Power requirements of disc mowers and lifespan

[freedomlives]

If the manufacturer of a disc mower specifies it as requiring 40HP and my tractor has 35HP motor (not sure of actual PTO horsepower), how bad of a match is that going to be? Does it just mean going slower while cutting?

Also, what is the expected lifespan of a disc mower? The seller of one says his is quite noisy, so he assumes it wont last that much longer. Do they just tend to have bearings that wear out and need replacement, or do other internal parts wear over time?

 

[scons]

I think you need to give more information.
Brand, new or used, how many acres do you want/need to mow, 1 cut/ 2 cuts, etc. ...

We have an old Vicon disc mower from the late 70's or early 80's I think. Bearings had a revision but besides that, normal wear and tear. It is sufficient enough for the small area we use it for, 2 cuts a year. It is pretty noisy when in use. But we hope it will last another 10 years. We do change the blades frequently to keep clean cuts and not bog the pto.

 

[freedomlives]

The brand that caught my eye is BCS (though it also says Vogel & Noot). Model 404 and 405. One is 1.6m other 2.1m. I found a picture of the 2.1m long one, which said power 30kW (40HP). Used. The smaller one for 800€, larger for 700€ (I called so far just about the larger one, this is the noisy one).

I just finished cutting 5 acres of hay with a walk behind sickle bar. Actually a little less, because the bar broke near the end. It takes more time (6-8 hours) than I feel like I can be taking to cut this way, also a lot of time in the past turning, but right now I've borrowed a hay rake from a neighbor for my tractor.

The seller I talked to said he cut 5 acres with the 2.1m disc mower in two hours. If I could be doing the cutting and turning at that speed, then I would take two cuttings a year. Potentially more acreage as well-- there is a lot of grassland around our village that is just mulched right now thanks the EUs sick subsidy policies-- the "users" of that land would let me cut for hay, as it would actually increase their takings from subsidies to not have to spend money on diesel fuel to mulch the field.

Right now I have about 6+6 sheep and goats, in the near future I want to get cattle, but this latter I plan to have outside grazing except in the case of some blizzard. One of my friends kept his herd of Angus outside all last winter just rotational grazing each day with no hay.

So, max I imagine to be cutting would be 10 acres twice a season if I would one winter have used up the reserve of hay.

 

[freedomlives]

Oh, and as you're in Belgium-- do you have any insight on prices of used ag equipment like this over there? I may go this month to Germany to get a VW T5, so I've been thinking to look outside Slovakia for the mower, and bring it back with the van I purchase.

 

[joeu235]

I own a Deere 275 which is really just a re-branded Krone. It has cut 60 acres 3 times a year for 20 years and had no issues.

 

[cabinhollow]

With a 2.1m SaMasz drum mower on a 74 hp tractor, I will cut 5-6 acres per hour.
With a 40 hp tractor a 1.85m drum mower will cut close to 4 acres per hour.
And I also have over 150 sheep.
A 2.1m drum mower will out cut a 3m disc mower.

 

[sweettractors]

I have customers that are still running Italian Fort mowers after 20 years. Ken Sweet

 

[scons]

do you have any insight on prices of used ag equipment like this over there?

BCS is a pretty good brand.

You can take a look here, but it is a little late to get a mower now, best time is just before winter/during winter time. Prices are on the high side now, and less used mowers available.

You can also take a look in Holland or Germany.

Just check if you can get spare parts if needed before you purchase, and do check for abnormal tolerance on used mowers.
You can check for parts here: here and here

 

[freedomlives]

I can probably get my neighbor who has a drum mower to cut what I wasn't able to this year. Yesterday the guy came to bale, so from what I managed to cut, 12 round bales, and then a hunter had told me I could take the grass he cut on his hunting plot, so another 6 bales there. My neighbor (he lent me a belt rake for the tractor) was quite impressed with the FEL on my tractor, now that I've stacked the round bales 3 high. He's also going to have a baler soon, so we can certainly work out something-- like me helping him move his bales, maybe raking behind him when he cuts his hay and he can cut for me what's left and bale it.

Thanks for the links on the Belgian and Dutch sites. Landwirt I've seen before. For spare parts, one thing that I like about the BCS is that the Slovene (not Slovak) company Agrosal has BCS parts. I bought from them parts for my Goldoni walk behind tractor this year at a significantly lower price than what would be from Italy or from distributor in Slovakia, and that including shipment to Slovakia.

Interesting this assertion though that drum mowers are more effective than disc mowers. I thought it was the other way around.

 

[cabinhollow]

Most of the farmer here have disc mowers, then next is mower conditioners and a very few have drum mowers.
Most of the ones with disc mowers, have 3-5 of them. Two they hope will work and the rest are junk they are using for spare parts.
The ones with mower conditioners have 2-3, one good one and the others ones for parts.
The few that have drum mowers, just have one. That's all they need. The only drum mowers I have seen torn up, have had a large fence post ran through them.
In over 25 years of using a drum mower, I have had to replace 3 main parts. I have never need to add grease to the gear boxes or replace belts.
At one time I was cutting a very flat field with a Ford 4000 (45+ hp) using a 1.85. At times I would be in the fastest road gear. 15-16 mph.