I have a 346 JD baler. We rarely baled much over a 1000 square bales a year so we just made sure to add gear oil to the transmission every so often. About 4 years ago I decided it was time to fix the leak. Put it all back together, got the timing right and started using it. To my dismay, I still had a leak but not near as bad as it had been. Last year I new I would run out of barn space for round bales so I started baleing squares to put in the barns I can't put rounds in. Baled close to 2500 when I noticed a lot of oil pooling on the tongue. Knowing the seal leaked I just figured the seal had failed again and added more oil. About this time I began to hear a slight knock in the baler, heard it more often in heavy windrows. My diagnosis, I was going to have to replace the guide rollers on the plunger. In my infinite wisdom, this could wait till the end of baling season. Almost made it, with about 200 bales to go I heard a loud bang and then a grinding noise. I stepped on the clutch, disengaged the pto, and looked behind me. Saw a cloud of dust and the flywheel wobbling. Got off the tractor to see what was happening. This is when I realized why the tongue was so oily. I had lost 5 of the bolts that hold the transmission case to the baler frame. :shock: :roll: :dunce: To make things sting even more, I had traded off an old 336 JD Baler (same transmission) a few years ago for far less than the $2500 damage done. :cry2: