John Deere 335 round baler?

[AKfish]

Anyone have any experience with this model? Thinkin' of adding a "small" round baler for some custom work and with only 50 pto hp - this seems like it would fit the bill.

Thanks for any insight.

AKfish

 

[Hoosier Hay Man]

AKfish,

How many hay cuttings do you get a year?

 

[AKfish]

Sometimes... none. One year outta ten - put up 2 cuttings. Every year between those none years and that one year in ten - get one cutting. :dance1:

My neighbors are gettin' up there in years and I've got a few others with hay ground and no equipment. I've been helping one of them the past few years and another neighbor approached me about doing their hay.

I do enjoy the work :mur: but the hay windows are usually pretty short up here. With just a small square baler right now (JD 336) and more ground to cover - a round baler can roll up hay 10 times faster! It could be a real "insurance policy" on that last couple of days!

The majority of hay buyers up here are horse owner's. And they're usually women... A 4'x4' 500lb round bale is more manageable and not so much trouble to haul in the back of their Toyota Tundra.

AKfish

 

[DJ54]

I've had a 335 for 10 years, and love it..!! It's never given me a minutes worth of problems. Still has the original belts. It had less than 3,000 bales through it, when I bought it. It was just simply too small for the dairy farmer I bought it from.

I pull it with my IH 656 gasser, and handles it real well. But..., I bale in 1rst gear, simply because I want a nice tight bale.

No fancy lights to tell you when to feed the other side, just the spring loaded tension gauges.

I only make 50-60 rounds a year, so it should last me a long time. Just enough for my horses. I store them inside, and up off the ground. I put black plastic down, then pallets on top of that. If you're going to sell to horsepeople, and have the accomodations, I would suggest storing inside.

I have weighed several loads of hay, then divided for the number of bales. It will make a nice tight 580 lb avg. wt. bale.

I can stack them with my baby 450 Bobcat w/spear 2 high in my barn. I can also roll them across the barn floor, and upend them, to unwrap what I need, to feed for the day.

I even built my own roundbale feeder (picture attached), to keep them up off the ground. Got my ole' gelding spoiled with second cutting, and he wastes a lot of the first, so hence, the upending, and feeding, just what they will clean up.

 

[Hoosier Hay Man]

Sometimes... none. One year outta ten - put up 2 cuttings. Every year between those none years and that one year in ten - get one cutting. :dance1:

My neighbors are gettin' up there in years and I've got a few others with hay ground and no equipment. I've been helping one of them the past few years and another neighbor approached me about doing their hay.

I do enjoy the work :mur: but the hay windows are usually pretty short up here. With just a small square baler right now (JD 336) and more ground to cover - a round baler can roll up hay 10 times faster! It could be a real "insurance policy" on that last couple of days!

The majority of hay buyers up here are horse owner's. And they're usually women... A 4'x4' 500lb round bale is more manageable and not so much trouble to haul in the back of their Toyota Tundra.

AKfish

Same reason I got a round baler. It comes in handy to finish up quickly especialy when we have a lot of late first cutting overgrown alfalfa. I am now feeding round bales to my goats in the winter when we are not milking. I am saving the higher quality small squares when we start milking.

I have a Gehl 1465 round baler that makes 4x5 bales. they are easy to handle and haul on a standard trailer. they will aslo fit in a bed of a small pickup.

 

[Hoosier Hay Man]

I've had a 335 for 10 years, and love it..!! It's never given me a minutes worth of problems. Still has the original belts. It had less than 3,000 bales through it, when I bought it. It was just simply too small for the dairy farmer I bought it from.

I pull it with my IH 656 gasser, and handles it real well. But..., I bale in 1rst gear, simply because I want a nice tight bale.

No fancy lights to tell you when to feed the other side, just the spring loaded tension gauges.

I only make 50-60 rounds a year, so it should last me a long time. Just enough for my horses. I store them inside, and up off the ground. I put black plastic down, then pallets on top of that. If you're going to sell to horsepeople, and have the accomodations, I would suggest storing inside.

I have weighed several loads of hay, then divided for the number of bales. It will make a nice tight 580 lb avg. wt. bale.

I can stack them with my baby 450 Bobcat w/spear 2 high in my barn. I can also roll them across the barn floor, and upend them, to unwrap what I need, to feed for the day.

I even built my own roundbale feeder (picture attached), to keep them up off the ground. Got my ole' gelding spoiled with second cutting, and he wastes a lot of the first, so hence, the upending, and feeding, just what they will clean up.

Nice feeder!:thumbsup:

 

[AKfish]

Yes sir.. that's a real nice feeder!

Appreciate the info about the 335. Reliable and trouble-free; pretty good selling points - IMO.

AKfish

 

[MnMark]

That is a real nice feeder DJ54. I'm lookin at a 335 myself and this thread is swaing me towards bying it.

 

[DJ54]

Thanks for the compliments on the feeder. It's hard to see, but I put it on treated 4X6's, and 45'd the ends, so as to move around. This is the 6th year for the feeder, and has held up well. Thought about making some to sell, but with the price of steel, not sure if they would go.

A neighbor said I should get a patent on it, LOL.. I checked the patents online, and there are umteen of them.

Still may try to make one or two to sell here in a year or so. Just too many irons in the fire at this time. Might make a good over the winter project..!!

Those 335's are sweet..!!

 

[cowski]

have not used a jd 335 but have used larger ones.which have provided good results.