Macdon a30s..

[tweaker101]

Well haying season in getting near and we are looking for a new mower conditioner. Noticed a macdon what your thoughts on these machines..good or bad?

[smcgrath76]

Get a discbine with flail conditioner and you'll never want a haybine header or conditioning rolls again.

[tweaker101]

Sean, in regards to the fail conditioner what happens to the leaves off alfalfa plants and other legumes?...Ive always heard that it knocks them off.

[greybeard]

As for a demo.
See for your self.
NH makes good hay mowers.
That's coming out of a fairly green yard.

[T.N.T.]

Advantages of discbine,pile of fuel and power to run,not enough dirt in swath use discbine that will cure that.Really can't figure out attraction to them besides they'll cut anything,as far were concerned there junk!

[T.N.T.]

Advantages of discbine,pile of fuel and power to run,not enough dirt in swath use discbine that will cure that.Really can't figure out attraction to them besides they'll cut anything,as far were concerned there junk!

[smcgrath76]

We have not found an issue with the flail conditioner even in second cut alfalfa, as long as you set the conditioner hood carefully. We even use it on fairly ripe greenfeed with good results. Disadvantage of a discbine is fuel use per hour. Advantage is fuel use per acre. When we converted to the discbine last year, we cut more acres and dropped our fuel bill significantly (even factoring the drop in fuel prices). Speed of cutting and ability to handle various cutting conditions is great. Opening fields at 8 MPH makes up a lot of ground in a hurry. We topped out at 10MPH due to horsepower limitations. I am not sure if the roller conditioner version can handle the crop feed at those speeds.
As for getting dirt in the swaths, try changing the angle of the cutterbar. Another disadvantage is the risk of cutting more than you can get baled up. BIG advantage is the cost of knives (can change the whole length for just over $20). Guards on our haybine were more than that. Rocks can be tough on them - especially large deadheads. Be aware that the cutting units (turtles and gears) are not cheap.
We would be hard pressed to go back to a haybine, particularly when I consider my labour. Saving several days of my life cutting is a good tradeoff in our operation where we have one tractor, one operator and limited time.

[tweaker101]

Thanks for the replies, we are kind of limited with HP as our tractor is only 110hp, I thought I would ask the group on agriville as appossed to getting a field demo...

[smcgrath76]

If that is the case, then the MacDon is a very good machine.

[nicolaas]

if you use a discbine, better roll all your hay fields. Always used a 9 foot discbine on a JD 4010. excellent machine, but sold it since I could no longer get parts. COuld cut lots in a day, raked the swaths together to bale.

[grassfarmer]

Amazes me how mowers have progressed over my time. Started cutting with 5'6" 3point hitch disc mowers in Scotland as they were big enough for the field size/steepness/rock population. I had a 9' disc mower there laterally that I thought could really eat up the acres.
Had a custom silage crew here last week with a MF triple disc mower conditioner set up - a 9' on front linkage with a 10' on either side. He cut 140 acres in under 7 hours! Getting that kind of workrate from a 180hp tractor is so many times more efficient than what we used to run with 70hp tractors. Land better suited to it here with bigger fields but lots of stones here too which we have to keep rolled.

[greybeard]

I consider the the discbine's biggest advantage is the dirt goes thru into the swath instead of laying on the knife causing the crimper to plug.
Don't miss those days of unplugging that crimper with the mosquitoes crawling around in the sweat on your back.
I run a 14' with a 85 hp 6400 JD.
Expect to cut about 60 acres/day every day.
Slower speed gives you a better chance with hazards like rocks and mole hills.