# Deere moco setup



## mx113 (Jul 20, 2011)

Dealer delivered a new Deere 630 moco this week. I've never owner, nor have I ever used a mower conditioner before. Been going through the manual and making adjustments to get it ready to go to the field on Wednesday. I need help on setting up the platform float springs. As it came from the dealer, 1 side had about 10 inches of thread showing, and the other side had about 8 inches of thread showing. I don't imagine that is right, but I really don't know. Any input would be appreciated


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

mx113 said:


> Dealer delivered a new Deere 630 moco this week. I've never owner, nor have I ever used a mower conditioner before. Been going through the manual and making adjustments to get it ready to go to the field on Wednesday. I need help on setting up the platform float springs. As it came from the dealer, 1 side had about 10 inches of thread showing, and the other side had about 8 inches of thread showing. I don't imagine that is right, but I really don't know. Any input would be appreciated


I will go measure mine and see....the float is supposedly around 125 pounds of lift to move it.

Regards, Mike


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

From the top of the square cap on the spring to the underside of the top frame there is about 10 1/2 " of threaded rod on each side. Mine follows the ground well without bouncing so I think that would get you close.

Regards, Mike


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## mx113 (Jul 20, 2011)

Thank you sir. I appreciate you taking the time to do that. Jim


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

mx113 said:


> Thank you sir. I appreciate you taking the time to do that. Jim


Always more than willing to help out a fellow Tennessean. You live in some beautiful country down there.....always thought that was beautiful farmland down around Calhoun on I-75 along the river system. I could live there.

Regards, Mike


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

Mine are not set the same . I made the adjustments myself. The 630 Moco is new to me also. My thought was that the left side is heavier than the right so the left side needed more spring tension to have the same ground pressure as the right . Just my thought , I could be wrong though.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

JD set mine up and delivered and came out and demonstrated and checked my flotation with me when going over the unit. I did not see in the manual anything specific on flotation settings other than a general setup. It is my opinion that the threaded rods should be adjusted equally so when the header flexes it will do so evenly....not more on one end versus the other.

Regards, Mike


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## mike10 (May 29, 2011)

Find yourself a flat area where you can swing the machine into the field position and lower the head to the ground. Manually lift one side and then the other. Adjust the springs on each side until you reach an acceptable weight. That could be 120 lbs or less. I like to set them lighter. As long as the head does not float over the crop you can set it as light as you like. The lighter the head is set the less skid shoe wear and the faster response when an obstacle is encountered in the field. It would be unusual if both springs were set to the same length when you were done adjusting. One side is generally heavier because of the drives.


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## discbinedr (Mar 4, 2013)

The heavier side usually has heavier springs as well so that might throw you off a bit as well.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

I read the manual, but just breezed over it....needed to get to cuttin to learn with OJT I guess. I'm still playing with mine. I would think left side would be heavier because of the gearbox, angle drive etc. for that reason I would tend to think the left may need more adjustment, but idk....still playing with it....
I played with the other one a bit more than I wanted to today and that may help in my understanding a bit.....it seems as I'm cutting a field today, I noticed the ground was getting disturbed a bit more than normal on the outside. So I visually check the machine from the tractor seat and noticed my spring had no tension. Upon further inspection, the spring had completely come off of the hook that is attached to the cutterbar. The only way to reinstall it is to back the tension bolt all the way out and hook the spring back and then thread the tension bolt back in and crank it back down. It happened twice today while mowing about 30 ac. It seemed to happen when lifting the machine, but it was very hard to tell exactly when it did it and replicate it consistently from the operators seat. My suspicion as to the cause is poor assembly. I'll get pics of it tomorrow it there are some spacers that don't appear to be installed correctly allowing the spring to travel to close to the chains and related hardware. I changed blades today and someone either from the factory or at the dealer (dealer says factory, go figure) installed the blades upside down. Cuts much better with the blades on correctly  so I don't have much faith in the assembly people/persons wherever they may be. And another thing, I found a couple of 5/16 bolts laying on top of it when I picked it up, not a good sign. But on the plus side, I could feel the difference in the seat of my britches that something wasn't right, but the visual clues gave me a better idea that something was amiss......I think it's a learning process to set it up correctly with many adjustments in between. Most of my fields are fairly smooth, except for the occasional land mine, but I have one that needs some work, it appears that the undulations that one has in their fields has a direct effect on how light or heavy one would want to set it. I have it fairly light I guess because on that field it seems to miss a bit of grass right after a swell in the ground. Seems you want it light enough to do the job and not heavy enough to leave visual reminders that you just cut......my observations


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

Did you get Flails or Rollers?

The float is also going to be dependent on how smooth your ground is and how fast you're going IMO but ours is set on about 110lbs. of lift on each side. If you hit a bump and it stays up too long you're going skip over some crop. We have rocks and run High Stubble shoes. The dealer that they bought the NH 7220 from offered no support as far as setup on the first cut.

Check out this video and you actually see ripples or waves in the crop that is already cut, it's either floating over bumps or rocks. I think it maybe set just a bit light. All the hay ground here is under tillage.


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## JMT (Aug 10, 2013)

How are you measuring the float weight (110 vs. 120lbs.)? Are you weighing it somehow or are you just estimating/guessing.

I just adjusted mine in the field to get it to run how I wanted. Pretty much as light as it can be without much bounce.


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

somedevildawg said:


> I changed blades today and someone either from the factory or at the dealer (dealer says factory, go figure) installed the blades upside down. Cuts much better with the blades on correctly  so I don't have much faith in the assembly people/persons wherever they may be.


Every cutter I've bought new has come with the blades "upside down", makes me wonder if it really isn't right side up!


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## CBarM (Mar 1, 2015)

I got one just like it I keep more tension on the gear box side cause it heavier but it's just my opinion. I lower it all the way down then try to pick the cutter up and feel for the right weight. You can also lower it until the cutter bar hits the ground and stop. Rather than going all the way down until it stops. This will also have different tension on it.


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

When y'all say upside down are you saying the blades have beveled edge on the bottom?


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Mine had long edge of bevel on top.....arrows pointing direction of rotation were on bottom. My blades would not swing in the bolt shoulders, not at all. Not sure why other than the way the blade is bent, perhaps it binds, didn't really understand why they wouldn't move, I put em in the right way and they swung freely....


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## JMT (Aug 10, 2013)

My JD730 moco owners manual recommends putting knives on with the long side up (arrows on bottom). Not sure why that is recommended but they operate fine that way. It also says that when they dull, they can be flipped so the long side is down. They work either way in my experience.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Two things in the 630 moco manual....

The platform float is recommended to be adjusted with a float force of 130-150 pounds.

NEW KNIFE: "Install knife with bevel side of cutting edge facing towards ground."

REVERSING WORN KNIFE: "When the initial cutting edge is worn the knife may be reversed on the same disk at the same location with bevel side of cutting edge facing upwards."

Torque to 110 pounds.

Make sure knife rotates freely on the bolt.

Regards, Mike


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## azmike (Jan 4, 2015)

We want a new MoCo, running an 820 sickle bar mower that seems to be a bit problematic. I adjusted using my body weight and a shove, 120 pound son can't. The mower will leave small wildlife sanctuary areas, green farming I tell Patrick!


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## azmike (Jan 4, 2015)

The 820 is out...history...gone...Don't want to spend the time or $ on a rebuild. We are getting more than we paid for it on trade-in. A 2014 H7220 is on it's way today!


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

With the bevel down it looks to me like that would create more blow down of thin crops. I've never seen a lawn mower blade have it's bevel on the bottom side. The set we put on the H7220 at the beginning of the season still look good and the bevel is up and we have a lot rocks but we are running high stubble shoes. Personally I think the more lifting action of the crop the better. With the bevel down the blades would probably get less rock damage but if they cut better but last a little less time so be it.

Like I told my wife a set blades cost $30-40 which about the cost of 1 round bale so if you're leaving enough crop behind to make even 1 bale you're losing out. I've seen guys running disc with blades that are basically nubs worn completely round on the tips of the blades. It just doesn't make economical sense to run with dull blades.


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

Grateful11 said:


> Like I told my wife a set blades cost $30-40 which about the cost of 1 round bale so if you're leaving enough crop behind to make even 1 bale you're losing out. I've seen guys running disc with blades that are basically nubs worn completely round on the tips of the blades. It just doesn't make economical sense to run with dull blades.


Not only that but it draws more HP which in turn is more fuel.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Grateful11 said:


> With the bevel down it looks to me like that would create more blow down of thin crops.


I have not noticed any problems with blow down at all with my JD moco......actually I cannot recall of a JD moco operator having a complaint about blow down in thin crops in a pulled machine.....but, it very well could be and that I just was not aware of it. I have heard various complaints about some JD SP machines.

Regards, Mike


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