Best cheaper swather for flat cereals on clay soil?

[Partners]

Curious how do the 35' single knife drive headers stand up? Do you break the knife a lot in tough conditions compared to a double knife?

We have one.
Zero issues.

[AC man]

Curious how do the 35' single knife drive headers stand up? Do you break the knife a lot in tough conditions compared to a double knife?

The double knife drive is by far more superior over a single knife drive in tough conditions. Have experience from running two Honey Bee headers side by side, one with and one with out.

[furrowtickler]

Curious how do the 35' single knife drive headers stand up? Do you break the knife a lot in tough conditions compared to a double knife?

We have never had an issue either with the knife drive on the 5200 and it cut some pretty tough conditions last fall.
I am sure a double knife drive is better , but again like anything , how much money does one want to spend on a down graded crop ?
Most farms don’t have that extra $10,000 to $50,000 right now falling out of their pockets right now for much more expensive swathers that may not be any better. It’s not always better to spend more if you don’t have too , considering current grain prices.
But if one can find a deal , yes the double knife drive may be the way to go .
One thing too I don’t think mentioned yet is that in these wet ground conditions and flat crop , a 30 ft will follow the ground better than a 36 in most cases . On rolling land that will be an issue for wider swathers .

[Guest]

[QUOTE=furrowtickler;425978]We have never had an issue either with the knife drive on the 5200 and it cut some pretty tough conditions last fall.
I am sure a double knife drive is better , but again like anything , how much money does one want to spend on a down graded crop ?
Most farms don’t have that extra $10,000 to $50,000 right now falling out of their pockets right now

especially the way our falling numbers are falling in our binned wheat

[poorboy]

[QUOTE=caseih;425989]

especially the way our falling numbers are falling in our binned wheat

Care to elaborate on that? Changed after drying or just from sitting? Or elevators playing games?

[poorboy]

Couple more Massey swather questions:

On the older 9430 and 9435 series, I don't see many rotoshears. Do they not work, or did they not figure out how to plumb the hydraulics?

On the 9740 series, I see lots of rotoshears on the 5200 headers, so hope that means they work. I read that the DEF tank is in the way and the windrow catches it. Is this a big problem or just on the 36' headers and only once in a while?

30' vs 36' in the 5200 series headers. Is the reel and knife drive strong enough on the 36' to be cutting lodged cereals and canola? Ideally I would like a 36' swather, but if the used ones are more likely to be trouble prone, then I would stay with the 30'.

[AC man]

Have a lot of flat barley and wheat now with the 8" of wet snow. Lots of hills and all of it is wet sticky soil. The type of stuff you can walk anywhere you like when it is raining, but your size 10 boots turn into size 20 boots once it drys a little and gets sticky.

Had a little go flat last year and swathed some with a 35' MacDon M155. It struggled to follow the ground and not get all jammed up with mud. Thinking of purchasing another used swather to cut the crop this year and wondering what is the best one for cutting on the ground? Would a 30' cut better or even maybe I should be looking at a 25' and double swath. I normally just cut canola with the 35' MacDon and I am not sure if the machine is just that bad cutting on the ground or if it is the width of the header?

Would like to keep the price between $50 and $100K.

Close to me I see these options:

MacDon or Deere branded M100 or M150 with 30 or 35 headers.
Massey 9420, 9430, 9435, 9740 and 9760 models with 25, 30 or 36 headers
New Holland and Deere models with Honeybee Headers in 30 or 36'.

Had a Massey 9435 years ago with a 30' header and loved that thing, but mainly cut canola with it and that is much different than lodged cereals right on the ground.

Every time I have tried to just combine the lodged grain it seems to cost me a lot more combine hours and repairs from the rocks than if I just swath it and put up with the extra grain loss from under the swath that does not get picked up by the combine. Swathers sure don't follow the ground like the MacDon FD75 does on the combine.

You can probably find some older 25’ swathers that are a fair bit cheaper than any 30’. The 25’ will be your best for following uneven ground and yes double swath if you have the combine capacity. Double swathing saves you time with the combine. I have done a lot of double swathing straight up and down using a gps to have the swaths running the same direction.

[Quadtrack]

Couple more Massey swather questions:

On the older 9430 and 9435 series, I don't see many rotoshears. Do they not work, or did they not figure out how to plumb the hydraulics?

On the 9740 series, I see lots of rotoshears on the 5200 headers, so hope that means they work. I read that the DEF tank is in the way and the windrow catches it. Is this a big problem or just on the 36' headers and only once in a while?

30' vs 36' in the 5200 series headers. Is the reel and knife drive strong enough on the 36' to be cutting lodged cereals and canola? Ideally I would like a 36' swather, but if the used ones are more likely to be trouble prone, then I would stay with the 30'.

Had quite a bit of trouble with the reel drive on our 30’ 5200. Chain would break, driven sprocket comes loose, shaft attached to reel had issues. I would imagine the 36’ even more problems. It could all be beefed up/rebuilt to be better if you are so inclined.
The neighbors have endless trouble with their 36’ single knife. Put new guards, new knife often, and still seem to break it regularly.
The other significant problem with 5200 headers is the d****rs slip easy in wet, tough conditions. I think rubber drive rollers are available but they drive from the outside and roller diameter is too small, d****rs are not the ‘v’ guide type so if you plan/must cut canola in wet conditions, this is a serious shortcoming.
I tried to wrap the rollers in grip tape which helped a lot, but ultimately this is why I decided to send the swather down the road.

[Guest]

[QUOTE=poorboy;425990]

Care to elaborate on that? Changed after drying or just from sitting? Or elevators playing games?

Games i hope
And they wouldnt use falling numbers until this year
Now it is the gospel