John Deere Names 2026 Technician of the Year Finalists
John Deere has announced the finalists for its 2026 Technician of the Year Awards, with 30 regional finalists being named in five award categories.
John Deere has introduced two new L series square balers – the L330 and the L340 – expanding its range of commercial hay equipment.
The machines are designed to maximise performance, increase ‘uptime’, and lower the overall cost of operation for commercial hay equipment owners and operators, a spokesman said.
“We’ve been working for years to develop a large square baler that will meet the demands of our commercial hay customers.”
The balers are designed with two pickup widths – 2.1m for the L330 and 2.3m for the L340. The heavy-duty drivetrain has a 45 stroke-per-minute gearbox. The L330 produces a large square bale 900mm high and 900mm wide and the 340 model produces a 900mm high and 1200mm wide square bale.
“The L series square balers use a dependable gear and shaft drive for the main components including the stuffer system and knotter drive system. The high-capacity rotor is driven with a cam clutch protected chain. These new balers redefine large square baler performance with added capacity and durability.”
A heavy-duty single-fork system compresses the crop tightly before transferring the hay into the bale case, creating dense well-shaped bales in the most difficult conditions, JD says. A new on-board hydraulic density control allows the in-cab monitor to control hydraulic pressure on the cylinders against the bale case. Even when the moisture content changes, the pre-set density for the bales does not.
“We’ve designed the L330 with three hydraulic cylinders and the L340 with four hydraulic cylinders to adjust bale case tension. This durable density control system ensures the production of consistent, well-shaped large bales regardless of changing field conditions.”
The L series square balers also have double-tie knotters with an integrated lubrication system. They are designed with a replaceable billhook and wiper plate for easier knotter repair and servicing. Also, hydraulically operated knotter cleaning fans keep trash and debris out of the knotter system. This helps to improve overall knotter performance with very few misses throughout an entire harvest season, the company says.
“Another feature is the hydraulic roller chute, last bale ejection system. This allows an operator who needs to clean out the last bale for each job, to wrap and eject the final bale regardless of size.”
Other features include an optional pre-cutter with 10 knives on the L330 and 23 knives on the L340. The 23 knife pre-cutter has a slide out knife tray for easy access and serviceability. Knife removal does not require tools.
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