Thanks to all that have been following along in my purchasing of new equipment. I have recently attained a 2008 JD5525, and this is also my first year with the CCM drum mower. There has been a few of you that wanted some comparisons between the 5525 and my old JD 4040, and a few of you that have asked how the CCM has performed so I figured I would write a full review on both so here it goes...
2008 JD 5525:
Coming from the drivers seat of a 1979 JD 4040, the comparison between that and the new 5525 goes something like this, there is no comparison. How much things have evolved over the years of tractor building is amazing. The size to power ratio, ergonomics, and ease of use has increased tremendously. A few of the options on my 5525 include air ride seat, 24x24 reverser transmission, and E-hitch. Just having those 3 items made a HUGE difference between the old tractor and new. The air ride seat is comfortable as your recliner at home although I do recommend a seatback extension if you are a taller guy. The 24 x 24 reverser transmission in my opinion is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I was skeptical at first if it was worth the upgrade option and if I was asked that now I would pay double for it if needed. I use the heck out of that hi/low button, and paired with the CCM and round baler, that little button is worth its weight in gold. For row cropping it may not be as big of a deal, but I imagine that most buy this size tractor for the type of work I am doing including haying and eventually some loader work, etc. Compared to the old 4040 with the quadrange, really the only way to control ground speed in the 4040 was with the throttle, thus affecting your RPM's since there was a ton of room between gear ranges. With the 5525, rpm stays smooth as shifting and the hi/low button make speed changes a snap. The E-hitch is great, especially since I am hooking/unhooking the CCM drum mower quite a bit. Having the ability to not jump in and out of the cab is great, plus the folding out of the ccm is especially easy having the ability to control the exact height off of the ground from the rear of the tractor. Another point I should bring up is the Economy PTO option. We have actually been able to do most of our mowing with the CCM in economy PTO, and for sure all of our tedding in Economy. It sure is nice to not have the tractor engine screaming as you are driving all day, not to mention the fuel consumption. I will touch on the Economy pto in the CCM review below. All in all I LOVE this tractor. If I had to complain about one thing, the only thing that I can think of is the hydraulic noise inside the cab seems to be a little excessive when you are running the high PTO speed, something that I didnt have in the old 4040. It is probably due to pump location but it is bearable and not that big of a deal to me, every once in a while just a little annoying. As I said, that is really the only thing I can think of that I dont like, everything else has been great and I look forward to running this machine for many years to come.
CCM T-190 Drum Mower:
The purchase of this drum mower came from the constant headaches of the old New Holland 469 haybine, and the feeling that I was at the parts store more than I was in the field. I did alot of research and asked alot of questions and decided on the CCM due to the field sizes we are baling, money, and rigidity. To say the least this was a great purchase. This mower waill absolutely put down anything that you throw in front of it. We bale alfalfa and orchard grass/fescue and it eats them both up. Blade changes are a snap, and although it looks like from our first experiences we will need to change them about every 50 acres per side of the blade, I think that they are only like $1.90 per blade and there is 6 of them so I think I can swing that. I will say that the hookup of the mower can be a little time consuming. I have the e-hitch and the extendable links on my tractor and I dont know what I would do without them. The hardest part is once you get it attached getting it to sit level and actually ride in the recommended float range. I have only hooked and unhooked a few times and I am getting better at it so I am sure there is a little learnning curve. Once you are hooked up things get pretty easy. To unfold you just suspend the mower just off the top of the ground and fold her back by hand(little heavy but not bad). Once you have her folded back just lock a couple of pins and hook up the pto and you are ready. When I fold the mower back to leave the field. I only unhook the pto from the tractor side and secore it with a tarp strap for transport which seems to work great. As for the mowing it does a great job. The only grass that it seems to leave in the field is from the first pass where you have to go in the opposite direction to open up the field, and the smashed grass from your tires the first time around doesnt want to pick up when you reverse directions. This is still minimal and we are leaving very little in the field. Depending on the thickness of the grass/alfalfa, Economy PTO and ground speed will vary a little. I was mowing alfalfa in economy pto at 7mph the other day, I could'nt remove the smile from my face. With the thicker grass, sometime the Economy pto will bog too much unless you are at a slow ground speed so in order to speed things up the standard pto power is needed to move quickly through the field. We found that the sweet spot of the majority was 4-5mph in econonomy pto but there was a couple that where too thick and needed the standard pto power to maintain the 5mph and above ground speed. Overall this is a great,simple, and fast piece of equipment. I did hit about a 6" log hiding in the grass the other day and it didnt do a thing, just heard a funny noise and backed away from it with no damage which was nice, this thing is built pretty well.
Any questions on either piece of equipment please let me know and I will do my best to answer. On the next round of cutting I will get some pics of the setup together. Overall I am very pleased with both purchases.
Thanks,
hollow
2008 JD 5525:
Coming from the drivers seat of a 1979 JD 4040, the comparison between that and the new 5525 goes something like this, there is no comparison. How much things have evolved over the years of tractor building is amazing. The size to power ratio, ergonomics, and ease of use has increased tremendously. A few of the options on my 5525 include air ride seat, 24x24 reverser transmission, and E-hitch. Just having those 3 items made a HUGE difference between the old tractor and new. The air ride seat is comfortable as your recliner at home although I do recommend a seatback extension if you are a taller guy. The 24 x 24 reverser transmission in my opinion is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I was skeptical at first if it was worth the upgrade option and if I was asked that now I would pay double for it if needed. I use the heck out of that hi/low button, and paired with the CCM and round baler, that little button is worth its weight in gold. For row cropping it may not be as big of a deal, but I imagine that most buy this size tractor for the type of work I am doing including haying and eventually some loader work, etc. Compared to the old 4040 with the quadrange, really the only way to control ground speed in the 4040 was with the throttle, thus affecting your RPM's since there was a ton of room between gear ranges. With the 5525, rpm stays smooth as shifting and the hi/low button make speed changes a snap. The E-hitch is great, especially since I am hooking/unhooking the CCM drum mower quite a bit. Having the ability to not jump in and out of the cab is great, plus the folding out of the ccm is especially easy having the ability to control the exact height off of the ground from the rear of the tractor. Another point I should bring up is the Economy PTO option. We have actually been able to do most of our mowing with the CCM in economy PTO, and for sure all of our tedding in Economy. It sure is nice to not have the tractor engine screaming as you are driving all day, not to mention the fuel consumption. I will touch on the Economy pto in the CCM review below. All in all I LOVE this tractor. If I had to complain about one thing, the only thing that I can think of is the hydraulic noise inside the cab seems to be a little excessive when you are running the high PTO speed, something that I didnt have in the old 4040. It is probably due to pump location but it is bearable and not that big of a deal to me, every once in a while just a little annoying. As I said, that is really the only thing I can think of that I dont like, everything else has been great and I look forward to running this machine for many years to come.
CCM T-190 Drum Mower:
The purchase of this drum mower came from the constant headaches of the old New Holland 469 haybine, and the feeling that I was at the parts store more than I was in the field. I did alot of research and asked alot of questions and decided on the CCM due to the field sizes we are baling, money, and rigidity. To say the least this was a great purchase. This mower waill absolutely put down anything that you throw in front of it. We bale alfalfa and orchard grass/fescue and it eats them both up. Blade changes are a snap, and although it looks like from our first experiences we will need to change them about every 50 acres per side of the blade, I think that they are only like $1.90 per blade and there is 6 of them so I think I can swing that. I will say that the hookup of the mower can be a little time consuming. I have the e-hitch and the extendable links on my tractor and I dont know what I would do without them. The hardest part is once you get it attached getting it to sit level and actually ride in the recommended float range. I have only hooked and unhooked a few times and I am getting better at it so I am sure there is a little learnning curve. Once you are hooked up things get pretty easy. To unfold you just suspend the mower just off the top of the ground and fold her back by hand(little heavy but not bad). Once you have her folded back just lock a couple of pins and hook up the pto and you are ready. When I fold the mower back to leave the field. I only unhook the pto from the tractor side and secore it with a tarp strap for transport which seems to work great. As for the mowing it does a great job. The only grass that it seems to leave in the field is from the first pass where you have to go in the opposite direction to open up the field, and the smashed grass from your tires the first time around doesnt want to pick up when you reverse directions. This is still minimal and we are leaving very little in the field. Depending on the thickness of the grass/alfalfa, Economy PTO and ground speed will vary a little. I was mowing alfalfa in economy pto at 7mph the other day, I could'nt remove the smile from my face. With the thicker grass, sometime the Economy pto will bog too much unless you are at a slow ground speed so in order to speed things up the standard pto power is needed to move quickly through the field. We found that the sweet spot of the majority was 4-5mph in econonomy pto but there was a couple that where too thick and needed the standard pto power to maintain the 5mph and above ground speed. Overall this is a great,simple, and fast piece of equipment. I did hit about a 6" log hiding in the grass the other day and it didnt do a thing, just heard a funny noise and backed away from it with no damage which was nice, this thing is built pretty well.
Any questions on either piece of equipment please let me know and I will do my best to answer. On the next round of cutting I will get some pics of the setup together. Overall I am very pleased with both purchases.
Thanks,
hollow
