Reese Mower

Hey everyone, I?m thinking of switching hay mowers in the next year or so and I?ve been looking at Reese drum mowers. The models I?ve been looking at are the 2400 (8 ft) or the 3100 (10 ft) but I?m not sure if I have enough tractor. I would be hooking it on my Farmall 560 that has a fast hitch. If I get the 2400, I know I?ll have to by a conversion kit to get to cat. 2 3-pt. Also, I figure I?ll need some extra weight on the front for the 2400 but I don?t know if I have enough tractor for the 3100. Any help would be great! Thanks!
 
I have 3 Reese mowers. 2 are the smaller 2070W fold back, one is a 2400HL vertical lift mower. The mowers are heavy. I run them on a JD 5420 (65HP PTO) cutting thick grass hay, very heavy, sometimes down and tangled. I mow in 4th thru 6th gear depending. When the 2400 HL is vertical it puts a heavy strain on the right side of the tractor and is fairly unstable in rough ground. The fold backs are a great design, easy to use and no hydraulics, but are not for a guy too lazy to get off the tractor and fold it back. And they are heavy when folded, I have 600lb on the front and that handles it fine. Might be touchy with a NF tractor. I think your tractor is heavy enough to handle the 2400 but the HP would be marginal. The 3100 is pull type (I think) and probably a little to big for the HP. If you get one I will pass along some operating advice. The manual is totally useless.
 
Thanks for the advice. Thats how I feel about the 3100 which is why I?m leaning toward the 2400. I would more than likely just get the model that folds back and my tractor is a wide front. The hp for running it is by biggest concern. I?ve read that once they are going, they really don?t take that much hp and I know sometimes the manufacturer says they need more hp because of weight issues, hence my reason for asking. If I do get one, I?ll definitely be asking for advice!
 
I don't know how much you are cutting. I bale about 40 acres a year but I have 3 mowers all bought cheap when they went thru an auction and nobody knew what they were. The little 2070w is a gem. Easy to use and very reliable. I usually patch bale, only 5 or 6 acres at a time, square bales for horses so I don't want to get it wet. Consider getting the spreader attachment which works as well as a tedder, except in very very heavy hay they tend to clog. In light hay they save a pass over the field.
 
I run my 2400 on a 100hp tractor and in heavy hay I wouldn't want anything less. Get into thick heavy hay and that mower pulls harder than my 12 foot discbine at speed.
 

I nearly bought a 3100 but went with a Kuhn instead, Reese says 70 hp for the 3100 but that's to be able to cut hay at 8+ mph.
The same width Kuhn calls for min 47 hp.

Your Farmall 560 is comparable to my Ford 5000 in hp but weighs a little more.
My 5000 handles my Kuhn GMD 2850 TL with no issues and I've mowed several acres with the same mower hooked to my 4000 Ford, tractor had plenty of hp to pull the mower but the mower did push the 4000 some when making tight corners at 6.5 mph.

I like drum mowers and have had a Claas WM30 pull type 8 ft drum for over 20 years, still use it as a second mower at times.

MIL has a 3 point disc mower I used a couple times to mow her hay, PIA to hook up, heavy on the side of the tractor, parked it in the barn 3 years ago and have used my pull behind since.
Far as I'm concerned that 3 point mower can set there and rot to the ground.
Only thing I don't like about the Reese 3100 is the 12' transport width.
 
The idea of a pull type over the 3 pt is the main reason I?m even considering the 3100. I agree that they probably say that many hp because of
weight and to have a fast ground speed. I wouldn?t say my field is extremely rough but, there are a couple places that I slow down anyway with
the haybine. I figure if I can run 4 mph or so, then I?m doing fine. I guess it?s something I?ll question until I get one and try it...
 

Sounds like the belts need tightened.
Had the same issue with MIL's mower, belts felt tight, read the manual on tightening procedure resulting the cranking the tensioner two more turns. Afterward the mower ran fine and didn't bog the tractor down in heavy grass.
 
Belts on my mower are set per the manual. Those heavy drums spinning in 3 or 4 ton to the acre hay at 7 to 10 mph takes some power to run. The large diameter drums and relatively few blades makes them run hard imo. As I say my 12` center pivot discbine pulls about the same and is way more productive.

If I wanted to mow at 4mph I would get a sickle haybine.
 
Thanks for letting me know your experience with the 2400. I have an old New Holland 469 that run okay but the rolls are starting to loose their
rubber and I know its going to need to be replaced in another year or so if I?m lucky. I figure if I?m changing machines, I should upgrade to
something that won?t bog down as easily and in my area, a decent used haybine will go for $1,500 - $2,500. I think I can come up with a decent
drum mower for that or just a little more. If I can mow at 6 mph, then I will be thrilled but I know that there are a couple spots that I will slow
down. I don?t want to break something on the tractor or other equipment and I don?t think I sit on the tractor that fast on that rough of ground. My
other thought with the 2400 is I might be able to upgrade my tractor in a few years and then I can use it on that one.
 

My old Claas 8" drum mower has three drums with three blades per drum, I've ran it in heavy hay pulling it with my 52 hp 4000 Ford, only time it acted loaded was when hay was to thick to go between the drums. Most of my fields will make 7-8 4x5 round bales per acre during first cutting
Most all hay I mow is done at 6-6 1/2 mph unless the grounds to rough were I drop down from 6th to 5th gear.

I don't know if a Reese mower has the same blade speed as my Claas which can effect how it pulls.
 
That?s what I would expect with my 560. I don?t think there is any way I could mow in 4th gear so I would probably be in 3rd most of the time
and then if I have real think hay or the rough spots in the field, then I?ll just gear down.

I could see the Reese pulling a little harder with only the two drums since the six blades would actually have to handle more grass. I guess the
only way for me to find out would be to actually run one on the 560. To be honest, it will probably be determined by what I can find for sale
locally when I go to buy one. Anyone know of one for sale in SE Kansas for sale fairly cheap? lol
 
So destroked your comparing to a completely different mower? Lol

The more drums you have the smaller they are thus less mass swinging around. More drums also means more blades so each one has to cut less grass per revolution. All of that means it will pull easier.
 
I ran an 8' disc mower with the typical small turtles and 2 knives per drum with my ford 5000 and I never had any trouble, tried the reese 2400 on that tractor and it would do it but not at a speed that was productive. The reese mowers are heavy and built like a tank which is good for durability but not good for small tractors.
 

I understand what your saying to a point but my 8ft 9 blade drum mower pulls a little easier than my 9ft 14 blade disc mower.
The 2400 has two drums with 8 blades, my 8ft Claas has three drums with 9 blades.
Those large drums need to spin pretty fast for the blades to cut the larger area but I noticed in Reese's literature they had slowed the 2400's drum speed to less than any of their other mowers,it looks like they are trying to keep the blade tip speeds the same and added a forth blade to help with the larger area to be cut.
The 2400 is the only 8 ft drum mower I've ever seen with just two drums. Neighbor had a 8ft uniform with three drums.
The 3100 is 10ft but has four drums.
 

I've run a 2070 and 3100 for many years and usually I am limited to how rough the ground is when deciding on mowing speed. Don't like hitting my head on the top of the cab roof! LOL They are great mowers and super cheap to maintain.
 

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