The very early disc mowers (late 1980's) I have read all (Deere and NH were the only 2 at the time I think) used Kuhn cutter bars. Since then most now make there own and are segmented. One more thing about Kuhn I don't like, they offer or did offer a impeller that they called a comb conditioner. The impeller lined up with grooves in the hood and would strip the plants. Unless you have only straight grass, not a very good machine to have.
Discbine help - newbie
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slowzuki
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The New Idea 5209 is actually one of the easiest pulling disc mower conditioners made, if that helps you compare.
Sickle bar mower conditioners are getting expensive to repair now too. New parts like a wobble box or replacing all the sections is shocking. A few driveshafts or a gearbox in the NH489 will take you into the thousands quickly and they are hard to work on.
I bought a 10 ft mounted disc mower conditioner last year and a 80 pto hp tractor to run it. The tractor is barely enough in the hilly fields requiring me to drop a gear. My fields are rough but I can usually run 7 mph or so vs the 4-5 mph I used to with the haybine. In second cut in my smoother fields I can it 10 mph easily before struggling to stay on the seat.
My mower has quick change knives, in 5 mins a full set replacement is done. Most parts are quickly changeable, no major disassembly. Maintenance is simple.
It does use more fuel to mow a given field which irritates me but I'm using a much larger tractor too. I would not go back to a haybine for my use. Maybe if I was an alfalfa grower with nice flat fields I'd have a big hydroswing but other than that, no way.
Sickle bar mower conditioners are getting expensive to repair now too. New parts like a wobble box or replacing all the sections is shocking. A few driveshafts or a gearbox in the NH489 will take you into the thousands quickly and they are hard to work on.
I bought a 10 ft mounted disc mower conditioner last year and a 80 pto hp tractor to run it. The tractor is barely enough in the hilly fields requiring me to drop a gear. My fields are rough but I can usually run 7 mph or so vs the 4-5 mph I used to with the haybine. In second cut in my smoother fields I can it 10 mph easily before struggling to stay on the seat.
My mower has quick change knives, in 5 mins a full set replacement is done. Most parts are quickly changeable, no major disassembly. Maintenance is simple.
It does use more fuel to mow a given field which irritates me but I'm using a much larger tractor too. I would not go back to a haybine for my use. Maybe if I was an alfalfa grower with nice flat fields I'd have a big hydroswing but other than that, no way.
MessickFarmEqu
Super Member
for guys concerned about repairs. New Holland now offers shear hubs for each disc. Availble new or as a refit to some of the older machines. The upgrade is priced reasonably. With those in place hitting rocks just shears a part rather than knocking out somthing more serious.
One huge advantage of a disc mower we found with being able to mow when it was wet. The 1st year we had it and again last year, if we couldn't mow as the rain ended, or right after it ended we could not have gotten hay in at all. Our old haybines never could have done that. Add in the speed and we were able to make hay with a 3-4 day window after a couple days of rain.
Something also, if are familar with haybines, read the manual on the discbine about set up. I've helped a few people who bought a disc and hated it the 1st time the used it due to they set it up like a haybine. Ther biggest differences I remember are the cutter bar in a disc I have found needs to be tipped down, and the header needs to have less lift. I'm going by memory so I might be off but the NH 469's and the 489's I think the springs we used to set so that 50lbs or about that would lift it off the ground on each corner. The disc I think is 125 lbs (again I'm going be memory, I may be off a a little). This does make the whole unit pull a lot harder. The cutter bar depends on the crop, grass you could probably leave it a little flat, but any down crop needs it tipped to lift it through the machine.
I don't know anyone who has gone from a haybine to a disc that would go back.
Something also, if are familar with haybines, read the manual on the discbine about set up. I've helped a few people who bought a disc and hated it the 1st time the used it due to they set it up like a haybine. Ther biggest differences I remember are the cutter bar in a disc I have found needs to be tipped down, and the header needs to have less lift. I'm going by memory so I might be off but the NH 469's and the 489's I think the springs we used to set so that 50lbs or about that would lift it off the ground on each corner. The disc I think is 125 lbs (again I'm going be memory, I may be off a a little). This does make the whole unit pull a lot harder. The cutter bar depends on the crop, grass you could probably leave it a little flat, but any down crop needs it tipped to lift it through the machine.
I don't know anyone who has gone from a haybine to a disc that would go back.
the shear hub retrofit kits are well worth the money. i retrofitted my 1411 nh with them 2 years ago & have been very pleased. it is not fun tearing the cutter bar apart in the field to replace modules because someone forgot about that truck axle they drove into the ground for a dog tieout.
Wow, again thanks for all the opinions and help on this. I am glad I at least posted about this because of one thing that we did not know and that is horsepower!
From what I am reading, a JD 5220 will not be a good tractor ( because of horsepower) with a 8 or 9 footer?? All opinions are very helpful. The terrain we have is pretty flat and not rough.
From what I am reading, a JD 5220 will not be a good tractor ( because of horsepower) with a 8 or 9 footer?? All opinions are very helpful. The terrain we have is pretty flat and not rough.
Last edited:
Barry Bowen
Gold Member
JasG,
You are dead on right about being able to cut wet. I do mostly all grass with my old 5209 (one of the last 100 gray machines they made) and have seen that it will dry faster if I cut it right after the rain, than waiting a day for the excess to dry out. I think running it through the rollers spins some water off, makes a more even coating on the hay, and does away with the large droplets that the rain leaves on the grass leaves. I also saw when I had a field that was partly cut before the overnight rain, and then finished the next morning, that the few rows that I ran back through the discbine and through the rollers dried a day faster then the stuff i just teddered. I do not know why, but that was what it did.
You are dead on right about being able to cut wet. I do mostly all grass with my old 5209 (one of the last 100 gray machines they made) and have seen that it will dry faster if I cut it right after the rain, than waiting a day for the excess to dry out. I think running it through the rollers spins some water off, makes a more even coating on the hay, and does away with the large droplets that the rain leaves on the grass leaves. I also saw when I had a field that was partly cut before the overnight rain, and then finished the next morning, that the few rows that I ran back through the discbine and through the rollers dried a day faster then the stuff i just teddered. I do not know why, but that was what it did.
I haven't seen may drum mowers, this is based on what I have seen. A drum mower is driven from the top, and I haven't seen one with a conditioner or very wide and all I have seen are 3 point hitch models or front mount.
A disk mower comes in 3 point, trailed, front mount and self powered. They can have several different styles of conditioner and no conditioner. The disc's are driven from the bottom by intermeshing gears.
As far as the way they cut from what I have read it would be the same.
I don't know of a major brand that makes a drum mower at this time. That doesn't mean a drum mower isn't a good product, just that JD, Claas, Krone, etc don't make any. Due to the conditioner I like the disk mower.
Never seen a drum mower this large.
http://www.claas.com/countries/generator/cl-pw/en/claas-US/products/fem/cougar/start,lang=en_US.html
rankrank1
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The drum mowers (such as the CC Haymaxx) will not have any conditioning system after the cutter, but from what I have read cut pretty much identically to a comparable disc mower alone.
The main benenfits to the drum mower is that it is much cheaper to purchase new as compared to a similar disc mower alone. Additionally, the drum mowers usually have a much less complex gearbox/driveline system as compared to a disc mower so you do not incurr the future expensive rebuild the gearboxes senario that many disc mowers are prone to. Lastly, you can usually get smaller drum mowers that will work with smaller tractor hp as low as 30 hp that are not offered in the disc mowers.
People claim you can cut as fast as you dare ride in the tractor seat and early in the morning while the grass is still wet with the drum mowers (same as with the disc mowers).