JOHN DEERE - 348 Back

348 SMALL SQUARE BALERS

Adjustable hay compressor
Hydraulic bale tension available
Large windrow capacity
Automatic lockout

SMALL IS A RELATIVE TERM
Sure, theyre called small square balers, but theyre all about big performance. Whether you need to feed a couple of horses or get crop delivered to the barn before supper, three affordable models offer the field-proven crop control system you need to make solid, square-sided bales that are easy to stack and transport every time.

PRODUCTIVITY

CONTINUOUS-FLOW FLOATING AUGER
Move hay away from the pickup to the pre-compression chamber with the continuous-flow auger. Free-floating motion automatically adjusts to hay volume, maintaining control of incoming crop.

BALE TENSIONER
Use the hand crank to manually apply the right amount of tension to the bale. The hydraulic bale tensioner makes it even easier to use/adjust. One knob lets you manage bale density to meet crop variations and desired bale weight.

KNOTTERS
Never-miss knotters catch every time to give you a reliable, secure twine wrap. Theyre highly dependable for an accurate, fast-acting catch even in the toughest crops.

PICKUP SYSTEM
Full-width feeding pickup goes flare to flare with tight-fitting teeth and narrow strippers to gather hay in wide, heavy windrows.

FEATURES
FULL-WIDTH FEEDING PICKUP

The pickup teeth and narrow, flanged strippers extend to the flare on both sides of the pickup. This enables full, usable pickup width for feeding wide windrows.

Closely-spaced pickup teeth gather all of the hay in wide, heavy windrows.

Narrow-channel strippers positioned closely together help preserve leaves and short material to add more quality to the bale.

The pickup is 188-cm (74-in.) wide on flare and offset 25.4 cm (10 in.) to the right of the bale case.
The full width of the pickup can be utilized without the tractor tires operating on the windrow.

The belt drives used to power the pickup are virtually trouble-free and eliminate the need for slip clutches.

ADJUSTABLE HAY COMPRESSOR

The adjustable hay compressor mounts to and floats with the pickup and helps to maintain the same relationship to the pickup teeth at all operating heights.

The hay compressor also controls hay for continuous positive delivery to the auger.

The hay compressor is adjustable to nine positions to maintain positive control of hay in either large and heavy or light and fluffy windrows.

It can easily be removed with two spring pins for access to the auger or feed opening.

DEEP-FLIGHTED AUGER FEEDING

The deep-flighted auger continuously moves hay away from the pickup to the pre-compression chamber:
Adds to the overall capacity
Produces higher-quality hay
Allows minimal crop contact with pickup teeth, which minimizes leaf loss

The free-floating auger raises or lowers to match and maintain control of incoming crop.

Hay turns in the tapered auger housing, which enables the feeder forks to fold each charge as it enters the bale case to produce uniform bales. The crop is pre-compressed for better bale uniformity.

The auger system has few moving parts for less wear and less chance of untimely breakdowns.

ACCURATE KNOTTERS
Knotters driven by shaft and gears provide a positive drive for dependable and accurate functioning.

The timing of knotters and needles is easy:
Remove one bolt and match the gears
Timing slot enables easy positioning of the plunger

The tucker finger holds the twine over the billhooks during the tying cycle:
Eliminates twine finger
Reduces the chance of twine damage
Notch controls the twine position over the billhook for improved knotter function
Ball-joint-style pull links ensure accurate adjustment

The twine knife is made of surgical-quality steel and can be easily unbolted for sharpening or replacement.

The adjustable edge on the wiper arm allows an easy, accurate adjustment to the billhook.

The positive meshing of knotter gears is easily maintained with spring pins and washers on the needle lift shaft.

The large-diameter needle-lift shaft increases strength for reliable operation.

The split-design knotter frame enables easy removal, without disassembly of the entire mechanism.

A coil-type tension spring on the twine holder enables easy adjustment and improved performance.

The twine disk timing is easily accomplished without removing the pinion gear.

Making adjustments is easy when changing from multi-twine billhooks to sisal-twine billhooks.

The billhook cam track is a separate hardened part that can be replaced independently from the knotter frame, which reduces repair costs.

HYDRAULIC BALE TENSION AVAILABLE
The hydraulic bale tension permits easy adjustment of bale density to meet crop variations and desired bale weight:

Hydraulic cylinders replace springs that would typically control the density of the bale
Exerts constant and uniform pressure on each bale
Easy to use
o One knob controls the tension applied to the bale
By increasing the tension, the bale weight also increases

UNIFORM BALES
Hay is uniformly distributed into the bale case, which produces easy-to-handle bales and bales that stack well.

Feeder forks can be adjusted to five positions to match the feeding requirement to the hay conditions.

Forks are spring loaded for protection and are timed independently of knotters.

QUIET, DEPENDABLE OPERATION

The plunger head runs on three precision roller bearings located in the high-load area:
Provides quiet operation
Minimum wear

The compression charge is on the downstroke of the pitman arm to help eliminate slapping of the plunger head.

The pitman is offset to the right (knife side) where the load is heavier to further minimize wear.

A lubrication fitting on the pitman arm provides easy access for lubrication to the wrist pin.

A safety stop is positioned to stop the plunger head at the crank to eliminate possible damage to the plunger head face.

Similar models may be shown in addition to the featured model. Equipment may be shown with options.

Specifications are subject to change without prior notice.
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