J D 340 Mower

Same95

Member
Mixed Farmer
Can anyone shed any light on why my mower has gone so hard to drive?! It is something to do with crop flow I think. Did wonder if the steel conditioner tines had worn a bit and so not picking the grass off the bed very well - but they don't look very worn to be honest. If the grass is leaning away, it glides through it effortlessly, and the tractor has hardly any load on it, but the other way she turns herself inside out trying to drive the damn thing!! A few years ago we put new discs and a drum on each end of the bed - so don't really want to change it just yet. It also is very hard to drive in very short grass - which feels ridiculous from the tractor - as she bauls her guts out to cut 3 inches of grass!! Any comments welcome! (except changing the tractor advice!) Thanks.
 

Tractortech

Member
Location
Cumbria
No, I don't have one, however I have experience of them. Advertised as having a 45 horsepower requirement as I recall.. I presume your gearbox and cutterbar oils are correct??
Too much oil in the cutterbar will make it hard to drive (all the time one would think). You have to drain it completely and put the precise amount back in, see Ops manual..
The only part of the tines that wears is the bush/pin, check regularly, removing odd ones for a proper look.
How hard have you set the conditioning hood??
 

Same95

Member
Mixed Farmer
Hi, pretty sure the oils are all correct as I've had and maintained the mower for years. I change the the cutterbar oil every two years. Off the top of my head I think it takes 1.25ltr. The conditioner tines look pretty good to me. The conditioner is screwed down about half way(I never alter it!) - it is rusted right through though along the bottom(where the grass comes off the bed) - maybe that's the problem!! I guess the grass would snag a bit as it passes through. In the past we used it without the conditioner, but it blocked up too much - seems the con generally helps crop flow. If I bought a new mower, I wouldn't bother with a con......except for fear of blockages! What mower do you run? and do you have an opinion on what mower is any good? What you reckon to them malone jobbies? Thanks for your thoughts.
 

Tractortech

Member
Location
Cumbria
Good heavens man,,,, get some weld/fabrication on the rusty bits & try it some more. I'd go along with your theory.
As I've worked for a JD dealer for nearly 40 years I'd say get a JD 324 or a 328 .. I like the look of a Kverneland machine after that.
Buy whatever your local dealer sells, they all break down & you'll need parts..
 

Same95

Member
Mixed Farmer
HaHa!! I've spent quite a bit of money on the old mower over the years. I said before that I'd put discs and drums on it - it's also had sprockets and chain to drive the con and it's even had a new skirt!! Oh, and two new pto shafts. I won't bother and pester you much longer, but I'll just tell you that I did my work experience from school 26yrs ago at Rea Valley Tractors at pontesbury shropshire. It was great - loved driving all those wonderful 2650's 3050's etc. They also sold teleshifts.
Nearest dealer sells kuhn.
I've thought of buying an older JD to work on our smallish mixed farm. Want to pull 4furrow rev, get a bigger mower, and pull a 10 or 12 ton trailer. 6610 any good? Better than 6620?(as they pour their coolant into their engines!!)
 

Exfarmer

Member
Location
Bury St Edmunds
Part of the answer is easy, something we noticed very quickly putting 9 foot Vicon Olympus behind a 65 hp David Brown , many years ago.
When the grass is leaning into the mower the grass is grabbed by the rollers before it is cut.
Short grass is probably an issue as it does not get pulled into the rollers just sitting on the bed and falling back into the knives.
 

Tractortech

Member
Location
Cumbria
Now Then..
Personally I'd have a 20 series without n. Far better powerquad, both in design and operation. The 20 series will be actuated by electronic valves rather than a stepper motor. Nothing to choose in the engines, maintenance is everything :) yn
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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