Mower

happylad

Hi all,

I'm looking at getting a new mower for ourselves. I also help another lad every so often to cut his and he does a bit of work for me if I require. I do around 90/100acres between first and second cut and he does around the same.

I have an 8ft trailed mower which is 18yrs old. We done a but of damage to it yesterday and now it looks like the bed might need to be stripped as no drive is going to the bed. Conditioner and outer disc is turning but nothing else. One of the discs split yesterday and cut around 1/8inch into the bed after busting itself. The Joy's.. 😭😭

We are also looking at perhaps getting a mower between us. I was looking at a rear mounted mower in place of the trailed one. The trailed one if the hills are slippy tend to slip behind you and also sometimes have a tendency when lifting the bed to lift if turning on a hill. Another lad next to us has a mounted one with a conditineer. Seems happy with it.

I have a T6.155 and we were looking at the McHale mower as there is a dealer near us. They seem to be more competitively priced than a krone one. Any advice would be greatly appreciated on this. Thanks

PoorFarmer

Mounted mower will not corner as easily as trailed mower as the corner invariably gets tighter.

What are you using the mower for? Bales, wagon, harvester? The majority of contractors have rakes now so is a conditioner mower necessary?

Instead of buying a conditioner mower between you and the neighbour maybe an ordinary disc mower bought by one and a tedder by the other could be an option. Personally I think splitting the cost of an implement isnt worth the hassle it may cause down the line. Each man uses and maintains his own machine while both get the benefit

happylad

Thanks for reply. Using it for bales. We were looking at a tedder but were wondering is that only another job need to be be doing and what is benefit. The trailed mower is a good bit more expensive than mounted one.

TheFarrier

happylad wrote: »

Thanks for reply. Using it for bales. We were looking at a tedder but were wondering is that only another job need to be be doing and what is benefit. The trailed mower is a good bit more expensive than mounted one.

I work on a farm that cuts about 200 acres yearly for bales, with a mounted non-conditioner lely mower. Mower replaced every five years. Very happy with it and no plans to move away from it.
Trailed mower must be easier on tractor but on the likes of a 155 like you have shouldn’t be an issue

happylad

Thanks for the reply. Think we might go with the mounted one alright. Just to choose a make. The McHale seems to be priced ok with a conditioner. Dont know much about them though as to how they are as a mower. Any opinions on them. There a heavy machine though

PoorFarmer

happylad wrote:

Thanks for reply. Using it for bales. We were looking at a tedder but were wondering is that only another job need to be be doing and what is benefit. The trailed mower is a good bit more expensive than mounted one.

Started using the FILs tedder last year and found it a good help to get the grass wilted. Used it this year too so will be in the market for my own in the off season. Only mowing with a non-conditioning disc so the baler picks it cleaner too after the tedder

Normally save around 15 acres of hay here when I get the weather so it's a big step up from haybob when I'm in a rush to turn it after work

mycro2013

PoorFarmer wrote: »

Started using the FILs tedder last year and found it a good help to get the grass wilted. Used it this year too so will be in the market for my own in the off season. Only mowing with a non-conditioning disc so the baler picks it cleaner too after the tedder

Normally save around 15 acres of hay here when I get the weather so it's a big step up from haybob when I'm in a rush to turn it after work

The reports on the McHale units aren't great. Numerous issues caused by the weight of the unit.

happylad

I had not heard that about the McHales. Is that even recent models.

Donald Trump

PoorFarmer wrote: »

Instead of buying a conditioner mower between you and the neighbour maybe an ordinary disc mower bought by one and a tedder by the other could be an option. Personally I think splitting the cost of an implement isnt worth the hassle it may cause down the line. Each man uses and maintains his own machine while both get the benefit

Why not a drum mower? Will take you longer to cut anything of course but if you are only looking at 90/100 acres a year then it's surely manageable.


Seems to be plenty on DD for around a grand or less. Here is one for example. The cover looks a bit shiny so it might be a replacement cover and curtain but then again, the little bit you can see underneath doesn't seem to have any serious marks to the drums

happylad

Poorfarmer we had a GMD55 Kuhn disc mower and we used find it getting blocked when cutting heavy crop. Not sure why it would but used block when cutting on a hill. Perhaps the grass falling on it was too much. Since we got the conditioner mower we never had that problem so that is why we are perhaps leaning toward the conditioner as well.

mycro2013

happylad wrote: »

Poorfarmer we had a GMD55 Kuhn disc mower and we used find it getting blocked when cutting heavy crop. Not sure why it would but used block when cutting on a hill. Perhaps the grass falling on it was too much. Since we got the conditioner mower we never had that problem so that is why we are perhaps leaning toward the conditioner as well.

The main reason for them blocking is the lack of a top hat on the most inner disc. Causing the grass to lodge on top of the disc.

happylad

Mycro2013 that's a very good point. Defo doesn't help them anyway

PoorFarmer

happylad wrote:

Poorfarmer we had a GMD55 Kuhn disc mower and we used find it getting blocked when cutting heavy crop. Not sure why it would but used block when cutting on a hill. Perhaps the grass falling on it was too much. Since we got the conditioner mower we never had that problem so that is why we are perhaps leaning toward the conditioner as well.

Had a Vicon that used to do the same in heavy crops. Traded it for a Claas Disco after trying my contractors one.

My cousin has a Taarup which was the updated Vicon and had the same trouble last year in a field grazed by sheep, was a thick butt of grass in it and the mower was just running across the top of it. He took my Claas and it mowed it 100% he's looki g to upgrade now too. Claas is a much heavier mower so maybe that makes a difference

mycro2013

happylad wrote: »

I had not heard that about the McHales. Is that even recent models.

They seem to be too heavy with the McHale unit being heavier than all their competitors. Weight doesn't automatically equal strength. A good few, year old machines have been traded in against competitors offerings.

happylad

Mycro2013 yes I agree with that. I was looking at the claas mounted mower today. A contractor has one. Lovely machine and lighter than McHale by a bit. It's a tad more expensive but perhaps it might keep its value better. It has a feature that you can adjust ground pressure from the cab when working on slopes.

Panch18

Have you thought about kverneland? Have a 3232 mounted here, does a great job

lab man

Bought a jd1365 the other day went cutting today she seems not to be turning the discs fast enough and the mower getting blocked up any ideas lads,, sorry for high jacking the thread

Grueller

lab man wrote: »

Bought a jd1365 the other day went cutting today she seems not to be turning the discs fast enough and the mower getting blocked up any ideas lads,, sorry for high jacking the thread

You are hardly in eco mode pto?

cjpm

By any chance has it a 1000 rpm gearbox on the mower? I have seen one for sale that had to be driven at 1000 rpm...

Is it the disks that a blocking or the conditioner rotor? If its the conditioner thats the problem, the drive belt may need to be tightened.

lab man

Grueller wrote:

You are hardly in eco mode pto?

No on 540

lab man

I was cutting for a neighbour so was in a hurry so only took it off an put on the malone trailed mower , I dont know if its the belt or splines gone on a shaft some where it's a balls anyway as tis running grand lifted up

cute geoge

lab man wrote: »

Bought a jd1365 the other day went cutting today she seems not to be turning the discs fast enough and the mower getting blocked up any ideas lads,, sorry for high jacking the thread

i taught all them 1365 and kuhn 302 could only be run on 1000 pto .I was cutting heavy crop today, tractor opened to the scut on 1000 pto and once i droped mower revs died on tractor instantly to 2000 revs .I think tractor would have to be able to push out 2000 revs on 1000 pto box

PoorFarmer

Any 1365s I used were all 540.

I think the previous poster may have a 1000 box on his though if the hats are spinning slowly. I'd imagine with a spline gone it wouldnt spin at all

Disconnect the conditioner belt and see how it goes. Make sure the top skin over the conditioner is up to the top too, may need to do a bit of cleaning out if it is down to get it back up. This puts massive pressure on if the crop is heavy

lab man

PoorFarmer wrote:

Disconnect the conditioner belt and see how it goes. Make sure the top skin over the conditioner is up to the top too, may need to do a bit of cleaning out if it is down to get it back up. This puts massive pressure on if the crop is heavy

The conditioner hood?

PoorFarmer

lab man wrote:

The conditioner hood?

Yes. Couldnt think of the bloody name of it.

lab man

PoorFarmer wrote:

Yes. Couldnt think of the bloody name of it.

Weve had plenty jd's before this the first one that wouldn't cut that's where we are stumped cause she was all but stopping a tm 120 with the revs at about 1900

davidk1394

Run 2 krone mowers on lift arms here. Worked an 11ft mounted mower on the tractor recently and no issues with it. While the trailed mower is easier on headlands. There’s a lot more moving parts in it and getting in tight gaps can be difficult

jntsnk

Bought a Krone Easycut R . Strength and reliability. Heavier built than the Krone AMR. Very happy with it. Not cheap but between the tax , and the saving on contractors charges it’s a no brainier. It will last . 100 acres to cut plus topping paddocks.

lab man

Well pf, I'd say you are right about the cond hood twas fully wound down towards the front when I looked today so hopefully that'll sort it

Cattlepen

Have had Kuhn mowers without conditioner here for last few years. Havnt has any bother with them. They seem to glide through meadow with no effort without conditioner and it also makes a big difference to fuel consumption. I think tedding is a great job. I know it’s more work but I think the wilt is much better than conditioner

PoorFarmer

lab man wrote:

Well pf, I'd say you are right about the cond hood twas fully wound down towards the front when I looked today so hopefully that'll sort it

Let me know how you get on. Was racking my brain trying to think what else it could be