monkey metal mowers...

[smcapstick]

I've a Sip roto 165 for ten years now and find it a well built and finished mower, only pity is I should have got the 2.2 meter one.

We used to have one of those when we were still milking. It was a very good mower.

 

[Roy_H]

I remember the original fahr km22 was really well made. We had a couple for years with no problems. Each one will have done couple of hundred acres of heavy going every year. Then the old man bought a Zetor thing or something that was a pz copy, What a piece of shite that was! Brand new , the whole hood cracked up and fell to bits in first year and second year belts snapped twice and gearbox ate its self.[emoji53]

Rather like a guy I knew who had a motley collection of old tractors in his yard, including a Zetor or two. He was telling me about how he frees seized brake/ clutch linkages. "You get an old Fergie with a seized pin in the linkage, heat it up until cherry red and you can usually free it off. Try that with a Zetor and the bloody pin melts!"

 

[balerman]

For all those posting 'monkey metal' comments - where do you think Claas, Vicon etc. have their mowers made? Do you think they're on the production line between Claas Jaguar 870s and Vicon 803 forage wagons?

Are VW Passats made of monkey metal, too?

Yes, cheap drum mowers are built to a price but also to a design - be it a KM22 or a PZ. They are cheap because they are simple and the design licences are very cheap, due to age. That means there is no need for any major development, further reducing cost.

Yes, you do see broken ones on sales. Does that mean they are bad? Or does it mean that they are so affordable you might as well buy another when something breaks? You see a damn sight more PZs at collective sales, perhaps 50 PZs for every 1 Samasz or whatever - the difference is, people buy the PZs and rebuild them to sell to smallholders or 'horsey folk'. They could equally buy the Czech or Polish machines and put a bevel gear in (or whatever) for £70 + VAT but they don't because to them, a 'proper' drum mower is red with a cream skirt, not green with a yellow one. It's the Land Rover argument all over again - why are there so many old Defenders still going? Is it because they are so good? Or that each and every time they inevitably break down, people constantly repair them and keep them going, rather than bin them when they start to get iffy as people do with Japanese 4x4s.

There are tens of thousands or Samasz, Talex and Mesko-Rol mowers in use around the word, with a great many years and acres under their belt.

The problem with TFF armchair experts and know-it-alls on here can be summarised thus: They hang around at junk sales, so all they see is junk.

That is unfair.The license ran out years ago on the original Fahr and PZ designs,so anyone can make them cheaply,they look very similar to the originals,but the quality and amount of steel used has been trimmed to the bone.I bought a Kverneland one thinking it would be of decent quality,it wasn't,it was made in Poland same as a lot of the others.

 

[Vincent]

We used to have one of those when we were still milking. It was a very good mower.

There finished well and the folding system is great compared to the pz type.

 

[Mursal]

The 2.2 mightn't have been as good, reliability wise?

 

[Vincent]

The 2.2 mightn't have been as good, reliability wise?

Wouldn't mind trying one, Kuhn have one with a conditioner that looks the job.

You must have seen the you tube clip about the 2.2m sip being sold over the folding system failing but did you see how he used it

 

[cfr1964]

We used to have one of those when we were still milking. It was a very good mower.

Are Twose mowers and rakes made by SIP ?

 

[smcapstick]

Are Twose mowers and rakes made by SIP ?

Not sure. SIP are Slovenian, though - calling all Eastern Europe hating know-it-alls!

 

[Grassman]

For all those posting 'monkey metal' comments - where do you think Claas, Vicon etc. have their mowers made? Do you think they're on the production line between Claas Jaguar 870s and Vicon 803 forage wagons?

Are VW Passats made of monkey metal, too?

Yes, cheap drum mowers are built to a price but also to a design - be it a KM22 or a PZ. They are cheap because they are simple and the design licences are very cheap, due to age. That means there is no need for any major development, further reducing cost.

Yes, you do see broken ones on sales. Does that mean they are bad? Or does it mean that they are so affordable you might as well buy another when something breaks? You see a damn sight more PZs at collective sales, perhaps 50 PZs for every 1 Samasz or whatever - the difference is, people buy the PZs and rebuild them to sell to smallholders or 'horsey folk'. They could equally buy the Czech or Polish machines and put a bevel gear in (or whatever) for £70 + VAT but they don't because to them, a 'proper' drum mower is red with a cream skirt, not green with a yellow one. It's the Land Rover argument all over again - why are there so many old Defenders still going? Is it because they are so good? Or that each and every time they inevitably break down, people constantly repair them and keep them going, rather than bin them when they start to get iffy as people do with Japanese 4x4s.

There are tens of thousands or Samasz, Talex and Mesko-Rol mowers in use around the word, with a great many years and acres under their belt.

The problem with TFF armchair experts and know-it-alls on here can be summarised thus: They hang around at junk sales, so all they see is junk.

I'm afraid some machinery brand junkies will be sadly disappointed if they knew where their machines or parts of them were actually made!
I remember one telling me how wonderful his "German built" John Deere was. I suggested he look at where it was made on the ID plate!

 

[smcapstick]

I'm afraid some machinery brand junkies will be sadly disappointed if they knew where their machines or parts of them were actually made!
I remember one telling me how wonderful his "German built" John Deere was. I suggested he look at where it was made on the ID plate!

Every single person that has complained about the quality of the steel these machines are made from has literally no idea what they are talking about.

It's very likely to be the same stuff at their local steel suppliers, too.

 

[Grassman]

Every single person that has complained about the quality of the steel these machines are made from has literally no idea what they are talking about.

It's very likely to be the same stuff at their local steel suppliers, too.

Lots don't realise that their iPhone is probably mainly made in China!

 

[Vincent]

Are Twose mowers and rakes made by SIP ?

They were up to lately and may still be.

 

[7610 super q]

I have quite literally no idea what I'm talking about...

 

[Dave W]

Every single person that has complained about the quality of the steel these machines are made from has literally no idea what they are talking about.

It's very likely to be the same stuff at their local steel suppliers, too.

I take objection to that. I've worked on and repaired many different mowers and machines. I'm also a qualified fabricator so yes I do know what I'm talking about.

I've seen quite a few samasz where the trough has cracked and the entire drum has been left behind. The gears are least of the problem. The frame will fail before the gears do

 

[7610 super q]

Trouble is....buying one second hand, unless you can lift it up with a tractor, you can't tell what state the saucer is in. My 35 year old PZ looks alright from a distance......but it bloody well isn't. Unable to get the saucer off to replace the bearings...so it's scrap.

 

[Mursal]

You must have seen the you tube clip about the 2.2m sip being sold over the folding system failing but did you see how he used it

No, I'll have a look ........

 

[roscoe erf]

For all those posting 'monkey metal' comments - where do you think Claas, Vicon etc. have their mowers made? Do you think they're on the production line between Claas Jaguar 870s and Vicon 803 forage wagons?

Are VW Passats made of monkey metal, too?

Yes, cheap drum mowers are built to a price but also to a design - be it a KM22 or a PZ. They are cheap because they are simple and the design licences are very cheap, due to age. That means there is no need for any major development, further reducing cost.

Yes, you do see broken ones on sales. Does that mean they are bad? Or does it mean that they are so affordable you might as well buy another when something breaks? You see a damn sight more PZs at collective sales, perhaps 50 PZs for every 1 Samasz or whatever - the difference is, people buy the PZs and rebuild them to sell to smallholders or 'horsey folk'. They could equally buy the Czech or Polish machines and put a bevel gear in (or whatever) for £70 + VAT but they don't because to them, a 'proper' drum mower is red with a cream skirt, not green with a yellow one. It's the Land Rover argument all over again - why are there so many old Defenders still going? Is it because they are so good? Or that each and every time they inevitably break down, people constantly repair them and keep them going, rather than bin them when they start to get iffy as people do with Japanese 4x4s.

There are tens of thousands or Samasz, Talex and Mesko-Rol mowers in use around the word, with a great many years and acres under their belt.

The problem with TFF armchair experts and know-it-alls on here can be summarised thus: They hang around at junk sales, so all they see is junk.

which is the best armchair to become said expert in a old english leather one or one of those dfs specials ?

 

[7610 super q]

which is the best armchair to become said expert in a old english leather one or one of those dfs specials ?

 

[roscoe erf]

View attachment 335670

yes but i was extremely drunk at the time

 

[Roy_H]

I'm afraid some machinery brand junkies will be sadly disappointed if they knew where their machines or parts of them were actually made!
I remember one telling me how wonderful his "German built" John Deere was. I suggested he look at where it was made on the ID plate!

Rather like The Renault rep was telling me. He was at a show and a young '' know it all' came to to their stand and when asked if was interested he said " l don't care how good they were no way would he buy anything French, cos I hate The French!" When asked what tractors he ran on his farm he said "MF l only buy British" So The Renault rep asked which models he had, it turned out most of his Massey's were in fact French built. When he informed him of this the guy was mortified!
Edit : During The 1980's l would have rather had a bloody French Renault ( With a German engine l mean ) than bloody French Massey !