conditioner mower

leitrim lad

well lads what would be your first choice in conditioner mower,
i have had lely and fella before and i didnt think much of the fella ,because the frame kept cracking,
would either a lely or a john deere be your first choice,

all comments are welcome, as i want to see everyones opinion and any possible faults either have aswell,


thanks leitrim lad

snowman707

leitrim lad wrote: »

well lads what would be your first choice in conditioner mower,
i have had lely and fella before and i didnt think much of the fella ,because the frame kept cracking,
would either a lely or a john deere be your first choice,

all comments are welcome, as i want to see everyones opinion and any possible faults either have aswell,


thanks leitrim lad

Krone or J DEERE

Bitten & Hisses

I got my first conditioner mower two years ago and only use it for my own work. It's a Kuhn FC283, a mounted 9-foot mower. My only regret is that the budget wouldn't stretch to a trailed mower.

leitrim lad

ya i would have an interest in a krone aswell

as for the trailer mower i would only love one but how good are they in small wet meadows in leitrim,

the down side to a mounted mower is when you lift it at the end of a swart it tends to bring down the back of the tractor, where a trailed wouldnt

would a trailed mower be any faster to a mounted mower in heavy ground

i dont know much about the kuhn but in saying that i havent heard any bad reparts ,i could tell many long tortureos stories about the fella

MrFoxman360

I've used John deere conditioners for a while now, 10ft trailed versions. Good machines and very reliable, with steel conditioner forks , not plastic ones

In general John Deeres are not the highest output machines when running along side a Kuhn or Tarrupp, but a trailed one will always be faster than a mounted one, well in my experience anyway.

In wet ground they do tend to plough up the place a bit and will pull sideways in really boggy stuff. On the road 10ft can seem a bit wide and getting in small gateways can be tricky too, especially if your turning right into them , left is a doddle.

leitrim lad

what i also liked about the trailed mower was the way you could open and close the ram going in a gate to manover her in.

you dont know what weight is an 8 -9foot john deere trailed mower,

quietsailor

leitrim lad wrote: »

well lads what would be your first choice in conditioner mower,
i have had lely and fella before and i didnt think much of the fella ,because the frame kept cracking,
would either a lely or a john deere be your first choice,

all comments are welcome, as i want to see everyones opinion and any possible faults either have aswell,


thanks leitrim lad

The bale silage contractor I used to work for swears by John Deeres and they seem to be the most common mowers around here,

Some of the faults/things to watch for in a 2nd hand mover are:

1. Check the wear in the conditioner flail bushes, if it's bad the metal of the flail will be worn as well and you will have to build it up.
2. Are all the flails present - if not its unbalanced.
3. Where the lifting chains are attached onto the arm and frame can crack at either/both mounting points.
4. Are the springs at the back the same length, if not one has been broken and the spring rebent to attach it on - this is seen if the mower is off level in the raised position. As long as it jumps evenly in the mowing position it's not a problem but it could make one side lighter than the other causing that side to skip patches in a rough field.
5. Check the skids under the bed, ask to take the main ones off to look for cracking, try and look sideways when they are off at the centre skids, these wear right on the curve and when it cracks they fall off and get lost. You can weld them to fix them and then use hard facing rods to create a wear pad to make sure it doesn't wear and crack again.Btw a Welger chopper baler doesn't like chopping one of those, I had the bad luck to pick one up in the swarth.
6. Are the hats that the blades are mounted onto badly worn, if they are it unbalances the machine causing vibration and the blade holders (nuts and bolts) wear a lot quicker thus losing them quicker. They'll have to be replaced. If its minor wear you can chance building them up (runs the risk of imbalance) or swopping them to a disc that spins the other way so the reverse edge is now being worn.
7. Is the opening ram bent - rough drivers will drag a mower all over a field and that can bend a ram.
8. Are the side skirts in place and coming down easily?
9. Does the slip clutch look like it has been tightened up? If the previous drivers didn't look after the machine they could have been starting the pto at high revs (especially on bigger hp tractors) and the inertia of the mower could cause the slip clutch to operate thus wearing it.
10. I haven't used an arm hitched trailed mower but I've heard they need a lot of weight on the front of the tractor to keep the front wheels down.

This isn't a fault but did the previous owner fit a bar on the "roof" of the mower just behind the conditioner running the width of the mower - this causes the grass to fall in a swarth slightly wider than 4'. I've seen bale silage contrators do this as it means the balers pack more grass at the outside of the bale and thus makes a firmer bale. Not a bad thing but if the salesman is trying to tell you it only mowed for a farmer doing his own stuff it would be unusual to see that on a farmer machine.
Also if the side skirts look way newer than the main skirt it could mean they were taken off when the mower was ourchased and put back on again before being sold - again not something a farmer usually does - look at the mounting points for those side skirts and see if they've been bent and straightened - a sign of a careless driver or a machine thats getting dragged in and out of small gaps.

Thats a list of faults from about 8 years and 5 mowers in case you think JD's are scrap, we used to mow in front of a pit silage outfit as well as the baled silage outfit and one year the boss had 5 round balers and 1 large square baler on the road so the mower was operated continously those 6 weeks ie swopping drivers to keep mowing through the night. That'll give you an idea of how tough they are, not all our drivers knoew what they were doing and those mowers still kept going.

Hope that helps

Shane

leitrim lad

thanks a mill quiet sailor

thats great advice, i would be a fan of john deere my self i have 2x 575 balers and 6 john deere tractors from a 6210 to a 7810, i have been using a lely mower for the past few years but its fcuked now 8foot swart on a 6610, so i might have a look around mow for a jd trailer mower 8 - 10 foot

i will have a look in johnstons longford next week and price around thats where i got the balers and the lely,

i wonder whats hanlon into this weather in louth, or does he do mowers aswell as tractors

quietsailor

A pit silage contractor I drove for 3 summers ago runs a JD 7810 that has a front mounted 10' mower plus a swarthing 10' trailed mower. He uses a 3350 with another JD 10' to open the fields and the 7810 to cut the centres. The 7810 combination was set up by JD themselves and both mowers are risen off a single (extra) control lever. He says its a good outfit, better than 2 single tractors and mowers.

fig mclough

leitrim lad wrote: »

thanks a mill quiet sailor

thats great advice, i would be a fan of john deere my self i have 2x 575 balers and 6 john deere tractors from a 6210 to a 7810, i have been using a lely mower for the past few years but its fcuked now 8foot swart on a 6610, so i might have a look around mow for a jd trailer mower 8 - 10 foot

i will have a look in johnstons longford next week and price around thats where i got the balers and the lely,

i wonder whats hanlon into this weather in louth, or does he do mowers aswell as tractors

Also try meath farm machinery in has a branch in cavan as well!!! we found him to be keen!!!!

nice fleet by the way!!:D

laurence997

leitrim lad wrote: »

you dont know what weight is an 8 -9foot john deere trailed mower,

John Deere 800 series 8ft and 9ft mowers around 2500kg (or around 5500lb) i think.

leitrim lad

thanks laurence997

Charlie 22

quietsailor wrote: »

This isn't a fault but did the previous owner fit a bar on the "roof" of the mower just behind the conditioner running the width of the mower - this causes the grass to fall in a swarth slightly wider than 4'. I've seen bale silage contrators do this as it means the balers pack more grass at the outside of the bale and thus makes a firmer bale. Not a bad thing but if the salesman is trying to tell you it only mowed for a farmer doing his own stuff it would be unusual to see that on a farmer machine.

I disagree totallly a few farmers i know have this particular plate attached so that the cut grass can be dryed and turned. Otherwise good advise we had one for years not a days trouble. One thing to mention is that our mower was recalled by john deere due to a paint fault and so where 20 others around the country. These had to be resprayed and the mower came back in new condition so look out for a mower that may not have been recalled. This problem effected 04/05 machines i think.

quietsailor

Charlie 22 wrote: »

I disagree totallly a few farmers i know have this particular plate attached so that the cut grass can be dryed and turned. Otherwise good advise we had one for years not a days trouble. One thing to mention is that our mower was recalled by john deere due to a paint fault and so where 20 others around the country. These had to be resprayed and the mower came back in new condition so look out for a mower that may not have been recalled. This problem effected 04/05 machines i think.

Cheers Charlie,

i hadn't realised that that mod had become so widespread must pass it onto my mate as he's going looking for a 2nd hand mower soon as a backup to the main one.

Leitrim lad, i don't know if your going to feel this is hijacking your thread, if it is I'll repost as a new thread;

Has anyone ever considered reconditioning a mower rather than buying new. I'm talking a total recondition
- possibly a new bed (reuse the gears maybe)
- all new bushes throughout - condtiooner flails, ram bushes etc
- new slip clutch plates

Would it be cheaper than buying new if you knew that the chassis was A1 condition?

Bitten & Hisses

leitrim lad wrote: »

ya i would have an interest in a krone aswell

as for the trailer mower i would only love one but how good are they in small wet meadows in leitrim,

the down side to a mounted mower is when you lift it at the end of a swart it tends to bring down the back of the tractor, where a trailed wouldnt

would a trailed mower be any faster to a mounted mower in heavy ground

i dont know much about the kuhn but in saying that i havent heard any bad reparts ,i could tell many long tortureos stories about the fella

The next door neighbour has a Krone (mounted) since 1998 and is very happy with it. From my perspective, there are a few pros and cons re trailed versus mounted and you'd need to weigh these up in your own case.

e.g. A mounted mower needs a tractor with a heavy back end to handle up to 1000Kgs hanging out on the right hand side. There are now several 100HP tractors on the market which would drive a mounted mower, but wouldn't be able to handle the thing on the linkage, for example a Claas Celtis.
So, a trailed mower leaves you with more options as to the tractor you use to pull it. Of course, you're talking the guts of 8 to 10 grand extra to buy the thing first day. This is not as big an issue if you intend trading it in regularly.
As for narrow gaps and a 10-foot mower, use a track machine . Any gap in my place which can't handle the machinery we use is widened as needed. No mercy:D

gstonesmx5

The most common MoCo's are Kuhn, JD, Tarrup, Krone and Class. Kuhn have made the 300 series 10ft trailed moco for years now and they also sell it to JD in green. The current model is FC302GI (I is on Irish machines only) or the JD 1365. The Kuhn will hold its value best against the rest.
You need a bigger tractor for a mounted machine but if access is a real issue a folding machine cant be beat. You could have a look in the Journal and see what is around to suite your budget.
Some of the dealers around you would be Dunne Tractors Belturbet, Martins Bailieborough, D&E McHugh Longford, Naughtons Roscommon.
Lots of dealers are doing good deals at the minute to keep sales in the area so call your local lads and see what they will do for you.

Geezer1000

Another option for you is Pottinger. Excellent machines

scudster

I have used a 10ft Kuhn FC302GI with the bar with fingers to widen the swath and found them very good to produce good firm bales. The smallest tractor this was run by a Fiat 110-90 which maybe a little underpowered and light for the size of mower but it coped well enough with the boggy drumlins of north Longford/south Cavan (once you keep the steed well shod). The problem with lowering the fingered bar on the conditioner is that it leaves the conditioner harder run and causes belts to slip and wear prematurely if not kept an eye on. These mowers can stand up to alot of abuse but stones and the like will break/bend the blades. All in all its a good machine and if you do decide to purchace one be sure to get a few boxes of blades and bolts thrown in with the deal.

Spiritine

lely optimo or the newer....splendimo....defo proven themselfs to me, exc machine and very easy to power

greener1

I run a 10ft mounted Pottinger on the fiat 90 90. theres no conditioner on it tho, a conditioner on it would probable turn me over. I have no problem driving it even with the very hilly ground, the only time it gets fun is when the mower is folded up and your turning on a hill. (MUST TURN UP HILL) Then front weights would help a lot if i had it them. It's not so bad when your mowing cos the bed of the mower will just bump the ground and you can't turn over.
I would not put this on a 4 cyl tractor way too light, not for young drivers either. Great mower only thing I have to do is change blades. running 3/4 years now. cost under 10k new very happy with it

vanderbadger

lads have an 8ft mounted marangon mower. I think there are a bit of a JF imitation mower. Anyway I have to say Im not a fan of the mounted mower and will get shut of it if i can ever afford a trailed model. For one thing its a awkward fcuker of a thing to attach, they are so heavy its a real dose to attach and take off, also the mower dips when you lift it so it catches the already cut rows..terribly annoying! Although in fairness I think this is just because my one has a particularly bad mechanism for balancing the mower. Also i have hilly ground and ou have to be careful when turning on a hill with the mower up. I know they are cheaper but to my mind they are not match for the trailed versions