Looking for a new disc mower... brands?

[dixiedrifter]

Well I got to run a disc mower for the first time Sunday it was a beat up new holland 463 with dull blades, but dang I was impressed!

Those things blow sickle bar mowers out of the water... I'm spoiled now and from this point on refuse to use any more sickles.

I think I will look over the winter to find a used one, and/or will possibly consider buying one new to use next year.

Any suggestions on what brand to get?

 

[gabby]

I have a new Vermeer TM-800 pull type disc mower. I like it. It cuts 10.5 feet wide. I cut a 23 acre hay field in 4 hours and 20 minutes. Easy to hook up, requires 2 hydraulic circuits to operate the swing cylinder and the height cylinder. It has quick change cutter blades. Cost about 11.5k this spring.

 

[Greyfields]

I have a Hesston and enjoy it.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

New Holland really does a great job with disc mowers. They are priced well too.

 

[dixiedrifter]

I do like the New Holland brand, although I've heard bad things about them though and the Vermeers. What everyone seems to dislike is mainly the fact that they are shaft driven (except the NH HM series).

From what I have heard, DM's that have shaft driven cutterbars must spin much faster than those having an idler gear, have twice as many bearings to go down since the pods are sealed. The shaft drives also take more horsepower to pull (the Vermeer mowers are hogs according to the manufacturers specs) due to friction losses in the drive mechanism.

I refuse to purchase another piece of machinery off the net if I can help it. Farm machinery can and will break, therefore its very imporant to me to purchase from a dealer who sells a dedicated color of paint, will give me a fair price, has a wide selection of parts on hand, and can get any other parts not in stock overnight. While they may be good impliments, the Fort and Haymaxx brands are out because of this. Waiting 2 days for the UPS man to arrive with rain clouds threatening on the horizon is BS, along with paying a hundred bucks to have something sent overnight. The way I figure it, in the hay business you only have certain windows which you can get it done. If the machine goes down at an inoppurtune time and you miss your window, that right there would offset any savings on some generic name iron.

Anyone know what a NH HM236 runs?

 

[jimg]

In my area Kuhn has a good reputation + several dealers carry that line. I have to agree that parts & service availability is key if youre making $$$ off your tractor/implements. Once you narrow the list of brands & dealers Id talk w/ as many other farmers as I could. Theyll tell you who comes thru in a pinch & how the equipment is holding up, what wears out/needs attention.

 

[dixiedrifter]

I agree on the Kuhns having a good reputation.. I've never heard anything bad about them and most ppl say they are about the best brand out there.

I've also never seen a used one up for resale (except the one that was a repo).

IIRR they are pretty expensive too, with a 6 pod machine running over $7K.

 

[civesnedfield]

I agree on the Kuhns having a good reputation.. I've never heard anything bad about them and most ppl say they are about the best brand out there.

I've also never seen a used one up for resale (except the one that was a repo).

IIRR they are pretty expensive too, with a 6 pod machine running over $7K.

Not sure if you are looking at a mower or a mower/conditioner. This makes a difference when looking at required HP. The conditioner will eat up the HP. The Kuhn mowers are outstanding. If you are looking at tow behind vs 3PH, I recommend the 2poit hook up. The PTO drives a swivel transmission, this makes tight turns a breeze. A 9'-10" 2 pt mower conditioner requires 70 HP

 

[farmerjim]

not sure what type you're looking at 3pt or tow behind? but i've been looking at them for awhile now both 3pt and tow behind, but i still need to keep saving, which seems endless, as w/ the upgrade mower i will need a bigger tractor. for the money the nh are a great machines, i've also looked at kuhn,new idea,and jd all make very good machines. i have been impressed w/ some of the european makers lately though krone,claas,tonutti,pottinger, and sitrex all seem to be very well made, the euros know their grass well. only issue i see w/ the euros is there isn't really a dealer close to me if i broke something.i think when i do purchase one i will go w/ a 3pt mount w/ a conditioner, as these seem to be the best fit for my application, easier to transport down the road as the mower either folds behind the tractor length wise or folds up tall like a sickle would.

 

[jdeere5205]

I dont know if you are looking for a disc mower or a moco but I currently have a kuhn gmd 55 disc mower and it is by far one of the best brand mowers out there. I have also had a sitrex disc mower for 4 years and it is great too except for the parts!!! At my dealer it cost me $21 for the bolts to hold on the blades for the sitrex. For my kuhn the bolts are only $3 so that is why I am looking to trade it in on a demo Vicon cm2400 mower at my local dealer which is bigger and the parts are cheaper than the sitrex, plus the vicon has triangular discs with 3 blades which will provide a better and faster cut. If the vicon works out for me I may even trade in the kuhn on a second larger vicon.

 

[dixiedrifter]

Went to the Kubota dealer$hip today to pick up some oil and hydraulic filter$.

They also happen to handle New Holland and Kuhn equipment as well so I priced the Kuhn GMD 600 and 700 heavy duty models along with the GMD 66.

Prices the dealer wants for the Kuhn GMD 600 is $6900 and the 700 is $7600... ouch. The normal duty 6 pod disc mower is $6100... not to bad but still more than I want to spend on one. The new holland shaft drive models are like $8000 for a 6 pod cutterbar... OUCH!

I did not know it, but the older New Holland DM cutterbars were actually made by Kuhn... Kuhn also made and still makes the cutterbars for JD.

Also, I stopped by another dealer who handles Krone. I think the guy was wanting something like $7900 for a 7 pod model... even bigger OUCH. Interestingly enough, they had 2 of them nearly brand new tore up on the lot. One of them was out in the field for 3 weeks, a bolt come out of the idler gears causing a chain reaction in the cutterbar.. the end is the cutterbar was totally FUBAR'd and had to be replaced. The other had a gear in the gearbox that was somehow incorrectly installed resulting in it going all to heck... it could just be a total fluke, but this worries me as both were factory defects and demonstrates some serious quality control issues.

 

[Cobra-R]

I prefer the individual module setup like New Holland has in thier 615-617 series. If one module fails for whatever reason, the failure doesn't contaminate a 6' long gearbox with metal like the common oil sump machines.

These are the same cutterbar setups that NH uses on thier Disc Mower conditioners and they are hands down the marker leader in that industry. I know a farmer that cuts 3000 acres a year with his Disc mower, went 7 years without a cutterbar failure, when he traded for a new one.

I have a 615 on my TC40 DA and couldn't be happier. A guy who saw me mowing my weeds came over and hired me to cut his pasture. Took me two hours to do it, he said it was typically 8-10 hour job with his sickle mower.

btw: I have run different brands and don't believe for a second that the shaft drive units take more hp. Sounds like a sales pitch to me. I have found there is a very deffinate cutting quality difference between brands.

Brian

 

[mark.r]

I have a 615 on my TC40 DA and couldn't be happier. A guy who saw me mowing my weeds came over and hired me to cut his pasture. Took me two hours to do it, he said it was typically 8-10 hour job with his sickle mower.

Brian

As go back through some of the older disc mower threads I find this one interesting. Your are running a NH615 (heavy duty) rated for 45 pto hp off of your TC40DA HST which is 33.2 pto hp tractor. No problems?

 

[dixiedrifter]

Well due to finances I wasn't able to afford one till now.

Turns out all the dealers are out of Kuhns... crap.

Anyhoos, went and looked at a Fort brand one.

What are ya'll opinions on these?

Seems like a fairly beefy cutterbar...