385 JD Baler

td182b

New User
I found some very good old posts on this site that are too old to reply to, so have to start a new thread.

I have a 385 JD Baler w/ the silage kit that keeps shearing the shear bolt when trying to bale silage. I read a post about putting on a pressure adjusting valve and gauges. Would anyone have more information?

Also, I got a bit fooled when I bought the baler, the previous owner had taken out the CV joint. I just checked; JD price for joint alone is just under $1000, replacing the whole front driveshaft half is $1400. Any other good driveshaft sources?

Thanks
 
You have to lower the bale density when baling silage. Read your manual to do it on a JD 385. I am not sure how to on it.

The PTO shaft issue is not going to be cheap to fix. There are driveline shops/stores that can install a new CV assembly on your shaft (cut the old off with a lathe and re-weld a new one on). I had one done a few years ago and it was around $600.
 
Years back I baled with an experimental shear bolt driveline for JD Ottumwa factory for several months. I personally like the slip clutch much better. I got tired of putting in shear bolts.

Does your baler have cat 4 or cat 5 driveline? I have a frt driveline for an older 467 with very limited use I'd sell but I think it will not fit your 385.

For adjusting hyd tension on bale you could install the adjustable valve(parts key 1) in tension valve body.
AE54856 Pressure Relief Valve - VALVE, RELIEF (ADJ-4000 PSI) ADD 322.90 USD
mvphoto11588.gif
 
Very much appreciate the info. I'd sure be interested in your drive shaft if it'd fit.
This one is a CAT 4, the shaft from the U joint is approximately 20 inches long, 1.25 inch dia., 20 spline. It is 540 PTO, with a constant Velocity joint in it.

I'm very interested also in the Adjustable Valve. I'd also like to know where you found the diagram. I just purchased a Service Manual online.
 
I found where you found the diagram and have been comparing this one for the 435/535 with the one on the 385. Do you think the two would interchange?

I can also see by the diagrams where to plumb in a pressure gauge.
 
(quoted from post at 14:53:17 10/01/14) Do you think the two would interchange?

I can also see by the diagrams where to plumb in a pressure gauge.

Yes I think the tension valve will interchange. Search the archives or give Texasmark1 a shout out as IIRC he installed gauge on his JD rd baler tension valve
 
I don't think you want to lower the pressure on a 385 as the pressure keeps the gate closed. A 385 doesn't have gate locks if I recall correctly.
 
(quoted from post at 13:12:12 10/01/14) I'd sure be interested in your drive shaft if it'd fit.
This one is a CAT 4, the shaft from the U joint is approximately 20 inches long, 1.25 inch dia., 20 spline. It is 540 PTO, with a constant Velocity joint in it.

I'll check my shaft and let you know. Does your shaft have plastic or metal shield?
 
I guess my 1991 375 is just an earlier model of your 385.

Standing in front of the baler looking into it on the left side (side
where the indicators are) around behind the box Jim showed you
on the upper left is a 3/8" tee that connects to hoses to the
cylinders on both sides. I removed the line on that side and
inserted a hydraulic T fitting with an oil filled 0-5000 PSIG
gauge. Cost about $40 for the parts.

Among other things I now don't have to wonder if the gate is
closed. When the gate first closes and I still have the valve open,
the gauge reads about 900. As the bale grows the pressure
rises to right at 2500 when the needle is in the red on the bale
size indicator.

HTH,
Mark
 
Added comment. TX. Jim can correct me where I err. Years ago I had a 530 (5x6) that had no CV joint. What you used with it was a drawbar extension, about 12" or so long, that JD made for the purpose and worked well on my baler and with it I could also do clean 90 degree turns with my 1209 MOCO.

The idea is to keep the angles on the front and rear U joints equal which prevents vibration caused by uneven angles between the machine and the drive line when turning which is the purpose of a CV joint.....aka Constant Velocity.

I picked mine up from a local used equipment dealer for $50.

You can go to Agri Supply or TSC and buy a HP rated drive shaft for maybe $300 and ought to be in business. That's what I am going to do if my CV ever craps out.
 

Texasmark1
You're correct on the equal angle hitch but one difference is with equal angle hitch the machine had a carrier brg in the driveline whereas the CV driveline has no carrier brg. I briefly experimented using a pto driveline which I eliminated the CV joint on my JD 467 BUT in corners the belts & chains vibrated TOO MUCH to suit me so I bought a new CV joint with shaft.
 
So is there any way to bale silage with a 385? I talked to my local JD dealer service manager, he suggested reducing travel speed to allow the pressure to dissipate. Any thoughts?
 
Extremely appreciate the info. As I understand it from posts; I can't reduce the pressure as that's what holds the back end closed. Do you think this is correct?
As I said in another post, my local JD dealer said to reduce travel speed. My understanding is this would allow the pressure to relieve, keeping it low enough to keep the strain on the belts low enough to not break the shear bolt.
Thoughts?
 

I have no experience with a 385 as none those models that I'm aware of were sold in my area. All I know is I'm not agreeing with slow down travel speed as I think slower travel speed will make the bale tighter. All I can think to do is make smaller diameter bales.

Roger should know as he retired from the JD factory that built hay equipment.
 
I never baled silage so I don't know what is different than dry matter. I do bail hay that has large leafs and long, sometimes significant stems.

The pressure on the cylinders is built into the design of the baler. This is a low end baler being all manual, and as such they limited the number of cylinders. The pressure on the cylinders comes from the gate cylinders and develops due to the design of the baler as the bail increases in size.

As I recall on my older 530 there were 2 sets of cylinders, one did the gate and the other did the pressure. With that kind of a setup you could disable the pressure set of cylinders I would think but it's no longer here and I can't reference it. Tx Jim could show one of his diagrams and you could see how one of those is plumbed.

I doubt that speed, either ground or PTO, would have anything to do with it. If your cylinders don't leak down and the bail has formed to a certain size you are going to have pressure on the belts which will put pressure on the bale.

You'd have to bleed off the pressure and to do that effectively and reliably, safely, on every bale would be a daunting task if you ask me.

I just had a thought. That box that he showed in the pic has a pressure relief valve or two and one of them is the 2500# limit on the gate cylinder pressure. If you replaced it with the same one that sets the lower limit of 900# when the gate closes and you hold the hyd valve open, they you could limit your high pressure to that 900# or put some shims under the valve to raise the pressure to whatever you want.

I just went out (5:40 AM) and had a look at the plumbing. The hoses on the rear of the box that route to the cylinders on both sides connect to the extension and contraction sides of the cylinders.

The relief valves are those two gyzmos sticking into the left side of said box. The one on the bottom is 900# and has a JD part number. The one on the top is your 2500# valve. If you get another 900 for the top then the max pressure you can put on either extending or retracting the cylinder will be 900 hence that would be the max pressure on the belts. As I said if 900 is too low either shim it (don't know how far you can go with that) or get a relief valve of the pressure you want. Surely mother deere has different values.

Phew windy reply.

Mark
 
Couple of questions here. On your 467, was this non CV shaft
you used in good working order.....could it have been the
condition of the shaft making it vibrate?

Did it vibrate with the baler directly behind the tractor? If it
didn't I suppose it was only in the turns and the tighter the turn
the worse it got which would be normal. Did you use a drawbar
extender with this experiment?
-----------

Back to the comment about a carrier bearing. You didn't say
which "machine" you were referring to in your comment, my
1209 or 530? I do remember my 1209 had a carrier bearing on a
pivoting bracket near the tractor end of the shaft and I can see
where that would be a requirement for something with a shaft of
that length.

However, on my 530 the shaft was much shorter and I don't
recall one. I remember hooking it to the tractor PTO was much
much less effort than hooking up this one I currently own with
the CV joint. That sucker is heavy and with the tractor shaft
locked in place it's a workout for a one man operation to try to
line up that thing, take a cheater and rotate the baler till the
splines line up, pull the collar back, line it all up and slide it on.

Could you post a IPB for the 530, especially the drive line part
please sir.

Thanks,
Mark
 
Now that I'm up to speed on this thing you already had the
answer. I just overlooked it during the learning curve. Sorry

I like that idea as he can drop it until it quits shearing, yet have
pretty good pressure left for a good roll.

So, Mr. td182b your answer is here. Other thing I referenced
item 19 when I guess I should have referenced item 1. What's
wrong with what I offered as a solution was the selection of the
valve to replace the existing item #1. An adjustable as Jim
initially mentioned would be much better than a 900 and shims.

Mark
 
(quoted from post at 06:50:35 10/06/14) Couple of questions here. On your 467, was this non CV shaft
you used in good working order.....could it have been the
condition of the shaft making it vibrate?

Did it vibrate with the baler directly behind the tractor? If it
didn't I suppose it was only in the turns and the tighter the turn
the worse it got which would be normal. Did you use a drawbar
extender with this experiment?
-----------

Back to the comment about a carrier bearing. You didn't say
which "machine" you were referring to in your comment, my
1209 or 530? I do remember my 1209 had a carrier bearing on a pivoting bracket near the tractor end of the shaft


Could you post a IPB for the 530, especially the drive line part
please sir.

Thanks,
Mark

Experimental joint/shaft was in good condition with no equal angle hitch used as EA hitch won't help without presence of a carrier brg.. 467 operated fine with tractor & baler traveling in a straight line but not in turns as pto shaft briefly accelerates/slows down causing belts/rollers to do likewise. 530 & 1209 both have carrier brgs(outlined in red for 530)
mvphoto11717.jpg
 

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