USED MACHNERY: At the end of 2017, John Deere revamped its variable-chamber round baler line-up, with the now current V400 series replacing the 800s and 900s. The latter arrived in 2012 to join the 800 series, which were themselves launched in 2010 to replace the 500 series. A good number of Deere variable-chamber models are available on the used market, so how do you choose the right version for your needs?
John Deere variable-chamber round baler numbering does not give you much in the way of useful information. We are also guilty of using shorthand, such as 500 series. Take that too literally and it encompasses a generation of machines that can go back to the very first variable-chamber models launched by Deere in 1975.
We plump for 2002 as our starting point, as this was when the 572, 582 and 592 models first appeared. These balers remained in production, albeit with some tweaks, until around
2007 for the 572 and 2009 for the others. The standard pick-up was 1.81m wide on the 572, both the 582 and 592 having a wider 2.00m HiFlow pick-up with a windrow front shield as standard but with the narrower 1.81m pick-up as option. This latter combo will be a rare find in the UK, though the 2.20m HiFlow pick-up option that was also listed for the 582 and 592 was widely specified.
For 2003, the 2.00m MaxiCut knife bank was offered on all three ‘500’ models, Deere putting emphasis on the ability to use the ‘slicing’ system to boost the density, not just of silage bales but straw too. At the time the company was keen to push the ability of these balers to work well in drier crops to include hay and straw, but without the problems caused by too dense a bale being difficult to break up for feeding or litter.
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