Best pull-type 2 row silage chopper

This was my first year doing silage. Neighbor used his mules and binder and then his old papec silage chopper. It was a good experience and thankful, but once was good enough. Would like to do more acreage next year. I m looking for guidance on choosing a used pull-type 2 row with hay head chopper. Brand, model, "stay-away-froms". I have JD 4520 and 2955 tractors so 540 and 1000pto options.
Thanks
 
Any of the New Holland models with a separate fan to blow it up the pipe would work well such as as
the 770, 782, 892, 900, etc. The 717 and 718 models could handle two rows, but used the knives to
do the blowing. They require regular adjustment of the band up against the knives every time you
sharpen the knives to make them blow well. That can be a hard job when things are rusted tight.

The New Holland model 900 had a good reputation around here. It's capable of 3 rows of corn with
enough HP up front so would handle 2 rows very easily.
 
The best parts support would be with JD then NH. Cut and blow design with a separate fan is the way to go. JD 3940, 3950, or
3955. NH 782, 790, or 900. I think NH has the better heads with the 824 corn head and 790/890 pick up heads. They have been
adapted to fit the JD's and some feel that is the ultimate combination. Pull type choppers, self unloading wagons, and forage
blowers have really fallen off in value the past several years so you should be able to buy something in very good condition for
not much money. People will talk about Gehl, Hesston, and I do like IH but the parts situation is not good at all. Plenty of
aftermarket parts for JD and NH.
 
Whatever you get, make sure parts.... especially expendables are still available in your area. New Hollands are good, Gehl was another good
one. The latter are getting hard to find parts for & can be pretty well loved to death by the time it goes up for sale.

Mike
 
Thanks guys. I was figuring JD/NH would be best. Was
looking at a Gehl CB 800. Probably best to spend the extra
to reduce the risk and get a better supported unit.
 
The CB800 is a good machine, but parts aren't as available as what you would find for the equivalent from NH even from that era. If the 800 is a machine that's close by, more affordable, etc., you can check for parts availability yourself & see if it's an advantage or disadvantage for you. I'll put a link to the parts catalog below. You can search for parts on Tractorhouse's site or do a quick internet search for Gehl ag line dealers. Some of the older dealers that may have a line on parts for the farm equipment yet are still out there.

Mike
CB800 Parts....
 
In 42 years of farming, I have had New Hollands from a 718 2 row to 900 2 row. The 718 does a decent job,
but when I went to a dump wagon, the chopper geometry made it hard to stay on the row in greasy dirt, and
it is made more for a 1 row head.

My vote is for a NH 900- good capacity and parts availability, not as expensive as the 230240 series.

Stay away from NH770 and 782. The feedroll F-N-R on those models is a worm that is mucho hard to control
FAST, especially when chopping grass windrow that has clumps. 790 and 900 F-N-R is quick, 892 is a little
bit slower but still OK.
 
Is Gehl still in bussiness? Local and only dealer I ever knew of closed when owner died inearly 1980's. You dely with owner direct. Lots of Gehl forage equipment when he was in bussiness but about all dissaperaded shortly after the store closed.
 
(quoted from post at 17:39:16 11/08/22) Is Gehl still in bussiness? Local and only dealer I ever knew of closed when owner died inearly 1980's. You dely with owner direct. Lots of Gehl forage equipment when he was in bussiness but about all dissaperaded shortly after the store closed.

Gehl Ag is no longer, but they still have parts suppliers.

store.germanbliss.com/
 
John Deere or NH. The best would be a John Deere 3950-3960 with a 2 row New Holland 824 cornhead. There are several shops that make adapters.
The Deere machines with the small knives pull the easiest and are simple rugged machines. Even a good 3940-3960. The NH 790 is a good machine
as well. If a NH 900 get a later one as there were lots of changes. Do not buy a Gehl. They pull hard and the smaller machines are very poorly
built and parts are becoming a problem. Here in WI a good Deere 3950 with corn head can be bought for $5000 or less. 3940's and 3960's often
sell for $2500. Tom
 
We sold Fox when I worked for a White dealer 40 plus years ago. What happen to Fox? There are probably not a dozen people in the county now that fill silo!
 
Fox made a good machine but failed to update the corn heads untill to late. The chain style head on Fox machines did not like big corn planted at todays populations. When Deere came out with their belted cornhead in the mid 60's sales of Fox machines stopped in my area. The Fox electric knife sharpener was great and made them pull very easy. I had a self propelled Fox and so often the head would plug before the corn reached the feed rolls. Tom
 
Oliver tried to buy Fox at one time, but the owner of Fox wouldn't sell to them because he said Fox would never be owned by anything but a Wisconsin company.
 
The offset blower allowed wagons to follow the line of draft from the chopper in wet conditions dooming the inline cutterhead- blower design. There were several wet falls back to back during the 1970's here with dairymen getting frustrated with the inline choppers pulling off of the row. After 1980 it was pretty much JD, NH, and IH around these parts.
 
Most of why a gehl pulls harder is because of higher capacity. A gehl 1260-1285 was bigger than a NH 900. With the auto max feature on the gehl, it rarely plugged up. Most farmers around here didnt buy JD choppers because of limited capacity. Even though they were a well built machine.
 
Just about all single row, verry few 2 row. And was mostly Gehl. then New Holland and the orignal Allis Chalmers. I don't think I ever saw a John Deere, IHC or Fox and deffinatly none of the other brands. Very few dairy heards left as well. We did have a Cockshutt for chopping bean straw with no chopper on combine. We did chop a few loads of corn direct on feed wagon for cows. Think there were more Cockshut than anything except the AC and the Gehl.
 
There were a few strong Gehl dealers but Gehl was anything but common around here. IH did alright and no doubt it helped dealers were plentiful and not far apart. NH was plentiful as well in terms of dealers. Many JD dealers. NH had the best price as in brand competition was very strong and JD had the best financing.
 
As everybody else said, buy what you can get parts for. There are numerous aftermarket suppliers for NH and Deere. Consider getting something with a kernel processor. The technology has been out there on
pull types for 25 years. You will make more digestible silage with one.
 
(quoted from post at 15:38:16 11/25/22) The NH FP240 has the same capticity as the 1285 and better corn and hay heads
Whoa buddy!!! We ve been talking about driving Pinto s and Camry; you come out with a Mercedes. Maybe after a long number of years of doing silage I could justify buying one of those. Not to mention my top HP tractor is a 1969 JD 4520.
Thanks again for everyone s comments and help. Always nice to get suggestions from people who have forgotten more than I will know on these type subjects.
 

The only makers of pull type harvesters today are NH and Dion, which is a Quebec based company that has been around for a long time. They are making pull type harvesters that are sold through Deere dealers now as Deere stopped building their 3975. They are reputed as a good machine and if you see a Hesston 7500 for sale they are a Dion in disguise. Make sure you get 1000 rpm pto as harvesters take power and that is more efficient at delivering power.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top