New disc mower needed, Krone, or Kuhn?

[Marshall R]

We currently have a Kuhn GMD 700 I believe, it is a 9' + disc mower. We are going to add another mower to the equipment.

My father stands by the Kuhn we have, but doesn't want to spend alot of money on a second mower. The Kuhn was purchased new in 2001, so this is its tenth grass season. It has been a good mower and I am sure it will give several more years of great service, however, it likes to streek up the field and not cut an even edge across the 9 ft. bar.

My father wants to get a knock off brand mower from our local hardware, farm and garden shop that is abour 5K. I have heard this mower doesn't withstand real work and is quick to wear out if you are not just a hobby farmer.

I am more interested in getting a higher quality mower, like the Kuhn we already have, but I have looked at the Krone website and it has gotten my attention.

What are some opinions on the Krone vs. the Kuhn mover?

The new mower would be attached to a new JD 5085M that should be delivered this week.

Thanks for the replies.

Marshall

 

[ddivinia]

I bought a used Krone AM323s. it has been a good mower. I am running it in a Mower Caddy behind my JD 5525. it is a stout mower - no belts to wear out, etc. It does suck some HP, so make sure you size them up.

New m series eh? They look like a mini-6000 series. Sure stout with the price to go with it.

How many acres of hay are you cutting?

D.

 

[ddivinia]

I bought a used Krone AM323s. it has been a good mower. I am running it in a Mower Caddy behind my JD 5525. it is a stout mower - no belts to wear out, etc. It does suck some HP, so make sure you size them up.

New m series eh? They look like a mini-6000 series. Sure stout with the price to go with it.

How many acres of hay are you cutting?

D.

 

[Marshall R]

235 acres total. We cut 165 of our own, and 70 for a neighbor/friend just down the road. We cut that amount up to 4 times a year so if you count it that way, that would be a total of cutting up to 940 acres during the summer.

This may not sound like alot to some and it may sound like alot to others. I am doing all the cutting and my 73 year old pop and I try to work around his school bus driving schedule and get it done.

We have rolled 850 +/- large round bales up to this point. We have 37 acres cut now, waiting for it to dry out, then it is onto the neighbors fields.

The New 5085M came into the dealer today. I hope to get it tomorrow and start it out on a tedder and then raking before the end of the day. I am excited to have some comfort. It has the deluxe cab and power seat. The 4030 that I have been on most of the time is an open station tractor. The tractor designated for the tedder is a Ford 5000 with no top whatsoever. Both these tractors have spring seats and they cant hold up my weight. Needless to say, they are hard on your rear and back, so I am looking forward to the extra comforts of the new tractor.

Take care.

Marshall

 

[D7E]

I like the Krone AM's...Very light and a good lift sytem and low hp req compared to other brands...We found the krones had more than their share of bed problems though..I liked the old AM242's if you could stop the belts slipping....Vicon is another mechanically good mower but suffer a bit of fatigue and crack up the tin work and frame easily....I must admit we had the least comebacks on kuhns but they're not bulletproof.
I still think that the good old "sickle" haybines are hard to beat for reliability and are what we've gone back to "using" after 10 years of disc mowers..!.And they will cut just as fast and clean if set up right..!

 

[ddivinia]

235 acres total. We cut 165 of our own, and 70 for a neighbor/friend just down the road. We cut that amount up to 4 times a year so if you count it that way, that would be a total of cutting up to 940 acres during the summer.

This may not sound like alot to some and it may sound like alot to others. I am doing all the cutting and my 73 year old pop and I try to work around his school bus driving schedule and get it done.

We have rolled 850 +/- large round bales up to this point. We have 37 acres cut now, waiting for it to dry out, then it is onto the neighbors fields.

The New 5085M came into the dealer today. I hope to get it tomorrow and start it out on a tedder and then raking before the end of the day. I am excited to have some comfort. It has the deluxe cab and power seat. The 4030 that I have been on most of the time is an open station tractor. The tractor designated for the tedder is a Ford 5000 with no top whatsoever. Both these tractors have spring seats and they cant hold up my weight. Needless to say, they are hard on your rear and back, so I am looking forward to the extra comforts of the new tractor.

Take care.

Marshall

I am in the same positions hay cutting wise, a job, 2 kids, etc. It is a lot of work.

I want to hear more about the M. Why not a E series?

D.

 

[ddivinia]

I like the Krone AM's...Very light and a good lift sytem and low hp req compared to other brands...We found the krones had more than their share of bed problems though..I liked the old AM242's if you could stop the belts slipping....Vicon is another mechanically good mower but suffer a bit of fatigue and crack up the tin work and frame easily....I must admit we had the least comebacks on kuhns but they're not bulletproof.
I still think that the good old "sickle" haybines are hard to beat for reliability and are what we've gone back to "using" after 10 years of disc mowers..!.And they will cut just as fast and clean if set up right..!

What is a bed problem? I want to make sure I am inspecting my mower properly.

D.

 

[chh]

I am running a pair Krone 283S mowers. They are great machines. I really like the ease of maintenance and the fact that they don't have belts. The Kuhns like you have are really good and I would not hesitate to buy one of them, but as far as the "hardware store" brand I think I would stay away from that. Life expectancy and parts availablility would scare me on them. No disrespect for the guys that like sickle mowers, but for the ground I have to cover in a year and the time I have to do it in, you couldn't run fast enough to give me one.
Good luck with the new tractor, post some pics if you get a chance, and I hope you enjoy it.

 

[ddivinia]

Sickle vs. disc is a religious thing I am convinced. A buddy of mine has a pair of sickles that he can cover like 30-40 per cut. Some crazy amount of area. I like my disc mower.

D.

 

[Marshall R]

The new tractor was driven over to my house today. I live only 2.5 miles from the dealer. I put it on the tedder and went to work with it as soon as I had it fueled up and after the rep. went over the bells and whistles on it.

This is the first brand new tractor that I have been on and so far, I am very pleased with the comfort this tractor provides.

I will get a picture of me standing with it and post on here. My dad said when he saw it at the dealer this morning that I wouldnt be able to fit in the cab. ......... I am 6'4" and 325.....

Pics coming soon.

Marshall

 

[D7E]

..Ddivinia......Sorry cutter bed or tray..????
We did lots of work on krones ..Bearings,gears...general bed re-builds.
Few due to lack of oil or other neglect,The krones just seemed to come back in more often than some others.!

 

[D7E]

Being a british immigrant years ago i've spent my life around drum and disc mowers and i'm very impressed by these american haybines.....We have 180hp on a new kuhn disc mower followed by a 90hp on a 20 year old haybine and we find the difference in performance is only in the width....They will cut at the same speed and the quality of the job is the same......For some reason all the big acreage hay men and hay dealers use haybine especially for alfalfa and i see NH by choice...We only do about 1500 big square and round bales all to sell so dont feed any our selves as grain is our main line but for reliability, hay quality and cost of repairs i will stick to a sickle with a crimper..Our hay customers certainly frefer the crimper to the conditioner ..!

 

[HayDR]

Sickle vs. disc is a religious thing I am convinced. A buddy of mine has a pair of sickles that he can cover like 30-40 per cut. Some crazy amount of area. I like my disc mower.

D.

The main advantage a drum or disc mower has over single-action sicklebar or haybines is drum/disc mowers can mow grass hay in the morning, evenings, & at night when the grass is wet. This means that the guy that has a day job away from the farm, does not have to miss work. You will have problems using a haybine or single-action sicklebar mower in heavy wet grass with dew on it. Single-action mowers and haybines work best when the dew has burned off.

 

[Marshall R]

You can cut Bermuda in the morning with a disc mower before the dew has burned off?

I only have started cutting and baling hay this year with my dad, after my retirement and my moving back to the farm. I left the farm life when I was 18 and at that time, we only did as much hay as we needed to. At that time we cut with a sickle bar.

We now have the Kuhn GMD700 and my father wont let me get started cutting in the morning until around 10:00 AM. His reason is because he says the hay wont cut good with the dew on it.

Thanks for the reply and the information sharing.

Marshall

 

[Marshall R]

No answers to my question?

Bump

Marshall

 

[MFRED]

Don't know about Bermuda, but I'm one of those guys with a day job, I cut all our hay before the sun comes up. One field is Canary grass, late cut this year, it was about 5ft tall in the wet spots, didn't even slow down. I've run disc mowers next to haybines, and I've yet to see one keep up. On our flat fields I've cut at 9.5 mph. I don't think a haybine will road travel that fast. I'm not saying some guru can't make a haybine do it, but I have yet to see one.

Oh, I do like the Krone EC320 we have as well. After the crappy weather this year, I may have to switch to a conditioner, the EC3200 priced out fairly reasonable with V-tine conditioners.

 

[blueriver]

You can cut Bermuda in the morning with a disc mower before the dew has burned off?

I only have started cutting and baling hay this year with my dad, after my retirement and my moving back to the farm. I left the farm life when I was 18 and at that time, we only did as much hay as we needed to. At that time we cut with a sickle bar.

We now have the Kuhn GMD700 and my father wont let me get started cutting in the morning until around 10:00 AM. His reason is because he says the hay wont cut good with the dew on it.

Thanks for the reply and the information sharing.

Marshall

I do ... I start cutting as soon as I can get to the field ... dew or no dew.

 

[ddivinia]

I do ... I start cutting as soon as I can get to the field ... dew or no dew.

I usually wait for the dew to burn off some and I stop when the tires are wet at night.

I had some plugging problems while cutting when it was wet. I was battling a handful of things:

1: Inexperience
2: Mower height
3: Ant mounds

I know more than I do now and can sort thru problems better with this haying stuff.
I had the front of my mower too low
I run my spike harrow over the hay pastures a week or so before I cut hay. It busts up the manure and knocks down the ant mounds.

D.