JD 336 baler

[amiller7]

I just bought a 1978, JD336 twine-tie baler and the guy said he ran 800 bales through it without missing a one. The bale in the machine had nice, tight knots. I'm going through it this winter and replacing whatever is really worn or broken (pulleys, tucker fingers, pinion gear, etc.), but after 30+ years, most parts seem a little loosy-goosy. This is probably normal but just curious how much play it would take in the knotters for this baler to start missing bales...

Also, if I read the owners manual carefully, can I succesfully time and adjust it without having to pay a JD tech to come out to the farm?

Thanks,
Andy

[blueriver]

If the guy said 800 bale with out missing, and if you think he's honest. Do nothing other than keepit greased and bale hay.

[flusher]

If the guy said 800 bale with out missing, and if you think he's honest. Do nothing other than keepit greased and bale hay.

I winterized my MF-124 two-twine baler about a month ago. Lubed all the grease points, topped off the gear oil in the drive box. The guy I bought it from last Spring said he sprayed the knotters with WD-40 every few weeks to keep them in shape.

[blueriver]

I winterized my MF-124 two-twine baler about a month ago. Lubed all the grease points, topped off the gear oil in the drive box. The guy I bought it from last Spring said he sprayed the knotters with WD-40 every few weeks to keep them in shape.

Yep, if it ain't broke don't fix it just maintain it. These balers seem to have personality's the good ones are simply that GOOD ....

[AKfish]

Welcome to TBN!! And Christmas has come early to your farm; a lickety-split JD 336 baler!

I'd like to see one of those under the tree...

Yup; if it ain't broke --

AKfish

[amiller7]

I have a broken tooth on the feeder drive pinion gear so I have to replace that gear and will have to retime the baler. How hard is it to retime the 336? The operator's manual says you only have to get 2 measurements to come out correctly after reinstalling the chains...

[maut9r]

336............those three numbers bring back some memories....and a sore freaking back!!!! We had one and the thing never broke down, rarely missed a bale, **** you never got a break riding the rack behind it. We put somewhere in the neighborhood of 200,000 bales through ours without a great deal of maintenance.

From what I remember the baler will make far heavier bales than the twine would handle and the knotters were hardly ever a problem. Usually about 10-12 strokes to a bale made a nice bale. We on occasion in real heavy baling would get down to about 5 strokes a bale and they were like a timebomb...couldn't get too rough throwing them around cause they'd blow up all over ****. We switched from regular twine to plastic but I was too young to remember exactly what had to be done but it wasn't a lot.

[vsteel]

336, my father bought one in about 1975 (or somewhere in there.) and its been cranking out 5K of bales a year since then. The biggest piece of advice I can give you is adjust it per the manual, and keep the manual with you so when you do have a missed knot you can look at the book and see what the issue is.

I have no idea how many bales it would take to wear one out, but its a **** of a lot more than 5K a year since 75.

[zzvyb6]

Instead of buying a new feeder drive gear, you can usually weld a new tooth in place by building up foundation metal with a nickle rod if its the cast iron gear or a standard rod if the gear is steel.

I have fixed inside teeth and outside teeth gears this way. Note that the nickel is VERY hard, so you will need a good die grinder to shape the tooth when the welding is completed.

You will need a welder or a friend with one to get this job done. Both are well worth having.

[burnetma]

Yes, if you simply follow the directions, the timing of the baler will be right. Before you hook it up to the tractor PTO, check the motion several times by turning the fly wheel by hand just to make sure.