John Deere small baler

Jsmith2211

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Somerset
I would be more concerned how they managed to damage it rather than the cost of repairing it.
Got some close ups from the chap selling it, he’s going to get a video of it run up so will update the thread with that later. Looks a lot better in these pictures than it did in the other. it looks like the feeder forks are new so perhaps something went out of time and it knocked those peices a little? Anyway I don’t think they would need to be replaced, and it looks like there’s a decent bit of old grease on it too so probably been looked after.
 

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Jsmith2211

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Somerset
Would have to look. There a special stepped shear bolt that as far as i know you can only get from john deer. The last ones we were going to get they were wanting nearly £10 per bolt so they got told to shove it.
£10 a bolt? Count yourself lucky. Had to pay 60 quid for a pair of special bolts for the hydraulic quick disconnect on our loader straight from case. The bits the locking handle pivots on.
 

Goweresque

Member
Location
North Wilts
Flywheel shear bolts tend to shear when the flywheel develops play. Some tractor pto can be harsh on start up which isn’t good either.

My 459 started doing shear bolts a few seasons back, turned out it was the insert in the flywheel where the shear bolts are inserted that had become worn, allowing play. That was replaced, problem solved. Wear there is often caused by using the wrong sort of bolts as shear bolts, which I might have done :whistle: You have to get them from JD, anything off the shelf in standard bolt sizes is the wrong size. 7/32nds seems to ring a bell.
 

Wisconsonian

Member
Trade
Check the flywheel is tight and the shear pin isn’t loose. You will soon see if the plunger ram stop has seen much use just behind the fly wheel. The knives on the plunger and the fixed knife can be shimmed if needed to get a clean cut, rather than bales coming out attached like sausages. The knotter bill hooks should be easy enough to see wear if the area is clean. Garden blower would be quick and easy to clean down. Other than that the usual pto, guards and general maintenance.
All of this. The flywheel bushing to rotate on the shaft gets loose, then works the shear bolt, wears the bolt bushing, leading to high shear bolt use. The knotters out of time or the plunger stop out of adjustment causes a sudden stop and another broken bolt, seems like a lot of shock to the whole system also, the stop will show the impact if it's been in that habit. The gears and cams of the knotter will wear grooves from contact, the roller bushing on the end of the one arm will wear flat spots from siezing and not turning, the twine will wear deep grooves in the needles and the twine arm. Grooved needles can be welded, but that's a sign of how much wear the whole machine has. There may not be bad balers, but there are lots of worn out balers around here. you can adjust one that's not set up properly, but if they get worn out the knotters are always going to try your patience. It's not so much the wear on one thing, it's judging the condition of the whole baler based on where the wear shows the worst.
 
Got some close ups from the chap selling it, he’s going to get a video of it run up so will update the thread with that later. Looks a lot better in these pictures than it did in the other. it looks like the feeder forks are new so perhaps something went out of time and it knocked those peices a little? Anyway I don’t think they would need to be replaced, and it looks like there’s a decent bit of old grease on it too so probably been looked after.
I stand by my original advice "Walk Away"
 
What do you see thats bad? To me it all looks in decent order
On the first of the new pictures there appears to be a patch welded in the floor of the chamber.
In my almost fifty years of operating John Deere balers I have never seen one with a patch in the chamber.
The only time I have seen that level of damage to the packer arm was when someone tried to throw a burst bale over the baler and it landed in the packer arms. The baler was a beyond repair as they had twisted the chamber.

I would rather take the grainboys 342 for a days baling than any of the 456s .
 

Jsmith2211

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Somerset
On the first of the new pictures there appears to be a patch welded in the floor of the chamber.
In my almost fifty years of operating John Deere balers I have never seen one with a patch in the chamber.
The only time I have seen that level of damage to the packer arm was when someone tried to throw a burst bale over the baler and it landed in the packer arms. The baler was a beyond repair as they had twisted the chamber.

I would rather take the grainboys 342 for a days baling than any of the 456s .
Now you mention it I do see that patch. I’ll give it a good look over on Saturday in person and see how it looks, keep my options open. Grainboy I will PM you about the 342, but how does it stack up to a 456 in terms of speed and how nice of a bale it makes? Am I right in thinking that it’s an older baler and so will be a lower spec?
 

grainboy

Member
Location
Bedfordshire
JD 342 is a trade in against a 459 I sold to a friend / neighbour.
Makes a nice tidy bale, by all accounts. But obviously smaller width pickup, hence up grade to 459
 

JeremyD

Member
Arable Farmer
Our old 456a was a good baler, but I was always disappointed on how uneven the bale length was! Ours had a patch welded In the floor but nothing to be surprised about when you think some are probably pushing 40 years old now. As long as bushings, guides and bearings have been maintained nothing too expensive to worry about. You need to hear one running to really tell what health its in, the ram tends to bang when it needs re shimming etc. Should sound smooth.
 

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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“

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