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Hay mower

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Jerry

06-22-2003 18:45:27




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I do about 20 acres per cutting of hay and am ready to take a torch to my old sicklebar mower. Sooooo , I am now in the market for a new mower. What I want to hear from you guys is which you would prefer, a brand new disc mower vs a new 7 foot haybine. I no a haybine has crimping action built in but leaving that aspect out which is a better option. I figure for as little as I do I can buy a separate crimper and go over the field again. I have been looking on the SweetTractor website at the FORT model disc mowers. I have a 50 or so hp Farmall 544 that I will be using the mower on. The one in this hp range is less than $4000. I haven't priced a new 7' haybine but I am guessing over $10k. So price is a big consideration. Does anyone have expirience with these fort mowers? How do they compare with other brand disc mowers? So, which mower would be best for my small hay making operation. BTW, my hay is timothy/brome grass mix in western Pa. Also, can you still buy crimpers new or are thay stricly used implements nowadays. I am looking to make this purchase in the next couple of weeks here so any input is greatly appriciated.

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David

07-06-2003 07:49:47




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 Re: hay mower in reply to Jerry, 06-22-2003 18:45:27  
I think it would easier to go out and buy an old new holland haybine for $1500-$3000.They may be old but they cut hay as good as anything else in my opinion.



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kyhayman

06-25-2003 20:18:57




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 Re: hay mower in reply to Jerry, 06-22-2003 18:45:27  
Jerry,

One of my friends has a Fort and has had a lot of problems but he is pretty rough on it.

I put up a lot of timothy, had a disc condioner for a while but too many problems with it wrapping the conditioner impeller, also have a 474 haybine. I parked the haybine when I got my disc mower. Gains me nothing over using the disc mower and tedder. If I cut 6 hours I tedder 3 immediately. Been cutting 1 day (am) and bailing late pm the next this week (in KY). Moisture is running less than 18%. I had a Bush Hog brand disc mower for 4 years, bought it new. My dad has an 8 year old New Idea, he and I cut together lst year and I traded mine in on a NI the next week, he cut circles around me. 5408 NI was $5900, last fall.

Lastly I would be leary of the hp rating. Based on gallons of fuel burned the disc mower (any of them) is the hardest thing I pull, uses more fuel per day than a 15' batwing or a round baler.

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Sid

06-23-2003 16:35:23




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 Re: hay mower in reply to Jerry, 06-22-2003 18:45:27  
I would think the disc mower would be the way to go in the situation you described, mainly due the price differanceand the fact you mentioned only twenty five acres. Around here tedders work fine with grass hay, any hay as far as that goes. I think I would prefer a tedder over a crimper in grass hay.



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Roy in UK

06-23-2003 06:04:50




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 Re: hay mower in reply to Jerry, 06-22-2003 18:45:27  
Would it be possible to "demo" a disc mower from your dealer on your own tractor to see if it would handle it OK? I ran an 8' Vicon behind a MF 168 but my MF165 would handle it comfortably.



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Post script

06-23-2003 06:36:27




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 Re: Re: hay mower in reply to Roy in UK, 06-23-2003 06:04:50  
I am not familiar with the Fort Brand, but I did have a look at the website that you mentioned. A very popular disc mower over here is the Lely, I had an 8' with a tine conditioner on the back but they do make 'plain' disc mowers. The beauty of the Lely is that the cutterbed is shaft driven and ( dont ask me why ) it seems to make it less power hungry than a lot of makes. I ran the Mo-Co on the MF168 with no problems at all. Whether you have any Lely agents around you though I cannot say . Anyway,once you have had a play around with a disc mower I don't think that you will want to go back to a sickle.

Roy

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Mike

06-22-2003 19:53:12




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 Re: hay mower in reply to Jerry, 06-22-2003 18:45:27  
Jerry,
If your using a sickle mower now and were doing ok with it as far as getting your hay ready to bale then I wouldn't spend the extra on a haybine/discbine. They are pricey. I'd stick with the disc mower and maybe a tedder unless I was planning on cutting some really "stalky" stuff. Sorry, can't help with the Fort brand only to say I've been looking at them also.
Good luck.



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ChrisL

06-22-2003 19:31:55




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 Re: hay mower in reply to Jerry, 06-22-2003 18:45:27  
For my two cents worth:

Disc mowers take quite a bit of power to run.

If it were me, I think a used haybine in good shape would be the better deal..... ....even if u went up into a bigger size like 12' or so



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Jerry

06-23-2003 09:54:54




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 Re: Re: hay mower in reply to ChrisL, 06-22-2003 19:31:55  
The disc mower I am interested in only requires 45 hp.



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