Hesston PT-7

I purchased a PT7. The family it came from said
they used it on a JD 1020. I bought that also.
Will the JD really have enough hp for this? I have
an option of using my MF 245 but will need to add
rear remotes to do so. I'm just looking at
options. At this point my plan it to cut with the
245, rake with the 1020 and eventually bale with
my Oliver 1550. Plan B is to cut with the 1020,
rake with my Oliver 550 and bale with the 245. The
1550 is going to need some work before it is
really a viable option. So the real question is
will the 1020 work for cutting grass hay, usually
about 2.5-3' tall?

I pulled mine with a worn-out Farmall 300 when I first got it. I'm using a 1650 Oliver now but am well aware that I don't need that much power. If you don't push them to hard they should work fine with 30 to 40 hp.

Yes,the 1020 will be fine.

The Case version in a 9' was the 555 and they did not sell the 7' version as you have as far as I know. We pulled that 9' machine with a 27 PTO HP Farmall H with no problems. Your JD 1020 is a 38 PTO HP tractor so you have a quarter again as much powere as we had and for a 2' smaller cut machine. So it should walk thru it easy. Or use the Oliver as it will easily handle it as well. And unless your baler is a way high capicity type that takes extra HP to run either the 1020 or the 550 should handle the baler just fine as well.

I pull a Case 555 (same as a PT-9) with a Case 300 Round nose, about 31 HP.

your 1020 will do great and i have pulled a 310 balor with a kicker and pulled a 16 foot wagon done great and back in the day ran a 9 foot nh haybine

Horsepower is hardly ever a problem with a sickle MOCO, unless you try to run it with a Farmall cub or something. Weight of the tractor is important, especially if you aren't on flat ground.

If I remember correctly, a PT7 weighs well over a ton, and you want some iron in front of it to keep it under control.

Any farm tractor (not a compact) of thirty-five or so horsepower should do it. Above that, more power lets you run faster, up to the point that the machine doesn't cut clean.

I believe any of the tractors that you listed as potential options for you will run that PT-7 and yes that includes the JD 1020

You can easily try any of the tractors on the mower conditioner by simply using a manual ratchet cylinder before you splurge for adding hydraulics to them. Actually it is what I use on some of my antique tractors that lack hydraulics. Honestly it is not that bad without hydraulics. Go in the field set the height with the manual ratchet and mow roundy round towards the center of the field following the old sickle bar mowing method outlined in all old manuals. Raise the manual ratchet to leave the field. In essence, I only have to get off the tractor twice.

I mow with a Hesston 1120 (9' moco) and have used a Farmall h, Farmall M, as well as a John Deere A on it. The 1100 series is a little newer and surpsingly they are quite a bit heavier than the 1000 series or PT series Hesstons that preceeded them. My Hesston has an immense amount of tongue weight that the older series Hesstons did not nearly as much of since they were so much lighter built overall.

The official Hesston 1110 (7') and 1120 manual (9') recommends 30 PTO hp as the minimum for either unit. You have less weight and 2 less feet so you will be easily good.

My best guess is that of the smaller tractors you mentioned is that you will like the tractor that gives you the greatest number of ground speed selections in the 3.5 to 4.5 mph range with throttle set for 540 rpm.

When conditions are perfect I like to mow in 3rd gear with my Farmall M or even the Farmall H when in a pinch ( 3rd =4.25 mph). When conditions are damp, or I mow in the rain, or if the hay is really haeavy and I have to use the h and its 27 marginal hp then it may be 2nd gear (3.5 mph) when conditions are less than perfect.

Below is a youtube video of a JD 1010 which has less hp and less selection of tranny gears too than your much better 1020. Running a new Holland 467 which is a 7'. Starts out traveling too slow but he eventually speeds her up a gear or two.

Copy and paste this to your browser...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnILU931sXo

Thanks for all the response. Hay season is one of those things I really look forward to until I'm in the middle of it. Then I can't wait until it's over. With all of this old equipment I guess by the time I get it all sorted out and working I will be too old to do it anymore! But now I just can't wait for the sunny weather to get here. Only a few more months of rain and drizzle.....

I use a 930 on a Case 550. 9' swath, does a super job! 930 is overkill for this job, but vision is excellent.

We dragged a PT-7 all over the hills of West Virginia with a MF 135 with loaded tires. It had plenty of power and handled it well.