The Life of a Custom Mowing contractor

[Hay Dude]

Auto greasers are great for the amount of work and crawling around they save. Only problem is when they screw up a couple of points and you don't realize it until they're totally screwed. Without fail, they'll be the hardest point to repair/replace.

Yep, and there’s very little you can do about that. The greaser is tied to the baler’s computer diagnostics and if there’s a pressure issue (air in the lines) it will tell you, but that doesn’t guarantee anything. Even with the huge reduction in grease points that have to be done by hand, there’s still a bunch to be done, and you still get dirty as a pig in slop after greasing. I will say that after 2 years with this baler and 2 years with the previous one, there’s been no failures.
If you do get a grease gun icon and a beeper, it takes forever to chase down the problem. Most guys will run the rest of the day, then chase it down later.

Do the electronics actually help/make it better or is it a situation where it helps the manufacturer and not the end user or add a bunch of functions that don't actually do anything worthwhile?

Good question. Depends on how much you need the functions. I love having a scale, moisture readout, knot tie, bale drop, bale count, etc. but with it comes the eventual failure of all those features. I would say having the greaser just add a tiny bit of grease continuously does help with conserving time spent hand greasing. The designers of these systems spend a lot of time calculating exactly how much grease each bearing or chain needs.

My old Hesston 4910 had a greaser that greased maybe 15-20 points. The Krone looks more like 60-75 points.

 

[Hay Dude]

Well I dropped $980 on a quality made Euro to SSQA adapter today. It had to be done for me to continue using my SSQA Arctic plow. NOT looking forward to snow ice and COLD.
Made in USA

The Massey is almost ready for snow combat. I removed the Pottinger hay mower and installed the Western Heavyweight plow. Still have to get my crossover relief valve installed and some hoses. I don’t know if it’s even worth it to keep this plow around, but I think we are going to get buried one of these upcoming winters…
It’s great for keeping farm driveways open. Gotta keep the hay moving!

 

[mrmikey]

I would say having the greaser just add a tiny bit of grease continuously does help with conserving time spent hand greasing.

Definitely, as well as making sure the bearing is not running dry at the end of a shift before the next greasing.

That Arctic plow is a nice looking unit, made in Canada ehhh. Have to say tho, never heard of them, galvanized is really nice as well until you have to weld on 'em LOL.
Hard to believe the QA is worth $1K but nowdays what does :-(

 

[LHF2019]

Well I dropped $980 on a quality made Euro to SSQA adapter today. It had to be done for me to continue using my SSQA Arctic plow. NOT looking forward to snow ice and COLD.

View attachment 832735


The Massey is almost ready for snow combat. I removed the Pottinger hay mower and installed the Western Heavyweight plow. Still have to get my crossover relief valve installed and some hoses. I don’t know if it’s even worth it to keep this plow around, but I think we are going to get buried one of these upcoming winters…
It’s great for keeping farm driveways open. Gotta keep the hay moving!

View attachment 832743

I always thought be fun to do large parking lots with a tractor and blade. You consider doing any plowing other than your own with the blade?

 

[Hay Dude]

I always thought be fun to do large parking lots with a tractor and blade. You consider doing any plowing other than your own with the blade?

I did for many years, but gave it up because it was taking so much time away from being with my family. Now that kids are young adults, might try to get some more lot contracts. I have about 10 and 1 private lane and the farm driveways.

 

[Hay Dude]

Definitely, as well as making sure the bearing is not running dry at the end of a shift before the next greasing.

The greaser is completely programmable from the monitor. I typically run 55 minutes on and 5 minutes off. Some guys will run 50 on and 10 off. Some will run custom patterns.
Manual Greasing seems so random. You really have no idea if its enough/not enough. I generally go by the 10-15 hour rule. You won’t believe this, but when I bought this baler, it was already 7 years old and had 21,000 bales through it. I found 2 grease fittings that look like they had never been greased. Still had green Krone paint on them. I grease them now. No issues at all yet.

Just goes to show you what a chance you take when you buy something like this used. You are 100% at the mercy of the previous owner. The selling dealer is of little help. They can only assess appearance, bale count and how it sounds when it’s running. They have no idea of the condition of all these bearings.

That Arctic plow is a nice looking unit, made in Canada ehhh. Have to say tho, never heard of them, galvanized is really nice as well until you have to weld on 'em LOL.
Hard to believe the QA is worth $1K but nowdays what does :-(

Love Arctic snow plows. Never took off here in the states like I thought they would. Just a minor player compared to Western, Boss, Meyers, etc.. Excellent plows. Thick Poly moldboards and galvanized frames don’t rust.

On the QA adapter: I bought a cheap chinese one thinking “awww whats the difference”? It was a POS. Levers wouldn’t even stay up when you went to attach something. Very loose tolerances. I bought this Worksaver Made in USA and you can immediately see/feel the difference. Yeah the price was tough to swallow, but everything is now 30-100% more for farm/construction.

Arctic Plows

Home | Arctic Snowplows | Chasse-neige Arctic

www.arcticsnowplows.com

 

[Rustyiron]

HD you'll find other uses for that adapter other than snow with the amount of SSQA stuff around. The global/euro hitch is superior and I don't think it was here way back in the early SS days before Bobcats system was adopted by all of the US manufacturers of skid steers.
I bought a SS to "pin grab" excavator adaptet to use my disc mulcher (SS mount) on my excavator. It was expensive but then it dawned on me of the variety of other attachments I have that might be handy to use on the excavator. Just for giggles I put the forks on (the excavator) and moved around a 3600# block of concrete much easier than with my SS.
The post hole auger and my lighter weight rotary brush cutter have possibilities on the excavator also.

 

[Hay Dude]

HD you'll find other uses for that adapter other than snow with the amount of SSQA stuff around. The global/euro hitch is superior and I don't think it was here way back in the early SS days before Bobcats system was adopted by all of the US manufacturers of skid steers.
I bought a SS to "pin grab" excavator adaptet to use my disc mulcher (SS mount) on my excavator. It was expensive but then it dawned on me of the variety of other attachments I have that might be handy to use on the excavator. Just for giggles I put the forks on (the excavator) and moved around a 3600# block of concrete much easier than with my SS.
The post hole auger and my lighter weight rotary brush cutter have possibilities on the excavator also.
View attachment 832773
View attachment 832774

That’s great!
I’d love to own a 15-20 ton metal tracked excavator.

 

[Rustyiron]

I'd love to be able to move it!

 

[Hay Dude]

Don‘t you have a local with a T&T you can pay to haul around? I have 10 to choose from if it’s more than my Ram & Kaufmann can handle