# Does JD 328/338/348 Model Matter?



## chetlenox

All,

I have a quick question for those familiar with late-model JD balers.

I have a small size tractor (JD 4520, ~4k lbs and 53 HP) that I am currently using to cut, rake, and bale my little 13 acre Coastal Bermuda pasture. I borrow a neighbors ~10-year-old Case in-line baler to do the baling, and am looking to buy one for myself this winter.

My local dealers are JD and New Holland, so I imagine I'll stick with one of those two brands. I'll be buying late-model (1-3 years old) or new, twine-tie.

My question is this: Is there a significant difference in the tractor size requirements between the different JD models?

John Deere's literature lists the 338 and 348 as "higher capacity" models that (I assume) means I can shove more hay at a faster rate into the thing (assuming I have the tractor HP, which I really don't). I'm not really in need of higher capacity, so I figure I should just be shopping for a 328 model. Unfortunately, I've found that there really aren't that many for sale, there are many more 348s in my area for some reason. If I end up finding a 348 that is clean at a good price, I just want to make sure my tractor wouldn't have a significantly harder time with it then a 328.

The official JD specs don't show a really large difference between the models. If I just compare the 348 to the 328, all the specs are identical, including length, width, pick-up width, and HP required (35hp) except for:

328/348
Weight(lbs) 2685/3110
Teeth 104/156
Strokes/min 80/93

Any insight folks could give me that have used these models of balers before would be great.

Thanks!

Chet.


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## 4020man

Well, the 328 and 338 have the same strokes per minute. The big difference between the 328 and 338 is the 338 has a wider pickup(i have the tech manual with the specs of all the balers if you are interested) I don't understand what makes the 338 a higher capacity baler as it has the same strokes per minute as a 328. Yes, you are correct about the capacity. Higher capacity means you can ram more hay through the baler faster. The 348 is therefore the higher capacity baler with 93 strokes per minute. I have a 336(older version of a 328 there are slight differences but nothing huge.) and we rake 2 windrows together and bale in third gear on a 4020 with no problems. I would like to find a used 337, 338, 347, or 348 because of the wider pickup becasue how we have our windrows raked, it takes almost the whole width of the pickup(5 feet) on my baler to get the hay. But if you are baling small(narrow) windrows, I would not worry.


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## downtownjr

Hi Chet,

My neighbors horse stable...they are a group of horse owners that bought and share the farm, arena, and huge horse barn...and bale about 40 acres of orchard grass, with some timothy and rye grass in it, with a new JD 4720 and JD 338 baler they bought this spring. They are very happy with it. I have only seen this one work when they baled 20 acres while I was out with them during the labor day weekend...I cannot remember them missing a bale. The kids loaded and unloaded wagons while us old men just drove the tractors. We worked at a nice pace. I was jealous of the well run and maintained operation they had.

By the way, I know I seen a post where they talked about a 346 baler auger riding up...might want to see their thoughts... I don't know if that is a common JD problem. Seemed OK in Bermuda grass.

http://www.haytalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=295

Personally, I like New Holland...a 570 would be perfect I bet. No reason other than personal preference


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## 4020man

I'm not sure what to think about that auger problem. I have a 336 and the only time that auger moved up is if the hay is tough and I try to make the baler take too much at once. The auger on mine looks to be the original one too and I have baled some very stemmy grass with it.


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## chetlenox

Thanks for the feedback guys,

4020man, I wasn't aware that the 338 had a wider pickup, that makes sense though. My windrows are generally not that wide... especially when we don't get enough rain!







I may send a note to John Deere, as they have the specs for the 328, 338, and 348 listed on their website as all having the same pickup width. Seems like if you are able to really move a double-raked row of hay through your 336 with your big ole 4020, the low-capacity 328 is going to be plenty for my needs (and smaller tractor).

Dowtownjr, it's good to hear that you've seen good results from essentially the same combination I'm looking for (although the 4720 does have 5 more HP than me). I was pretty sure that I have enough tractor just based on how comfortable it is to bale using my neighbors Case baler. Very little rocking and can stuff hay at what seems like (to me) a pretty good clip. It certainly takes less time to bale than it does to cut with my 7' sickle bar! Of course, it probably helps that my field is flat as a pancake and I don't pull a wagon behind. I have been paying attention to the other thread on the mis-behaving auger.

By the way, somebody did put together a cool YouTube video of a 338 baler chugging away behind a similiar size tractor to mine:






The end cracks me up, with the guys loading the hay into the barn in the dark. I'm glad I'm not the only one that never seems to finish until late into the evening!

Chet.


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## 4020man

Ok, I just looked through my tech manual and the 328 and 338 have the same width pickup. Sorry about that, my mistake. The difference between the 2 balers is the pickup on the 338 has more teeth, more tooth bars and a longer auger, which would explain why it is higher capacity.






Here is the link to a video I made of baling hay. This is second cutting with 2 windrows raked together baling in 4th gear. It can handle 3 windrows raked together, but I prefer to bale 2 raked together. The thrower doesn't get overrun as easily.


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## chetlenox

Great video 4020man. I enjoy seeing those sorts of videos of folks stuffing hay through their equipment. I have to admit, watching the throwers toss those bales into kicker-wagons always brings a smile to my face. We just don't see that very often around here. Well, let's be fair, we don't see a lot of square bales at ALL around here, Texas being cow country most folks do round bales. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure I've ever seen a kicker wagon in action in my area.

Bottom line, smaller and lower-capacity seems to be my future. Now the challenge is going to be finding a good quality used JD or NH that fits that bill. Looks like that is harder to do with lower-capacity balers like the 328 and 336. I did some more searching on-line again last night, and here are the results:

Machinefinder.com (Nationwide)
328 - 8 listings
336 - 15 listings
338 - 16 listings
348 - 24 listings

Tractorhouse.com (Nationwide)
328 - 4 listings
336 - 22 listings
338 - 7 listings
348 - 19 listings

Chet.


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## 4020man

Yup also might want to look into a 327, It is another smaller Deere baler that was built between the 6 and 8 series. The 336, and 346 were built from 1971 to 1980, the 327, 337, and 347 were built from 1981 to 1986 and the 328, 338 and 348 have been built since 1987.

Throwers aren't very common until you drive about 20 minutes northwest of me where there is a little more livestock than grain. I was glad I bought the thrower as it takes the man off the rack and puts him in the barn. Up here there is a lot of small squares, and large round balers. THere are a few guys that bale large square, but not many. There are also a couple guys that chop hay to feed to the cattle instead of baling it.

Also to aid you in your search, try ironsearch.com and http://www.deertracs.com/


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