Haying Equipment

[Intrepid1]

I am looking at trading in a mower conditioner on newer equipment. One salesman says a disk bine is better. The next says the sickle type mower contioners is.
Suggestions..comments..

[ado089]

I you have rocks you definately don't want a disc.

[Intrepid1]

Well we have rocks but I try to rent a roller and smooth the field. I currently have a Case IHC 8370. It tends to plug up a lot and requires digging out. The conditioner doesn't open up so takes a long time to unplug. Looking for alternatives. New ones so pricy.

[rook]

I could not imagine going back to a sickle type.

However, a neighbour who gets some hay custom silaged says the custom operator prefers a sickle as it puts less dirt (from mole hills) into the swath and then through the chopper. Not sure if this applies but it might be worth thinking about

[ado089]

I know on the older untis the trouble with the disc system it that because all of the gear boxes are tied together if you have trouble with one, hitting a rock for example, they usualy all pile up and at $1,600 each that can get quite pricy in a hurry, however if mole and gopher hills are more of your concern you'll probably like the disc better. It's been a while since I've looked at the disc units but for the longest time 12ft was as wide as they came and that makes for far too much round and round for me. Mind you if the rain, or lack there of, is anything like last year we'll be haying the 30ft swather again.

[Intrepid1]

I have lots of gophers and moles. The mole hils tend to come later so if one can cut earlier it is a bit easier. But a lot of sections tend to be replaced in each field.
One thing I always wonder about..for the best feed quality one must treat the hay gently and not lose leaves, but now everyone rakes and leaves the best on the ground.

[ado089]

I'm starting to think the best way to make money with cattle is to sell them and use all the time I put in to them to get a job that pays. Is grazing corn an option for you? We put 80ac into corn a few years back. That did two things for us, it allowed us to put almost 300ac back into grain production and removed the need to spend a bunch of money to upgrade haying equipment, not to mention it created alot more time to go fishing in July and hunting in November.

[Intrepid1]

I live in SW Alta in the foothills. THere arn't enough heat units to grow corn here. In order to get away from sponsoring machinery dealer vacations, most of the equipment has been sold and the fields planted down to grass.
Machinery renatal and custom work are good but at times when dealing with weather and time it can be necessay to have the equipment at hand.

[perfecho]

Have used both and would not go back to sickle. I like the Heston and there are ajustments if mole hills are an issue. They help some. You can cut at twice the speed, a shower or heavy dew does not stop a disc bine, although an occasional rock can wipe out a window. Wouldn't use one without a cab. Good luck!

[Intrepid1]

Well tractors without cabs are ok when getting on and off all the time, but the rest of the time one wonders how to live without them. All the ads for shiny new equipment like balers have theequipment sitting there with no dust on them despite a field full of bales. I dont wash my truck that much!

[joedales]

How many acres should you have before you buy your own haying equipment?

What make good business sense?