haybines

[cowboy bowhnter]

What are good haybines. Im looking for a 9 ft haybine in MN. And want all the info i can get on them before i buy one. I use a sickle now and it is way way way to slow.

 

[Duffster]

Can't go wrong with a NH 489.

 

[flusher]

What are good haybines. Im looking for a 9 ft haybine in MN. And want all the info i can get on them before i buy one. I use a sickle now and it is way way way to slow.

Your sickle is too slow--why? Short cutting bar? Clogging? Old sicklebar mower with maintenance/adjustment problems?

That 9ft haybine will have a sicklebar.

Are you perhaps thinking about a discbine?

 

[cowboy bowhnter]

Your sickle is too slow--why? Short cutting bar? Clogging? Old sicklebar mower with maintenance/adjustment problems?

That 9ft haybine will have a sicklebar.

Are you perhaps thinking about a discbine?

I have a 6 ft sicklebar. When i go fast it cloggs and then its one that will fold back and stop cutting. I do have new teeth in it. But it being small and having to go slow takes forever. But my last cutting was thicker. 350 bales off 10 acres. It even cloggs with stemy grass. t

 

[Verticaltrx]

I have a 6 ft sicklebar. When i go fast it cloggs and then its one that will fold back and stop cutting. I do have new teeth in it. But it being small and having to go slow takes forever. But my last cutting was thicker. 350 bales off 10 acres. It even cloggs with stemy grass. t

Sounds like your sickle bar is out of adjustment. There is a lot more to a good operating sickle bar than just sharp sickle sections. I can elaborate if needed...

Also, as far as speed goes you really can mow about as fast with a sickle bar as you can a disc mower, I mow at 6mph with my NH 451 sickle bar. They actually work better if you go fairly fast, tend to plug up less that way.

When it comes to haybines, I only have experience with a JD 1219 MoCo that we have. It's a 9' cut, hydraulic fold, and has cut literally thousands of acres of hay over the years. Still works great, all we've ever had to do is change the knife a few times, guards, and some other wear parts. As for speed, you actually have to pull a haybine a bit slower than a standard sickle bar. However, most haybines are wider than a sickle bar so you do gain a little field capacity there. Generally speaking if you stick to Deere or New Holland hay equipment you can't go wrong.

BTW, thick hay is when you get 1000 bales off 10 ac. :thumbsup:

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Can't go wrong with a NH 489.

What he said! ^^^^^^

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Sounds like your sickle bar is out of adjustment. There is a lot more to a good operating sickle bar than just sharp sickle sections. I can elaborate if needed...

Also, as far as speed goes you really can mow about as fast with a sickle bar as you can a disc mower, I mow at 6mph with my NH 451 sickle bar. They actually work better if you go fairly fast, tend to plug up less that way.

When it comes to haybines, I only have experience with a JD 1219 MoCo that we have. It's a 9' cut, hydraulic fold, and has cut literally thousands of acres of hay over the years. Still works great, all we've ever had to do is change the knife a few times, guards, and some other wear parts. As for speed, you actually have to pull a haybine a bit slower than a standard sickle bar. However, most haybines are wider than a sickle bar so you do gain a little field capacity there. Generally speaking if you stick to Deere or New Holland hay equipment you can't go wrong.

BTW, thick hay is when you get 1000 bales off 10 ac. :thumbsup:

Last week, I watched my son mow heavy alfalfa with his new New Holland disc mower. HE was mowing at 12mph! I was impressed to say the least, although I though at the time it's a good thing he has a cab tractor....Speeds like that can bounce a man right off a tractor!!!!

For OP...

For ages, I mowed only with a New Holland 451 9' sickle bar. There always seems to be a "sweet spot" as far as speed. Too slow is worse than too fast. As a general rule, I started off @ approx. 6mph then adjusted up or down as needed. You have to get a good "flow" of cut crop going over the cutter bar to prevent plugging. You want the cut crop to hit the ground BEHIND the cutter bar and not on top of it. That takes a reasonable ground speed....ie, don't go too slow.

New Holland did an excellent job with regards to the owners manuals on 451 cutters. They detail adjustments to get a good clean cut. What is covered in the NH manuals applies to every brand as far as what adjustments do for how the mower operates. There is a LOT to adjusting a sickle bar....far more than meets the eye. Bar attitude (top link lenght) is important in heavy crop conditions and is commonly ignored. Sections being sharp, ledger plates being in good shape, hold down clips, guard condition, and what is known as section INDEX must ALL be in good repair to mow fast without issues.

 

[dan_d]

Sounds like your sickle bar is out of adjustment. There is a lot more to a good operating sickle bar than just sharp sickle sections. I can elaborate if needed...

I'd love for you to elaborate! My New Idea 290 "mow-ditioner" (haha what an original name :confused2: ) which i picked up for dirt cheap a couple years ago suddenly started acting up, with the last couple of teeth constantly clogging up... At first i thought it was the teeth since i found the last one (the doubled-up one, which of course was the only one i didn't have a spare for on hand!) got chipped, but after replacing it and a couple more teeth am still having the exact same problem! I bought a couple new guards to put in but when i pulled the old ones out they didn't seem to be much worse than new, so i'm hoping to figure out what the correct adjustment is instead of trial-and-error in the field ... I suspect i must have hit something hard and/or dug the far end of the mower into the ground somehow but since i don't know what it looked like before, i don't know how to get it back!

I'm assuming there must be some adjustments to be made as far as tooth-to-guard clearance, and maybe those hold-down clips need to "hold down" a little harder but it's just a shot in the dark at this point!

Thanks in advance!
Dan

 

[Verticaltrx]

I'd love for you to elaborate! My New Idea 290 "mow-ditioner" (haha what an original name :confused2: ) which i picked up for dirt cheap a couple years ago suddenly started acting up, with the last couple of teeth constantly clogging up... At first i thought it was the teeth since i found the last one (the doubled-up one, which of course was the only one i didn't have a spare for on hand!) got chipped, but after replacing it and a couple more teeth am still having the exact same problem! I bought a couple new guards to put in but when i pulled the old ones out they didn't seem to be much worse than new, so i'm hoping to figure out what the correct adjustment is instead of trial-and-error in the field ... I suspect i must have hit something hard and/or dug the far end of the mower into the ground somehow but since i don't know what it looked like before, i don't know how to get it back!

I'm assuming there must be some adjustments to be made as far as tooth-to-guard clearance, and maybe those hold-down clips need to "hold down" a little harder but it's just a shot in the dark at this point!

Thanks in advance!
Dan

Basically what you need for a sickle bar to operate well, regardless if it's in a mo-co or standard mower is as follows:

-sharp sickle section
-straight knife bar (the bar that the sections are riveted to)
-straight cutter bar (part that the guards bolt to)
-straight guards
-good, square shouldered ledger plates (or that portion of the guards if they don't have replaceable ledge plates)
-proper shims to keep the sickle adjusted fore/aft
-proper hold down tension, keep the sickle right down on the ledger plates, but not 'tight'
-good belt/tension (assuming it's belt drive)
-make sure the sickle has the right register
-proper reel and crimper operation (mo-co)


There are a few other adjustments, but those mostly pretain to standard sickle bars (swath boards, sickle angle, etc.) If all is good that I mentioned there is no reason it shouldn't cut well.

 

[slowzuki]

Unless you got our old one. Wore out rollers with rubber coming off made you curse every second. I'm glad I got a discbine with a flail!

Can't go wrong with a NH 489.