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Implement Alley Discussion Forum

conditioning tool

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JJJake

07-30-2005 05:34:59




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I was asking about mower conditioners to a farmer the other day to upgrade from my sickle, and he suggested I also look for a conditioner and just use my sickle to cut. The conditioner to crimp. I had never heard of this implement without a cutter. We didnt get to talk a lot about this tool and I hoped maybe I could learn more here.

What is this hay conditioner? Any models I can do a search on?
Does it take sickle cut flat hay and crimp it?
Does it leave me with a windrow?
Is this a good idea? He said it was an old time way to do the same thing, which doesnt seem too bad if I get a decent one and use what I have. Its hard to find a 7' mower/conditioner around here. Hot items these days.

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JMS/MN

07-30-2005 17:05:50




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 Re: conditioning tool in reply to JJJake, 07-30-2005 05:34:59  
A simple explanation of the difference between early hay conditioners is this: One will have two intermeshing rolls (with a v-shaped profile) that break the hay stem every two inches or so. The other style will have two smooth rolls that crush the entire length of the stem. Sometimes one roll is rubber and the other steel. They may have problems with hay wrapping on them- thus the change to the v-roll. Either one picks up a mower swath, conditions it, and lays it back down. Some may have shields to form a windrow. My first choice of a machine would be the one that delivers the desired finished product, not how loud it is. They were the improvement over the sickle mower, but the moco combined cutting, conditioning, and raking into one pass.

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RAW in IA

07-30-2005 09:51:36




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 Re: conditioning tool in reply to JJJake, 07-30-2005 05:34:59  
Dad had one years ago, a New Idea crimper. i believe it had one rubber roll on top and one fluted steel roll on the bottom. The C would ohave pulled it, but not with the mower too. He tried out an IH crusher opnce and hated it. Pulled hard, and if you got off therow a little it plugged. I don't think you could plug the New Idea.



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James2

07-30-2005 08:58:12




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 Re: conditioning tool in reply to JJJake, 07-30-2005 05:34:59  
We ran a Ford conditioner/crimper with two steel rolls for many years. A world of difference in the time required for drying the day. I've seen two steel rolls, one steel and one rubber, and two rubber. I vaguely remember reading that crimping rather than total crushing (two rubber rolls) gives better hay quality. We ran the mower and conditioner separate, using two tractors and drivers. Some fields were smaller and running both together gets somewhat ungainly. However, I wouldn't recommend cutting down an entire larger field on a hot day and then running the conditioner. Can be hard on leaves. Ours did not have the wings for windrowing, slthough later ones did. Personally, I would rather have the hay spread out for better drying and then rake earlier. Obviously the system we used would not work someone producing 20,000 bales/year. We had a Ford and never had any probles for 30+ years. My brother had a NI and it also worked fine. I would have a tendency to stick with the majors, particularly JD, so you could get parts if necessary. The alternative is to buy anything that will work, cheap, and if it breaks, scrap it and buy another cheap one. Regardless, I would not pay over $500 for the latest and greatest. Most I have seen go for $100 to $200.

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Sid

07-30-2005 06:58:00




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 Re: conditioning tool in reply to JJJake, 07-30-2005 05:34:59  
Yes that is a workable idea in my opinion. You could get a hitch and pull it behind mower. It would condition previous pass as you mowed. I paid $175 dollars for mine seven years ago. It did allright for me. I did learn one thing though. Get the same size conditionor as your mower even though you may not hook it up behind mower. My mower is seven foot the conditioneor was six. I had problems with hay getting tangled in it. It worked great with a six foot mower.

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Sid

07-30-2005 06:56:14




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 Re: conditioning tool in reply to JJJake, 07-30-2005 05:34:59  
Yes that is a workable idea in my opinion. You could get a hitch and pull it behind mower. It would condition previous pass as you mowed. I paid $175 dollars for mine seven years ago. It did allright for me. I did learn one thing though. Get the same size conditionor as your mower even though you may not hook it up behind mower. My mower is seven foot the conditioneor was six. I had problems with hay getting tangled in it. It worked great with a six foot mower.

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Sid

07-30-2005 06:55:52




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 Re: conditioning tool in reply to JJJake, 07-30-2005 05:34:59  
Yes that is a workable idea in my opinion. You could get a hitch and pull it behind mower. It would condition previous pass as you mowed. I paid $175 dollars for mine seven years ago. It did allright for me. I did learn one thing though. Get the same size conditionor as your mower even though you may not hook it up behind mower. My mower is seven foot the conditioneor was six. I had problems with hay getting tangled in it. It worked great with a six foot mower.

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Don-Wi

07-30-2005 05:44:35




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 Re: conditioning tool in reply to JJJake, 07-30-2005 05:34:59  
The crimper, or conditioner as the other farmer called it, does just that. It picks up the hay that's on the ground and crimps it between 2 rollers, and then lays it back down. All companies who made sickle mowers made a crimper to follow, I don't know of any model #'s to loook for. As far as windrows, you could add some "wings" on them to bring the crop together like a moco does, as I've seen this before. Some crimpers have 2 metal rollers, which can be extrememly noisy to run, and some like New Idea have one metal and one rubber. Much quieter to run. I'd try to find one like that.
Donovan from Wisconsin

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JJJJake

07-30-2005 16:06:35




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 Re: conditioning tool in reply to Don-Wi, 07-30-2005 05:44:35  
What an unreal amount of prompt, usefull, valuable and courtious information. Thank you guys so much, it is so much fun working on my small little hobby farm. Its also fun doing it with antique iron but the people also make this so much worth my while.



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