Thoughts on krone EC2800cri discbine

[piercefarms1920]

I'm currently mowing with my old New Holland 408 discbine. It has served me well for many years. I've recently ran across a Krone EC2800cri for a pretty fair price. I'm a big fan of their new 4 basket hay tedders. This Krone mower hooks up to the 2pt hitch and has the swivel for tighter turns. I know Krone makes some larger mowers but we have always stayed with the 8'10 cut mowers due to many hayfields passing through a narrow gate and tractor hp requirements. What's some of your thoughts on these Krone discbine mowers? And how much heavier of a pull with this be than my old NH 408 db?

 

[leeave96]

I bought a Krone 2801cv and am getting use to it. It is the same width as the one you are looking at, except impellers.

2 point hitch I can't say is easier to hook-up than a drawbar mount. However the weight on these Krones at the hitch is substantial so I'm glad it's on the lift arms and not the drawbar. I think mine is somewhere between 1,200 and 1,400 lbs at the lift arms. It puts a load on the tractor and I've added front weights to help keep the front down when going up some moderate slopes, as well as, help with firm front tires for steering. I would not want this thing pushing me down hill without a larger tractor than I have.

The swivel gear box is the cat's meow. 90 deg tight turns without any PTO issues. You have to be careful though, it's easy to put the rear wheel into the main frame on a tight turn.

HP - I'm running mine with a 70 PTO hp tractor (International 756) and haven't had any issues power wise in very heavy, wet grass - level ground. However, I'm running about 5 mph, maybe a tad faster. Our fields are irregular shaped and small, so that's about the manageable max ground speed which helps I'm sure with hp demand. Also running the high skid shoes for a 5 inch stubble cut - which I feel helps reduce hp demand (think lawn mower mowing at 2 inches vs 4 inches in tall grass).

Cutterbar - VERY QUITE. That was a big surprise for me. I expected this thing to sound like a jet or some other make disc mower conditioners when rev'd up. Cut is clean. I think the curtains are somewhat lightweight, don't know how much they'd help with a rock flying out. Mine has the Safecut shear hubs which requires two concentric roll pins (cheap) to repair. Mine also has the quick change blades.

IMHO - these Krones are VERY heavy built, give a good clean cut and from what I've read (still have to live it) have a very long service life.

FYI in your due diligence, there are free for the downloading brochures (over 40 pages - no mfg offers more literature or youtube videos of their mowers IMHO than Krone), operators and parts manuals. Again go to Krone North America and you can download all this stuff for free; good reading before buying.

Not sure what's the difference between the 2800 and 2801 series, they look similar to me.

I do not fear parts availability long term.

Good luck,
Bill

 

[piercefarms1920]

I bought a Krone 2801cv and am getting use to it. It is the same width as the one you are looking at, except impellers.

2 point hitch I can't say is easier to hook-up than a drawbar mount. However the weight on these Krones at the hitch is substantial so I'm glad it's on the lift arms and not the drawbar. I think mine is somewhere between 1,200 and 1,400 lbs at the lift arms. It puts a load on the tractor and I've added front weights to help keep the front down when going up some moderate slopes, as well as, help with firm front tires for steering. I would not want this thing pushing me down hill without a larger tractor than I have.

The swivel gear box is the cat's meow. 90 deg tight turns without any PTO issues. You have to be careful though, it's easy to put the rear wheel into the main frame on a tight turn.

HP - I'm running mine with a 70 PTO hp tractor (International 756) and haven't had any issues power wise in very heavy, wet grass - level ground. However, I'm running about 5 mph, maybe a tad faster. Our fields are irregular shaped and small, so that's about the manageable max ground speed which helps I'm sure with hp demand. Also running the high skid shoes for a 5 inch stubble cut - which I feel helps reduce hp demand (think lawn mower mowing at 2 inches vs 4 inches in tall grass).

Cutterbar - VERY QUITE. That was a big surprise for me. I expected this thing to sound like a jet or some other make disc mower conditioners when rev'd up. Cut is clean. I think the curtains are somewhat lightweight, don't know how much they'd help with a rock flying out. Mine has the Safecut shear hubs which requires two concentric roll pins (cheap) to repair. Mine also has the quick change blades.

IMHO - these Krones are VERY heavy built, give a good clean cut and from what I've read (still have to live it) have a very long service life.

FYI in your due diligence, there are free for the downloading brochures (over 40 pages - no mfg offers more literature or youtube videos of their mowers IMHO than Krone), operators and parts manuals. Again go to Krone North America and you can download all this stuff for free; good reading before buying.

Not sure what's the difference between the 2800 and 2801 series, they look similar to me.

I do not fear parts availability long term.

Good luck,
Bill

Thanks. I've downloaded all the videos from Krone North America. It does seem much heavier on the rear end of my tractor than the old NH 408, I'm glad it's a 2pt hookup as well. I'm hoping to get to start mowing some hay later this weekend. We've seen a lot of rain here in the east this spring. If weather permits it should be a decent hay crop this 1st cutting