Disc Mower

[Anonymous Poster]

How many of you own disc mowers for cutting hay?
What brand do you like and what would you be looking for?

I am thinking about a used 7ft new idea.

Hello Fred--NI is a shaft drive unit--I run a 9 ft First Choice (Fort) machine -it is gear drive and easy to maintain---from years of experience and looking back on so many of the mfgrs droppong the "shaft drive" in the last 3 years and listening to my customers input, I have determined that gear drive is better and parts interchange is much better between mfgrs. Off the top of my head, I can only think of Lely, NI,Zetor that are still making shaft drive. I think M&W jumped the shaft drive ship this past spring?---ken sweet

 

[HayDR]

Fella's new design is shaft drive.
Lely & Vermmer are the same in 3 point disc mowers.
Lely started & patented the shaft drive concept in the early 1980's and many have tried to re-engineer around the Lely patents. Bush Hog tried and quit. New Idea for a while sold a relabeled Lely but in the mid-90's teamed up with Comer to make their current mower. The Zetor & Fella designs are different concepts than that of Lely and NI .

When it comes to disc mowers it is best a customer purchases from a dealer that stocks parts. The more experience in disc mower repairs a dealer has helps the customer more than you might think. That dealer will usually adjust the mower properly in the assembly process. All 3 point mowers have a balance adjustment and this is not always set properly buy dealers. This will cause safety trip problems and poor mowing results. The customer does bare the responsibility to proper tractor mounting and adjustment. Often a farmer has two tractors and the same mower adjustment may not be correct for both tractors.

Realize that most disc mowers have the capacity to mow at speeds up to 12 MPH. Now with a cap tractor with and distractions like a radio and a cell phone those rocks and fencepost jump out at operators faster than they can react. With the blades traveling 3000 rpm, something will break and one wants something to break outside of the cutterbar not inside the cutterbar. Yes all the mowers have a safety release and this really helps but does not insure 100% control of mower damage.

Find you a good dealer that has sold more than 3 or 4 mowers.