John Deere 338 Capacity

[IFF]

How many bales per hour, on average, can a John Deere 338 baler to in 2 ton per acre grass. I understand there are a number of variables involved but what are people getting out of a 338 or equivalent?

IFF

 

[NY 986]

2 tons of hay at 65 lbs per bale on average rounds out to 62 bales. Let's say you can bale 4 mph and baling a swath that was cut from a 9 foot cut mower conditioner (no doubling of windrows) then you could bale approximately 4.36 acres or 271 bales per hour. 271 bales per hour sounds reasonable when I have watched 327 or 336 balers load as much or more considering that they usually load 3 100 bale basket wagons in the same time frame. So I would say approximately 4 acres per hour is very doable considering these balers have stops for misses, changing wagons, replace shear pins, refill twine/ wire, etc. Excessive down time will of course make the 4 acres per hour harder to achieve. 3 or 3.5 ton hay will reduce the ground speed reducing acres and bales per hour. Of course somebody working with different variables such width of windrow in swath or different tonnage per acre will yield a different answer.

 

[Ken Macfarlane]

Assuming you're raking to keep the pickup full at normal baling speeds, that sucker should punch out something like 90 strokes/min. So a 10 flake bale for giggles would be 9 bales/min, or 540 bales an hour.

My 336 can kick out something like 400 bales an hour if you feed it right and have long windrows so that seems about right.

 

[Tx Jim]

I agree as I think around 250 bales per hr is about right.

 

[northvale]

I can bale a wagon every 30 minutes and get 150 ea 40lb bales on each wagon with a 336.

 

[Tx Jim]

(quoted from post at 21:22:51 01/20/12) So a 10 flake bale for giggles would be 9 bales/min, or 540 bales an hour.

What weight bales?? I bet nothing close to 60#s. 540 sq bales per hr sounds high to me.

 

[IFF]

Thanks for the feedback. The bottom line is it appears as though the guy riding the sled behind the baler is going to have his work cut out for him.


Doug

 

[Ivan Grant]

I have a 337 and the idea of 2 loads an hour seems about right,mine has a thrower too

 

[Ivan Grant]

I f you make 60 lb bales you can unload youself