Disc Mower

highspeed

just looking for some advice - thinking of purchasing a disc mower for mainly topping - what do you reccomend - i have been advised to look at Kuhn, Tarrup, Pottinger & Krone and told to stay away from Fort - anyone any experience of the above or the malone or the new major disc mowers. Also will prob be buying second hand - as i will not be able to afford a new model.

9935452

highspeed wrote: »

just looking for some advice - thinking of purchasing a disc mower for mainly topping - what do you reccomend - i have been advised to look at Kuhn, Tarrup, Pottinger & Krone and told to stay away from Fort - anyone any experience of the above or the malone or the new major disc mowers. Also will prob be buying second hand - as i will not be able to afford a new model.

buy a name brand as above, stay away from fort morro and marangan.
For topping get a non conditioner.
Personally i dont like the lelys either , they have a different drive system and have heard horror stories about them when they get a bang. lighter on diesel though.

I dont think you will get a second hand malone, They are not out there that long, If anyone is trading one it has probably got problems.

Kuhn is the best you can buy but get one with the heavy duty bed

bt12

bought a new malone this year and are very happy with it, would highly recommend them

grumpyfarmer

Have a kuhn gmd 66 bought 2nd hand in the late eightys. we do over 300 ac a year of mostly mowing but a bit of topping too gave to say an excellent mower... only ever split it once for bearings and wore out a few skids/stone guards on it in all the years.. apart front blades of course...

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

If its mainly for topping, you would be better off with an actual topper. A topper tends to chop the grass/nettles/thistles, where as the disc mower will leave the whole crop beind. However if you do need to cut some meddow every year then you are better off off to get the disc

Insp. Harry Callahan

Bought a second hand 9 foot mounted Krone mower conditioner about 7 years ago for around 3000euro.we do about 50 acres silage every year and all our topping with it.
Mow with a MF390t with weights on front. For topping you take off the pto shaft that goes to the conditioner and screw the conditioner up out of the way.Turned out a great buy for us and has never gave any problems so far

pms7

Have a Krone for a few years, very happy. A topper will struggle if grass or weeds are gone very strong.

reilig

pms7 wrote: »

A topper will struggle if grass or weeds are gone very strong.

Ours doesn't.

It will even cut very heavy rushes.

The tip is to keep the blades sharp.

Topper breaks up whatever it cuts and it doesn't cut to the root like the disc mower.

kingstown

I have a Fella Disc Mower which has developed a noise in the bed so stopped using it as soon as i heard it. Opened the oil fill bung on the gearbox and there were metal filings.
Didn't think she be a runner to repair as it's about 13/14 years old, so I thought of buying a s/h mower maybe 3 years old for topping. Looked at a few S/H Vicon / Kuhn but to be honest wasn't impressed with condition or price. My own was is a good a condition except the noise:mad:

Decided over the weekend to stick with what i have and have it repaired.
Mechanic has the gearbox off and all is OK there:), he has the bed draining out and WD40 on the bolts (very tight and i don't want to ring them off) which we hope to open tonight to see what the bed is like.
Hope its just a bearing or two and not a set of gears/ coggs.

Instruction book lost, but someone may know what oil goes in the gear box & bed. Also is there a gasket which runs the length of the bed or is it just Loctite Flexible Gasket B5170 or B518.

vanderbadger

kingstown wrote: »

I have a Fella Disc Mower which has developed a noise in the bed so stopped using it as soon as i heard it. Opened the oil fill bung on the gearbox and there were metal filings.
Didn't think she be a runner to repair as it's about 13/14 years old, so I thought of buying a s/h mower maybe 3 years old for topping. Looked at a few S/H Vicon / Kuhn but to be honest wasn't impressed with condition or price. My own was is a good a condition except the noise:mad:

Decided over the weekend to stick with what i have and have it repaired.
Mechanic has the gearbox off and all is OK there:), he has the bed draining out and WD40 on the bolts (very tight and i don't want to ring them off) which we hope to open tonight to see what the bed is like.
Hope its just a bearing or two and not a set of gears/ coggs.

Instruction book lost, but someone may know what oil goes in the gear box & bed. Also is there a gasket which runs the length of the bed or is it just Loctite Flexible Gasket B5170 or B518.

mowers generally use 80-90 oil i think, dont know now if your one is differnet but i doubt it

kingstown

Thanks vanderbadger you're right, most of the older mowers had EP 80w90 gear oil in the beds, rang a dealer and they confirmed.
They also said that a Silicone gasket maker is whats used as a gasket, so thats no problem.
All that i have to do now is wail till we split the bed to see what's actually gone. Hope is only the bearings and i will replace all of them.
Downloaded a manual and the bearings listed are 6307 2RS C3 (C3 for high speed) but will check before ordering them.

Let you know how i get on when she's all back together and working

RobinBanks

reilig wrote: »

Topper breaks up whatever it cuts and it doesn't cut to the root like the disc mower.

I thought disc mowers come with topping skids?

kingstown

Mine does - and a slight tilt (lengthen) on the top link will raise it a little as well.

ppn

You'd be surprised how much grass remains intact with the topping skids on and the top-link let out. Probably get 3-4 inches.Toppers tend to tear the grass in my experience and the crop takes longer to come back..

golfcruiser

Go for a Taarup or Kuhn I think. We bought a new Taarup disc mower this year, more than happy with it. Topping skids cost extra when purchasing new, but some dealers will throw them in.

For topping just let out the top link to the required height, or pull it in good and tight if mowing silage or hay.

There is no comparison between a disc mower and pasture toppers ( not even the trailed off set toppers)

kingstown

My mower is fully repaired again.:D

Split the bed and as suspected a bearing had collapsed, i replaced the full set of 6307 2RS C3. There were some plastic / nylon type ring's which needed to be replaced also, about 50mm in diameter (qty 10) which cost €60 but worth about €2.50 for the set, i felt it was bit of a rob to be honest but what can you do.....:mad:
She's all back together now - new belts, bearings, oil, seals, PTO cover etc so i should be OK for another few years.;)

Hope to do a bit of topping again when it stops raining - if ever.....:(