rear mounted disc mower/conditioners

[jimg]

Has anyone actually seen one of these? I know several European based companies make them which are advertised for the NA market. I also believe they've been used for some time in Europe (ie a well know technology). However, Ive never seen one. To me they're fairly appealing in several ways...easier to maneuver esp in tighter areas, lighter, I think they probably require less hp.

 

[rrch129]

As in a 3 point mount? I dont see the appeal. A pull behind discbine is a lot easier to hook up and in my opinion the 3 point model isnt going to be any lighter than a regular 3 point disc mower it will be heaiver and will require more horse power as the conditioning element will need to be powered too.

 

[farmerjim]

jimg i was looking into these as well as mentioned b4 they're a bit heavy and you need a large tractor to off set the weight issue or have some suitcase weights or a loader on to balance the load on the back, hence the reason you seem them used on the big mfwd cab tractors, although the smaller 7-8 ft models may be a bit lighter. i have seen them in action at empire farm days in ny and they do cut/ condition well, and you can run them pretty fast, faster than i would ever dream about cutting, and they def seem to be more managable in tight areas. price wise i believe they're about the same as a trailed model. i really like the pottinger novacats as they have a conditioner set up that allows you to remove the conditioner when its not needed and allows it to be used as a standard disc mower. i believe they require about the same hp as a traditional disc moco, at least in the model i was looking at.

 

[jimg]

IIRC looking at the specs the rear mounts are lighter than comparably sized trailed units. Could be wrong but thats the impression I got. It seems correct too since the trailed units have tongues/sheet metal vs no tongue and canvas.
BTW Im looking that the smaller units. Seemed a waste of $$ to get anything larger than 8' as I can mow as fast as the field allows. My fields aren't that big and my pasture is very small.

Also did some research after posting and it looks like nearly all the euro mfg have an offering for the NA market. That said some dont import them....like Tonutti. However, my local dealer sells Fella and their setup is pretty interesting. The mower and conditioner are purchased separately. The conditioner can be 'bolted' on/off as you want. All others are factory installed. Also Fella gives the choice of flail or roller conditioners. In my book Fella wins as I can buy a good used mower and add a new conditioner when I can. In particular Im looking at the SM210FL unit which is roughly 7' working width and weighs 1200#.

farmerjim: I know my dealer has sold some in this area but most just dont condition. Ill have to look at the Pottinger, the name isn;t familiar to me. It sounds very similar to the Fella.

 

[slowzuki]

I just bought novacat last week a ten foot model. It is a heavy unit and needs about 9000 lb to hang it on. It was cheaper than a trailed model but needs more tractor to run it.

 

[slowzuki]

Just a follow up as I posted that from an ipod. The 10 ft Novacat with steel flail conditioner is about 1150 kg or so. It is close to the tractor so you don't need much for front weight but you need a heavy tractor because it hangs about 600 kg of mower 5 feet out from your tire.

It was on a JD6210 or something like that when we looked at it and was quite a load when it was picked up for a headland turn. The 7 foot models are about half as heavy, use plastic flails and don't stick out so far. I would have bought a 7 fter if it had been available.

 

[jimg]

Pottinger seems not to have a market this far S. At any rate my local dealer sells the rear mount (3pt) Fella which can be had in heavy & light duty. The former are as you'd suspect...heavily built. I don't have the spec here but the smallest of that line weighs in at about 1300# and the conditioner adds another 400-500#. The light duty line maxes out at about 900# but can't be fitted w/ a conditioner. I think they also aren't able to cut negative angles (the heavy line can cut up to -30deg). If I was certain I could make good hay w/o a conditioner Id grab a disc mower for sure but right now Im not convinced I could. Also I seems that 3pt disc mowers aren't built to had adjustable cut height. I like to cut between 3-4".

 

[chh]

jimg All you need to do on a 3pt disc mower to adjust the cut height is adjust the top link. Turned in far enough and it will literally cut into the dirt and turned back you can cut pretty high. I cut with mine nearly level, about 3" stubble.

 

[jimg]

chh: Thanx...it wasnt immediately obvious how it worked. I wasnt sure if the 3pt lift w/ shoe adjustment would be used or something else. Do you know how much adjustment range there is? From your reply it goes from some negative setting (in the dirt) to +x" cut. At any rate the shoes must run over the ground...the bar cant be suspended in air.

 

[ddivinia]

chh: Thanx...it wasnt immediately obvious how it worked. I wasnt sure if the 3pt lift w/ shoe adjustment would be used or something else. Do you know how much adjustment range there is? From your reply it goes from some negative setting (in the dirt) to +x" cut. At any rate the shoes must run over the ground...the bar cant be suspended in air.

Can you pick up the bar some with hydraulics. You may not want it to float per se (depending upon conditions).

That top link adjustment is very important. It can make the difference between broken windows in your cab or not. I was running mine too low.

D.