haybine info please

I'm looking to buy a good used 9-10 foot haybine. Any recommendations about make & age? Have looked at JD 1209 and NH in various conditions. Need some help in narrowing down my search. Need model #'s & fair price ranges for VGC equipment. (I have a JD 5420 tractor & hay about 30 acres). Thanks!

Hard to beat a 9 foot Hesston 1120. I bought a new one in 94. I grow about 130 acres of hay,put up two or three cuttings a year and it's still as quiet as it was the day I got it. There was a CaseIH model that was the same machine,8320 or something like that?

Thanks for info on the Hesston - is it a haybine or disc? I would actually like a discbine but cannot justify the cost for amount of hay I do a year (approx. 2500 bales 1st & 2nd cutting). I was browsing through other posts, and noticed your comments on the 411. Sounded like a nightmare.

The 1120 is a haybine type,not a disc type. Van Paemel Equipment in Armada Michigan has a super nice one advertised for $4200.
Van Paemel

I will 2nd rrlund's recommendation of a Hesston 1120. Matter of fact I bought my extremely worn Hesston on his advice and it has been a wonderful purchase for me. And my unit has covered lots of acres and been extremely abused before I bought it. Somewhere along the line someone ran a tree into it and literally broke the reel into 2 pieces. It has been welded back together and scabbed. I actually purchased mine as a parts unit as it was so rough but I use it as is. They are one tough machine.

That said, when buying used condition is everything but the Hesston has an extremely simple yet robust system for driving the sickle compared to wobble boxes on NH and Deeres that can be big dollars to rebuild when they fail. Deere units are prone to frame cracking in this area too.

The Hesston rollers are 1 steel and 1 rubber. The rubber is extremely thick though and I have seen no evidence of the delaminating problem that can plague older New Holland's.

I will get bashed for saying this but I would not even consider the Deere 1209 or 1219 unless price was real cheap. Read some of the tractorvet's post on those machines.

I have even cut in the rain with my Hesston 1120 sickle mower conditioner. Yes I had to go a bit slower but it still did it and I power my machine with antique low hp junker tractors to boot. One of these machines would even be more of a joy to operate behind one of rrlund's nice Ollie or White tractors. Still pretty darned nice to run even behind my obsolete stuff.

If you decied to shop for a Hesston skip the PT-10 series altogether. Maybe give the the 1090 series a look over if the price is right, but the 1120 is what you want.

dad bought a NH 488 new in 1976. I still use it. It has been over hundreds of acres. Wobble box was rebuilt about 20 years ago. Still works good would recommend 1 to anyone.

I bought a NH 461 for $165 a few years ago at an auction. It has gotten new belts and a chain, a U joint, guards etc. so I have a bit more into it. It is very old and pretty worn out but it still works and gets the hay cut a lot faster than the equally worn out Ford 501 sicklebar I was running before it. The hay dries faster too.
Zach

I have a NH460 that I payed $500 for a decade or more ago and has been a good machine for what I have in it. Have had to replace the sickle bushing in it about every year but not to bad a job to do. Have not used it for a couple years since I built a tractor with sickle mower that works as good and uses a lot less fuel

I paid $500 for my Hesston 1120 just a couple years ago, but I bought it as a parts machine as it is pretty rough. Spent $120 in gas retrieving it as I drove 2 states away to pick it up.

That said, I have done very little to it. A couple guards and 1 chain and that is about it. My machine has a mixture of 4 types of guards on it. I just now almost have all the sickle sections replaced from when I bought it. I dedicate a whopping $10 to use as maintenance for every time I use it to cut with. $10 does not purchase much you know. The year I bought the chain at TSC took the entire years repair budget at the $30 or so I spent on that - LOL

On a small scale piddle patch operation: Anything I use must be both cheap to buy and even more importantly cheap to keep in operational shape. So far my Hesston 1120 has suited both of these mandates very well for me.

I have used a IH 990, NH 488, 489, and now I have a JD 1209. The 990 was a decent machine in it's day, but it has a lot of age on it. The New Hollands were better at following the ground, especially the 489. The head floated and kept the cut bar on the ground. They were tougher to work on than the 1209 is. The 1209 doesn't float as well, but is easier to work on. The earlier models were the ones that had problems. I have stub guards on mine and it works just fine. I can mow in 4 low with the TA ahead with my 856 and that is plenty fast enough for me. Also have run it with a 666 in 3rd with the TA ahead no problems.

As far as the Hesstons, I have never used one, but the guys that have give them good reviews so listen to them.

Thanks to all of you for info on haybines. rrlund & rankrank1, I think you have both sold me on the Hesston 1120! Sounds like the machine for me. Will look for one around here in Western NY. Thanks again.bb

Last year I replaced a NH 469 with a JD 1219. I paid 1600 dollars and had to do a couple of things to it but it has done well.

My first haybine was a 461. I stll have it as a standby mower. It is amazing a machine that old cuts so well. I haven't run it in about 4 years, but one of these days I plan to give her a spin.

The hesston in my opinion is the best make sure you get the stub guards on it and you will never plug it. I've turned on the end through cut hay without raising it and not plugged it. Keep the bolts tight on the knife drive at the sickle head and you'll have now problems. The older model 1091 and 1095 were good machines the reel drive on them was a long chain driven off the rolls and if not kept tight it would jump off and tear up the sprocket on the roller. The 1120 had a belt that replaced that and was no trouble

Are you mowing alfalfa, grass, or mix?