Discbine mower conditioners comprise only 18% of the disc mower units sold in the USA. Why? Likely the first thing is PRICE. The average 6 disc, 8', 3 point disc mower cost $4,000-5,000 and the disc mower conditioner cost average cost is $15,000+. Second disc mower conditioners take larger HP tractors. It's the same way in baler sales, the 5'x4' balers outsell the 6'x5' balers 3-1 for exactly the same reasons. Over 50% of the cattle in the USA are owned by farmers that own less than 100 acres.
We farm over 700 acres of grass hay and have owned many mower conditioners but for the last 10 years we have gone to 3 point disc mowers and using tedders. We use smaller tractors, less expensive machines, use less fuel, and still put the hay up in the same time as if we used a mower conditioner. Mower conditioners are best used in legume crops. The roller type is used mostly in the USA with the flail conditioner being used in Europe, because few leafy crops are used in Europe. The vast majority of producers harvest hay use 40-60 HP tractors. The Disc Mower Conditioners are usually for the producers that have larger tractors and larger acreage production.
