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Mower Conditioner Advice Wanted

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B.C.

03-16-1999 11:51:26

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What's a good choice for a used 7 foot mower conditioner. How big a tractor is required to power it? Thanks.

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Roy B

03-18-1999 08:17:31

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Re: Mower Conditioner Advice Wanted in reply to B.C., 03-16-1999 11:51:26

I have used a friends NH472 7' sickle haybine and I love it. It mows as quick as I care to cruise through my rock infested fields. It does a good job, is easy to use and is fairly basic to work on. I believe it drops a days drying time over cutting with my NH 450 sickle bar mower. It will run easly behind a Ford 1710 compact and runs like a top behind anything 27 HP and up. With the expense and hp requirements of the diskbines I can't see one paying off unless you were doing a lot of acres. I am not sure but I think a 7' disk mo-co requires 48hp. Hope this info helps. Roy

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B.C.

03-19-1999 11:13:05

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Re: Re: Mower Conditioner Advice Wanted in reply to Roy B, 03-18-1999 08:17:31

That does help. I guess I was most concerned about the horsepower requirement, and from what I've heard here, that should not be a problem. Do the conditioner rolls ever plug?

No argument on the disk types. Guess there would be some prestige in hitting a rock or a chuck hole at a higher rate of speed than would be possible with sickle bar technology.

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joe

03-16-1999 14:45:08

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Re: Mower Conditioner Advice Wanted in reply to B.C., 03-16-1999 11:51:26

Today disc mowers are the way to go. They cut better and feilds can be mowed at a higher rate of speed. The mower conditoner needs a tractor with about 40 hp or higher. mowers can only go so fast and you have to worry about clogging and changing worn knives. The grass can be two feet or feet and you have to go the same speed. The higher the hay, the tougher it will be to cut using a mower conditioner. You may be interested ina 3 pt disc mower usually 6+ feet. i havent seen one so how good they are I dont know.

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Tim(nj)

03-16-1999 16:30:15

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Re: Re: Mower Conditioner Advice Wanted in reply to joe, 03-16-1999 14:45:08

I have done many acres of hay with a mower-conditioner. You will make better hay with a conditioner. A regular disc mower will require more cure time, resulting in browner hay with less leaves on it. Disc mowers suck in stony ground. Very easy to knock the edge off the knife, and those without modular cutterbars can get severe and expensive gearbox damage very easily. Many mower conditioners have a way to adjust the reel to ground speed. You can also adjust reel height. I run a 9' JD 1209 with an MF65 (50hp) though heavy rye 6 feet tall without a problem. Also cuts 200 bale/acre timothy with no difficulty. Disc mowers also eat horsepower. A 50 hp tractor can run a 9' sickle conditioner, but for a 9' disc conditioner you need at least 100 hp. Disc mowers also to my experience do not perform well in short hay. Tried a disc/condtioner (with larger tractor, of course) in 3rd cut alfalfa 14 inches high. Rotary knives chopped it all to hell before it even hit the rollers. There wasn't enough left to bale. On more modern sickle conditioners, it isn't hard to change worn knives at all. I have complete bars ready, so I change the whole thing out at once in about 10 minutes. Bolt-on sections also make it easier. No more rivets.

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B.C.

03-17-1999 07:51:36

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Re: Re: Re: Mower Conditioner Advice Wanted in reply to Tim(nj), 03-16-1999 16:30:15

Thanks for the input. We have a Massey 50, which is a little to the right of 30 hp with fresh "oversize" sleeves/pistons in the Z134 gas engine. I've seen smaller Fords appear to handle 7 foot sickle bar mower conditioners, but I've wondered about that.

Right now, we mow with a 7 foot bar and then condition with a 7 foot Deere Model 31 (an oldie but goodie) which will plug in thicker or tougher stuff. So the hope would be to get done quicker and also to avoid plugging.

I've looked at the disc types at the Farm Science Reviews and wondered about both the horsepower and the effect on shorter hay. Most of what we put up is shorter stuff.

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Doug

03-17-1999 18:42:24

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Re: Re: Re: Re: Mower Conditioner Advice Wanted in reply to B.C., 03-17-1999 07:51:36

Back in the 70's, we used a Hesston 7' mower/conditioner behind a MF 135 diesel, with no troubles. The 135 had plenty of HP to handle, although we occasionally had to use the two stage clutch in particularly heavy stuff to avoid plugging.
I've heard good things about these disc mowers, but I don't care how much faster you can mow with them, if you have to make another pass with a conditioner, I don't see where you've gained. The conditioning is more important than how fast you cut it.

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Dennis H.

03-17-1999 20:45:10

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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Mower Conditioner Advice Wanted in reply to Doug, 03-17-1999 18:42:24

The rotory mowers do cut nice if set up properly. If in rocky ground, you have to flatten them out or be ready to spend some money. Since they cut and don't condition, the drying time will be greater if you dont tedder the hay. If you run a tedder through the hay it will break the shaft where each finger hits it and crack it open to aid in the drying process.

I still use an old PT-7 mower/conditioner and have no complaints about the results. If you want fast hay, take it home and microwave it...

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darren temby

03-23-2000 02:29:05

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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Mower Conditioner Advice Wanted in reply to Dennis H., 03-17-1999 20:45:10

looking for operators books to suit Class mower conditioners between 1985/1995.

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