart in a little while. There is a bolt that links the flywheel to its shaft. Maybe if that's broke I can at least fix it and try to operate the baler by hand after I clean it out. Thanks


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

Your JD baler has a shear bolt on the flywheel....costs about $1 to replace. I keep some around but I've only needed it once. Check the spacing and sharpness of your stationary and plunger blades. Mainly the stationary blade. If they are old/dull or spaced too wide, you can choke on a heavy windrow and break the shear bolt. A new stationary blade is about $100 and the shims are about $8.


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## geiselbreth (Feb 21, 2010)

get a book sounds like hay 2 green dry hay breaks green hay cut lot harder to cut than break 346 should take about anything u put in it make sure hay knife is sharp and follow book on adjustment


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## Greyhorse (Jun 22, 2009)

I seriously doubt the gears are broken, probably just got jammed and broke the shear bolt. The 346 is a fairly high capacity baler and should be able to take a lot of hay. You should get a genuine JD shear bolt.... or several, don't use a normal bolt. Also if the arm from the gearbox to the plunger is in the right place when it's stopped the pto won't be able to get it going, it'll just slip the clutch..... you have to give it a little turn by hand but I've only had that happen once on my NH.


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## davang (Apr 7, 2010)

It was jammed with hay. some of it was too green. Also that NH 56 side rake does rope it a bit and the grass was on the tall side due to all the rain we got here in Texas Gulf Coast. geiselbreth you were right on the money. By book you mean the repair manual I take it? i've got the owners manual. I research the partds on the JD website diagrams. Shear bolt was broken. Changed the gear box oil while I was at it, boy that was some rank stuff in there.
THANKS TO ALL WHO PITCHED IN WITH HELP! This was a case of operator error, and inexperience. I can't help I grew up in New York City.


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## txhayman (Jul 23, 2010)

I want to add that if the bales have sloppy cuts (on the knife side of the bale), you need to check the knife gap spacing. It takes more Hp to turn a baler with knives that are dull or spaced too wide and you will break shear bolts often. I don't know what the specs are for the spacing. I set mine so that a dime fits tightly in between them. Also, if the knife gap varies with every stroke of the plunger, you need to check the plunger bearings and the bearing rails for excessive wear. It's impossible to set the knife gap when a plunger bearing is wore out.


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## Barry Bowen (Nov 16, 2009)

After reading all that has been posted here I have a few questions on what you are doing. There are a few things that could be causing your problem. You do not need any service manual, everthing you need to know to work on the adjustments on your 346 is in the owners manual. The manual may not make sense when you just read it, but if you have the manual and the baler infront of you, it will be pretty clear.

First you say the hay you were baling was thick, was it also wet? How tight are the springs adjusted on the squeezer on the chute, are the side doors on the rear adjusted pretty tight, and how many sets of straw blocks are inside the bale chute. What I am getting after here is I have seen people with the adjustments so tight, and the hay wet enough that they literally clogged the baler. The hay was soo tight in the chute that the plunger stopped and we had to take pry bars and chissels to get it out. There was probably 6 or 7 bales worth of hay packed in the particular baler. But you did say that it had made several loose bales so let go in a different direction.

It sounds like the shear bolt in the fly wheel is sheared, so get a new genuine JD one and put it in.

If I understand properly, you were baling along and all of a sudden BANG, things stopped. The clutch was slipping, but the fly wheel was still turning at first. Over top of the gear case is the plunger stop. This stop is to keep from breaking the needles if they are sticking out in the bale chamber This is controlled by the needles returning to the complete home position. If this stop is hanging out, your baler will STOP and the shear bolt is sheared. What usually causes this is the brake on the needle lift shaft, which is what the knotters are mounted on and turns the cams for the knotters. If the brake is worn out or loose, it lets the shaft turn just a little further than it should and the plunger stop comes out and BANG everything stops. Check out the disc brake on that shaft, it has two springs on it and they should be adjusted fairly tight. This is where I would start, if you do not find your problem here let me know.

Chances of somthing having gone wrong in the gear case are very slim. I have never seen one go bad unless it was run without oil.


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## geiselbreth (Feb 21, 2010)

hay knifes not sharp hat to green hay should be broken not cot


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