JD 328 baler uneven bales

Sometime last summer my 328 baler started making bales where the right sidea is shorter than the left. I tried adjusting the bale tension, and adjusted the feed fingers. Both have nor made a noticable difference. I am getting ready to use it soon and was trying to see if I can make it bale perfect like it used to. The 3 hay dogs (2 top 1 bottom) and springs are there and in tact. Where else should I be looking?
 

Adjusting one bale tension crank shorter than the other crank has little to no affect on bale shape. Notice in photo how bale case extension has 2 hinge points outlined in blue directly across from each other that keeps extension from tilting. If adjusting feeder forks doesn't help then I suggest to rake larger windrows. Back when I was employed b y a JD dealer I was taught to feed baler pickup on extreme RH side.

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I have not changed row size or speed or
how I bale in the 10 years that I've had
it... used to make perfect bales all the
time. Now it makes uneven bales all the
time. Bigger rows and going faster makes it
worse. Almost every bale, if you try to
grab them by 1 string the right one will
fall off. But the left one is tight... I'm
at a loss because it used to be perfect and
all of the sudden it's just not right.
 
see if one of the bale chamber wedges is missing if yours has them, another over looked problem is dull knives or set at the wrong clearance
 
Have not checked that... other thought I just had is that I also switched to poly twine about 2 years ago. Are there any wear points or adjustments on the knotter that I should look for?
 
The "wedges" that look like a cheese grater are both there. The other 2 wedges were both removed before I bought the baler. I have them. Should I install them?
 

I'll try my reply again but I sure wish the edit feature was still operable:

IMHO wedges will increase bale weight but unless installed on only one side of chamber will not affect bale shape.
 

The "wedges" are actually called restrictor plates. They help compress the hay, but are mainly needed as they function much like the hay dogs and restrict the hay from falling back and help keeping the hay clear of the needles.
 
What side of the bale is shorter than the other side?

I assume that the "short" side of the bale is on the flywheel side of the machine. If this is the case, then I want to think that the feed fingers are out of adjustment or just plain worn out.
 

Increase ground speed to bring more hay into the press.

Measure the length of your feed fingers and compare them to new fingers.
 
If the left string is tight, then it would seem that there is more hay in that side. I'd try adjusting the fork again in the other direction so it's timing is later. I would also check the twine tension and make sure it's the same on both sides. If the right has higher tension it will result in a shorter string on that side.

Rod
 
(quoted from post at 09:38:40 06/28/17)
The "wedges" are actually called restrictor plates. They help compress the hay, but are mainly needed as they function much like the hay dogs and restrict the hay from falling back and help keeping the hay clear of the needles.

JD offered restrictors(key 21) locally referred to a cabbage cutters that actually help kelp hay from moving forward & rearward in bale case. JD also offered wedges(key 22) that could be added to increase bale weights in certain crops especially straw.

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IMHO - the JD design balers are very tolerant and easily make a brick bale via the auger and packer fork. That
being said, a few things come to mind and then a wild guess.

First, are your hay dog springs strong? Sometimes, even though they are there and intact, they can loose their
springiness.

Second, if you don't have the JD manual, it is free for the view on JD's parts web site. Looking at it, I think
moving to the top hole was the right adjustment. But - banana bales, all else correct, generally comes down to lack
of hay on one side of the bale chamber. Feed the baler to the pick-up wheel side of the pick-up. It seems to me
that the auger rolls the hay up more vertically as it reaches the bale chamber and the packer forks get a
taller/fuller charge to take into the bale chamber. If you have small 2nd or 3rd cutting windrows, slow the rpms
down to about 65 strokes per minute and your baler is in 24t capacity territory and if you keep the ground speed-up
- the goal is to fill-up the pick-up to get more of a charge into the bale chamber.

Third - Check your twine box tension.

Fourth - and a wild guess. Is your auger slipping? My thought is maybe it's stalling somewhat and with it, not
delivering a full charge of hay to the packer forks. Again - a wild guess.

328 is a fine baler IMHO.

Good luck,
Bill
 
Well, since you asked..... some balers have separate adjustment plates. Granted most do not.... that does not fully absolve the issue. If one
of the guide eyes is missing, that alone will increase the twine tension on that side. So that is one more thing to check.

Rod
 
Have you cleaned all the hay out of the compression chamber? Visually check the
sides for missing restricter plates.
 
Have you checked stationary knife to plunger knife clearance. That alone made my NH banana bales go away. but my was really wide. gobble
 
I think you need to adjust the feeder fingers to one of the lower holes to get more hay to the flywheel side of the bale. After making this adjustment run the baler over by hand to make sure that the feeder fingers don't hit the plunger. If it does you can change the finger/plunger timing with the feeder finger drive chain.
 
Finally got to test the baler today.
Found one of tge hay dog springs broken.
Was bottom one so I doubt it was causing
my problems. The feed fingers needed to be
timed and the chain that drives them was
very loose. Was easy to do with the manual
and seems to have worked. Baled 750 bales
today. Thank you all for your help!
 

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