Mower Conditioners or Discbines?

[Manitoba_Rancher]

Thinking bout trading our mower conditioner off on a new CIH SCX 100 or a DCX 131 discbine. Wondering if I could get some advice from you all.

We ve got a mess of hay to deal with its down, wet, tangled. and very heavy!

[HAY MAKER]

[katrina]

There the shits if you have any sand. Neighbor had one and traded it off before the first seaon was over..........

[SDSteve]

I bought a scx 100 this year. I have no big complaints. I asked the salesman about a disc-mower and he talked me out of it. He said in short hay it doesn't cut well. He only had sold one disc-mower and the company had to buy it back because it wouldn't cut short hay. I know short hay isn't a problem for you this year but it might be next year. I also have some rock and wonder if it would handle rocks very well.

[Kato]

We've heard the same thing.

At the same time though, we're going crazy trying to plow through wet tangled undergrowth in the alfalfa fields. Took my Hubby two days to cut 20 acres. Keeps plugging up, and then the hay keeps making big clumps that are going have a tough time drying. He's going to move to a field on the hills that's a little dryer, and then come back to this one and try again.

Maybe you've got a neighbour with a discbine that might help out? We've been considering talking to some ourselves. It would be cheaper than buying equipment, and you can see for yourself if you like it or not.

[katrina]

What about Rouch sickle bar mowers??

[sp]

I run 4 disc mowers and would imagine a discbine would cut about the same. They will cut short grass, but the trick is to keep the blades sharp. I pull a gas operated welder mounted on a trailer which furnishes me electricity. By using a 4 1/2" side grinder I can sharpen the blades in the field, if they need it. The other trick is to make sure the blades aren't so worn the corners are rounded off. Sharp or not, they won't cut very well.

My other experience with them has been hitting an abandoned well head casing really tears them up.

In my opinion, the disc mowers are best in high moisture areas.

[Manitoba_Rancher]

They broought the discbine and dropped it off for me to use over the weekend. Sure will cut, was cutting badly tangled and wet alfalfa at 6 miles an hour. Just not sure how it will work when we get into where there is stones.?

[waterloo_boy]

had two units demoed a few years back, a Vicon and a Deere,by the time I was finished a 20 acre field with light stone both cutterbars needed all blades replaced. They just can't work where there is stone; I ended up buying a standard Deere moco but went with nonclog guards. You break more knife sections than with a full guard but still within reason, you do however travel at a much slower speed than a discbine. A discbine really makes a difference where there are "mole hills" that plug a standard guard bar. One more thing is the definition of "stoney fields", had a neighbor who swore his discbine had no trouble cutting in a rocky field then did a bit of "custom cutting" for someone, then immediatly traded the machine. He refused to admit to the damage done but his father later acknowledged what a mistake it had been; what I think is light rock is not the same as the next guy.

[JD6320]

[quote="Manitoba_Rancher"]They broought the discbine and dropped it off for me to use over the weekend. Sure will cut, was cutting badly tangled and wet alfalfa at 6 miles an hour. Just not sure how it will work when we get into where there is stones.?[/quote
MB,
Set the cutting height to the highest setting for stoney fields,should prevent most stones from damaging the blades. I will never go back to a haybine after buying a discbine(KUHN).

[Manitoba_Rancher]

Both tractor and discbine are stuck in a low spot right now. going after we have a bite to eat to try and pull it out.

[greybeard]

Next time you are our cutting hay off the plugged crimper or auger, with the bugs bitting and the sweat dripping, consider that you can replace a gearbox on a NH for less than $500 if you don't roll your rocks. Blades are less than $2 each and cut heavy hay even when dull.
I can see light hay with rocks being a problem, but then you can see the rocks in light hay. Lift over them.
A vee rake makes a 13' the perfect width in 1.5- 2 ton hay.
No reel and no auger.
I was a bit worried about going to a narrower unit but the disk cutter is a way more productive in heavy hay country.