disc mower
- Thread starter tim hawk
- Start date
- Views: 8047
Kessler Farms
Silver Member
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2008
- Messages
- 141
- Location
- Thurlow, KY
- Tractor
- (2) 2021 John Deere 6105E, 2015 John Deere 6115D with H260 loader, John Deere 5100E, 2007 JD 5403 2wd, 2008 JD 5403 MFWD with Koyker 185 loader, 2010 JD 5203 2wd, Farmall Super A, Cat 249D skid steer, 1964 JD 4020 diesel
Frontier equipment. I bought a Frontier DM 1160 in 2006, it works fine. It's the old Kuhn design, sold to JD when Kuhn completely redesigned their disc mower line. I prefer it to the New Holland I used to have. Hooking up is much simpler. As long as you change the oil in both gearboxes regularly, it should provide several years of good service, and at a couple of grand cheaper than the JD disc mowers. As with any disc mower, its a lot of hanging weight behind the tractor.
chh
Veteran Member
I have heard of no real problems with either the Kuhn or the JD. I looked at buying a Kuhn this year as they where $400 cheaper than the JD(they are identical except for the paint) 5 miles down the road from the JD dealership. Ended up with Krone mowers instead.
chh
Veteran Member
It should be. I don't know of any Kuhn's that weren't. How heavy has it been used? If it has been used for commercial hay or a large producer or had shoddy maintainence it may be time to overhaul the bearings, seals, or gears. The only real drawback to these type mower is the that fluid runs the full length of the bar. A bad bearing or other problem could put metal shavings or other contamination the full length of the bar. One test is to take your foot(machine not hooked to a tractor) and turn the first rotor. You should not have to turn it very far before the last rotor(and all the ones in between) starts to move.
chh
Veteran Member
I can't comment on the price, I haven't rebuilt a mower in years and it was a Vicon not a Kuhn/JD. Your description does not sound like a lot of slop. It shouldn't be too difficult to rebuild one. Look at the faces of the rotor heads also. They will show wear on the cutting side of the rotor(if they have not been ever been switched) and the wear on the skid shoes. These are all replaceable items. I believe the Kuhn/JD heads can be switched(most brands can)to another position so they will run in the reverse rotation to extend their life. The only other thing I can think of right off are the seals where the rotor head shafts come up out of the bar. They do start leaking after awhile.
As a price comparision a new one during the winter here in OK cost $8200 for the JD and about $7800 for the Kuhn. That was the 9'2" cut mower.
Good luck.
As a price comparision a new one during the winter here in OK cost $8200 for the JD and about $7800 for the Kuhn. That was the 9'2" cut mower.
Good luck.
Last edited: