My silage cutting ordeal

roosterman71

A few weeks ago I got the mower (JF 245 mower like this) out and greased her up, tightened the relevant springs, but in new blades and was all set. I filled the tractor (6400 JD) with diesel, checked oil, lights and coolant and left her ready too. All I needed was the weather, and after the last few days I decided its time to cut.

So I started to knock 50 acres of silage last night. 2 hours in, and BANG, sparks and smoke. I jumped down and seen the clutch unit in bits on the mower. "F%&k sake" I said, screw this and went home with the intention of fixing it up this morning.

So at 5.30 in the am, up I got and armed with my spanners and sockets, and set about repairing the clutch. 3 hours later it was back together. But when I tried it, it was still slipping so off it had to come again. By 11.30, I gave it another go and spun up my mower in the yard. All was looking good. And off to the field I headed to knock more silage.

Out in the field, I got ready to go. I pulled up the PTO switch, started to turn it and...nothing only grinding. WTF??? On closer inspection, it seems the PTO won't go into gear. Not 540, 540E or 1000 RPM. Christ almighty. I was fit to explode. I've no idea how to fix that so I parked the whole lot up and went back in time.

I started up my Nuffield 10/60 (new in the 60s sometime), hooked it up to my 5'6" bamford mower (new in 1984), greased her up and hit the fields, just like the first time they were paired 27 summers ago. And as I type this, my father is out flying around still cutting.

It didn't give one cough, one bang, one snort all day. It just does its job. No frills or thrills.

So what am I trying to say? Well, I'm just ranting as I'm mighty pissed off. How great are simple machines? You can't beat a simple engine, and a shaft of metal. No depending on electrics or oil pumps. I'd say something if the tractor or mower were blagarded. They aren't. Both minded too bloody well I think. I'm just fuming that the money invested in these things is just a pit for more to be spent. Yet, something that started working 27 years ago, can still do it today without any trouble.

Joys of motoring eh..

stanflt

cmt 245 are crap mowers-in heavy crops we used to have to take conditioner off-

mower always burned the belts off

very hard to get going

roosterman71

It wasn't a heavy crop. Far from it which was disappointing in fairness. Its a little hard to start up alright but not a big issue. Its worked the last couple of years its worked grand

whelan1

we got 8 years out of ours but had to modify it alot . had a very careful operator:o dont agree on the belts though.. think we put one set on over the years and 2 gear boxes sold it on and lad still uses it 5 years later

13spanner

roosterman71 wrote: »

How great are simple machines?

What's even better is having the dealer and garage a mile down the road.

keep going

took 16 acres couple of years ago and thought id make hay. weather never came and went to cut end of july.went into it with a pz and it took the bones of three days to cut between spinning belts,stuff wraping around drums,small feilds,heavy swaths catching the drive and the drive shaft developing a habit of coming off and it was s**t stuff. never forget the bad smell off it cutting

polod

how long did it take to cut the 50 acres ?

pakalasa

Put it this way, when was the last time your japanese car broke down.
If the machines were built right, they woudn't break down, simple as that.

roosterman71

polod wrote: »

how long did it take to cut the 50 acres ?

Cut about 30 in the end. I'll leave the rest for hay. Apparently the weather will be good the end of July. It took about 9 hours to cut it. Not too bad I suppose.

Put it this way, when was the last time your japanese car broke down.
If the machines were built right, they woudn't break down, simple as that.

Ah everything breaks down. Nothing is built that will never break. Wear and tear. But a simpler machine will be more robust as there is less to go wrong

jeff greene

roosterman71 wrote: »

But a simpler machine will be more robust as there is less to go wrong

Aren't those JF mowers in principle the same as the rotary, ie belts and drums. JD 6400 are a simple tractor, people have this irrational fear of any bit of electricity on a tractor, often easier and faster to fix, not to mention more user friendly.

We spent half the day last week putting a cable for the PTO clutch into an International, a solenoid for the MF , a few minutes.

Suckler

jeff greene wrote: »

. JD 6400 are a simple tractor, people have this irrational fear of any bit of electricity on a tractor, often easier and faster to fix, not to mention more user friendly.

I agree, i find electrical problems are easy to track. Get a good multimeter and its half the battle. Before you attempt to unplug anything just get a wire brush to the connections and it usually solves the problem.

vanderbadger

pakalasa wrote: »

Put it this way, when was the last time your japanese car broke down.
If the machines were built right, they woudn't break down, simple as that.

my pajero on several occasions !

pakalasa

vanderbadger wrote: »

my pajero on several occasions !

You should get a Landcruiser !

vanderbadger

pakalasa wrote: »

You should get a Landcruiser !

true dat