Which mower conditioner?

[bumkin]

I had a price from Chippenham Farm sales that was very competitive for the McHale, but like you I wonder why there are so many available secondhand.

Ernest Doe have really got behind the SIP brand and I'm lead to believe that they have sold a fair bit of their kit.

we have a mchale it does a good job its well built the only down side is its a bit heavy on the right hand side but a counter weight soon sorts that out there is a rack for weights on the left hand side

 

[Keep going]

we have a mchale it does a good job its well built the only down side is its a bit heavy on the right hand side but a counter weight soon sorts that out there is a rack for weights on the left hand side

Do you think the McHale cuts as evenly/cleanly as any other mower?

 

[Andrew]

Have you looked at SIP?

I am half looking at changing a 2 year old Kuhn and do like the look of the SIP stuff

What’s wrong with the Kuhn to change so early?

 

[Tsa115]

krone 280 here, very pleased, excellent conditioner and cut, arm were the kick back is mounted snapped but been sorted with a mod from krone,

 

[Tractor_dealer]

Krone would be the strongest built, last longest, best disc protection system on the market and probably among the best cut with most aggressive conditioning.

The Krone would also have one of the strongest residual values vs some of the other brands listed such as McHale and Vicon.

cmon jb you know the kv is a better mower you just don't want to admit to it !!

 

[ffukedfarmer]

What’s wrong with the Kuhn to change so early?

It takes a lot of driving, much more than than the pottinger it replaced.
When I turn left on the headland the far side of the bed tilts upwards making the pto uj’s clatter like mad

 

[Andrew]

It takes a lot of driving, much more than than the pottinger it replaced.
When I turn left on the headland the far side of the bed tilts upwards making the pto uj’s clatter like mad

Why not another Pottinger?

 

[KB6930]

My 2012 claas it cuts anywhere between 600 and 1000 acres a year it's had everything from gates to concrete troughs and everything in between under the front of it so far I've broken 1 quick fit blade holder and had to weld up my end top hat but other than that just wearing parts blades and skids and have no intention of changing it yet

Be careful what you buy for weight they're hard on linkages if you can spot it there's a good inch of difference between my top arms and that's on a tractor that when you check it there's very little movement I've heard stories of cross shafts getting twisted and even broken with some heavier mowers

 

[dowcow]

Be careful what you buy for weight they're hard on linkages if you can spot it there's a good inch of difference between my top arms and that's on a tractor that when you check it there's very little movement I've heard stories of cross shafts getting twisted and even broken with some heavier mowers

Some of the mowers are certainly built for contractors doing hundreds of acres a week rather than a year. Those large mounted rear mo-cos are heavy enough that you would probably want a 200hp tractor with another mower on the front to match up with them.

 

[ffukedfarmer]

Why not another Pottinger?

It was in stock and I needed one in a hurry. Bought mainly on brand reputation

 

[Martin Holden]

I think I’d probably need the SIP to be quite a bit cheaper to consider it, I’m not saying there is anything wrong with the mower but I expect it would be worth quite a bit less than Claas or Krone secondhand. I expect to keep this mower for a long time but things can change so I want a machine that I can sell relatively easily for a good price if I want too

Most mower conditioners that are of a good age depreciate at a similar rate. The question I always pose to people that ask about residual value is “who buys second hand older say 7 years plus mowers?” Unless they have done modest acreages they will all need some parts replacing anyway. SIP have been in business for over 60 years now, so they aren’t “here today, gone tomorrow”

 

[Cowabunga]

Hello All

I’ve been reading posts on here for a long time but this is my first

I’m trying to decide which 3 meter mounted mower conditioner to buy, we cut around 300 acres a year and also use the mower for topping of which some of the ground is a bit rough...

Claas 3200C most expensive
Krone 320CV £750 cheaper
McHale £1,750 cheaper than Claas
Vicon 732, £2,000 cheaper than Claas

Any advice would be much appreciated

Being used on 110-140hp tractors.

Claas and McHale use the same Italian made cutterbar, with different hats and chassis obviously.
Krone have a superb safety feature for disc obstruction, where an easily replaceable roll pin shears and the disc spins up a thread, out of harm's way.
Vicon has a great cutterbar but traditionally is slightly too lightly built in the frame area.
Kuhn is exceptionally well proven and reliable but most of their mowers transport pointing backwards, which makes a very long unit.
RECO Fella is now a Massey Ferguson, or even a Fendt. Personally I'm not overly keen on its crown wheel and pinion, very deep cutterbar, but I have zero experience on which to base this opinion.

 

[Cowabunga]

It takes a lot of driving, much more than than the pottinger it replaced.
When I turn left on the headland the far side of the bed tilts upwards making the pto uj’s clatter like mad

What sort of Kuhn is that? A budget model?
I have a 3.2m John Deere, which is a green Kuhn with rigid tine conditioner. It lifts from the centre of the bed via a long arm, so the bed and conditioner is supported on both sides and lifts parallel to the ground.

 

[Andrew]

Claas and McHale use the same Italian made cutterbar, with different hats and chassis obviously.
Krone have a superb safety feature for disc obstruction, where an easily replaceable roll pin shears and the disc spins up a thread, out of harm's way.
Vicon has a great cutterbar but traditionally is slightly too lightly built in the frame area.
Kuhn is exceptionally well proven and reliable but most of their mowers transport pointing backwards, which makes a very long unit.
RECO Fella is now a Massey Ferguson, or even a Fendt. Personally I'm not overly keen on its crown wheel and pinion, very deep cutterbar, but I have zero experience on which to base this opinion.

Krone you have to replace a roll pin and 2 blades per disc of you hit something.

A cutter bed like the Kuhn or Pottinger, the bottom of the bed actually protrudes a few mm in front of the disc. That way of you hit something the discs can keep spinning but the blades just fold round, so you only need to replace 2 blades, you don’t damage the bed. I’ve hit a concrete water tank at 15k and only cost me 4 blades.

The Krone system is, in my opinion, a complicated solution to an unnecessary problem, but with a bit of clever marketing has been turned into a major selling point.

 

[Jim B]

Claas and McHale use the same Italian made cutterbar, with different hats and chassis obviously.

Actually the McHale cutter bar is a Samasz cutter bar, Polish made.

 

[Cowabunga]

Krone you have to replace a roll pin and 2 blades per disc of you hit something.

A cutter bed like the Kuhn or Pottinger, the bottom of the bed actually protrudes a few mm in front of the disc. That way of you hit something the discs can keep spinning but the blades just fold round, so you only need to replace 2 blades, you don’t damage the bed. I’ve hit a concrete water tank at 15k and only cost me 4 blades.

The Krone system is, in my opinion, a complicated solution to an unnecessary problem, but with a bit of clever marketing has been turned into a major selling point.

Must say that I've mowed tens of thousands of acres over several decades and have never had anything obstructing the discs.
Odd things happen though and just this afternoon I was trailering by the side of the Claas Jaguar 850 and its driver found one of my Kuhn/Deere's skids, complete from the curved front to the back of the bed, between the rows. I'd mown at least ten acres after losing it and never noticed a thing. Still cut perfectly.

 

[Cowabunga]

Actually the McHale cutter bar is a Samasz cutter bar, Polish made.

I'm sure I read at its launch that it used a Comer cutterbar. Perhaps I'm confusing it with the other Irish mower, whose name I forget. Mind you, I'm hellish tired just now, having been on the rake since 5am this morning, then carting from 11am.

 

[Muddyroads]

Hello All

I’ve been reading posts on here for a long time but this is my first

I’m trying to decide which 3 meter mounted mower conditioner to buy, we cut around 300 acres a year and also use the mower for topping of which some of the ground is a bit rough...

Claas 3200C most expensive
Krone 320CV £750 cheaper
McHale £1,750 cheaper than Claas
Vicon 732, £2,000 cheaper than Claas

Any advice would be much appreciated

Being used on 110-140hp tractors.

I’ve just gone through exactly this process. No time to look at every mower so focused on local dealers.
MF pushing their new ones, but was uncomfortable at risking the unknown.
1 dealer supplies both Krone and McHale but was only happy to supply the Krone.
The Kuhn I decided was too heavy, over 200kg heavier than the Claas and rear pivot for transport.
I opted for the Claas. Not a huge amount more money than the Krone but looked stronger. I wanted raised skids as I don’t want to cut too low. These were cheaper than Krone, and I like the pressure system of the Claas, especially for cutting rushes. I also think it will hold its value as well as any of them.

 

[kiwi pom]

Bit out of touch. Do people buy single mounted mowers because they're cheaper or can you not get trailed anymore?
Mounted are horrible things in my opinion, unless you have one on the other side to balance them up. Make the tractor unstable and put too much strain on one side.
I'd have a trailed centre pull swing over jobbie.

 

[KB6930]

Bit out of touch. Do people buy single mounted mowers because they're cheaper or can you not get trailed anymore?
Mounted are horrible things in my opinion, unless you have one on the other side to balance them up. Make the tractor unstable and put too much strain on one side.
I'd have a trailed centre pull swing over jobbie.

I used to think that as well but I'd never go trailed again the expense of buying one compared to a mounted is a big difference and the mounted actually follows rough ground better than what I used to run as well