# John Deere 335 round baler



## Toyes Hill Angus (Dec 21, 2010)

I'm not a huge fan of a round baler, I would be much happier doing all small squares. The trouble is that help is getting to be quite an issue anymore, because I pile hay in the mow an accumulator and grapple setup just doesn't make sense, and I have no intention of building a shed or tarp building and leaving the mow empty at this time. 
So quite simply, the plan is to buy a round baler, they are priced much more reasonable to my operation than a big square baler. A friend of mine that has sold his dairy cows offered his baler to me at what I beleive to be a fair price. The baler is a 335 John Deere. I know it is a hydraulic tie baler (







), but the second twine arm kit has been added to it, I also know that it has no monitor. This baler has done very little work and always stored inside, never washed only blown off by air, the belts are qite resonable. Long story short it is in great shape.
My question is this: are they reliable, built well and so on? I don't plan to use it more than 200 bales (give or take) per year. I know alot of you are wondering why not get a custom guy to do that little bit, the problem is nearly every custom outfit has gone to the big squares except for a few, and those few who still use a round baler want to charge like they have the same costs and expences as they the square baler guys, so they are no cheaper.
If I do like the baler and decide to use it more in the future than I am planning to use it now I can upgrade it at that time, but for now the size and capicity of the little 335 doesn't worry me.
My main concern is about the quality of this model of baler and I know some of you guys ran them in the past. So do they work well or not and what problems did you have with them (different from any other round baler)?


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Toy, the older 300 series were basically bullet proof if they were treated fairly. The 335 I believe made a 4x4?. I still own a 375 that I bought new in'94 and it does not fail. It makes a foot longer bale(5x4) than the 335, Having no monitor is not a big problem as I bought a racing mirror(3''x20") and I can see the bale monitor just fine at a glance(cab). I use it to bale about 300 or so a year. Mine still looks new. The only thing I wish I could find for mine is a used set of gathering wheels which would come in handy in fine second cutting hay. Keep the chains oiled and barely snug and she will roll on. The little farts can eat the hay.

Regards, Mike


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## Toyes Hill Angus (Dec 21, 2010)

Thanks Mike I appreciate your input. I wran into the guy that owns it today in town, and we talked about it some more. He bought the baler new and used it exclusively for his own herd, so the baler has been well cared for, he told me today that he has replaced on drive chain on it but other than that it has not needed any repairs not even a bearing... so I told him he needs to cut his price in half since all of the bearings are likely bad. LOL he didn't bite on that. My guess is that it was dealer maintained yearly since new except for it has not been looked at for 5 years since it hasn't been out of the shed. That is just the kind of guy he is, very particular about his stuff.


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## NewBerlinBaler (May 30, 2011)

Now you've got me wondering. I paid a custom operator $6.00 per 4x5 round bale to make 65 bales last summer. Did I get a fair price? I'm in the mid Atlantic region.


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## Toyes Hill Angus (Dec 21, 2010)

That is a bargin here, but that is of course dependant on what the local market will bear.


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