# Which discbine



## oliver1955 (Jan 7, 2015)

Finally going to upgrade to a discbine from a sickle mower. Looking at a used New Idea 5312 or a John Deere 946. Both are in good shape and have been gone through by the dealer. The Deere costs a little more, I tend to buy off brands because they're cheaper. Both my Agco and JD dealers are close, though the JD dealer is a little better as far as parts on the shelf. Haven't been able to find anyone with experience with New Idea. What does everyone think the better mower would be?


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## G&GFarms (Dec 31, 2014)

id say go with the jd


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## discbinedr (Mar 4, 2013)

I'll second that although the Deere will cost you a small fortune if the cutterbar fails. I know a few guys with 5312s and nobody seems really happy with them. They're a bit light in the cutterbar especially in the drive . These are two very different machines. The Deere is much heavier overall and has a single gearcase cutterbar while the NI cutterbar is modular with individual gearboxes at each disc. The modular design contains damage to one unit instead of potentially ruining an entire cutterbar. That being said, the modular design has more wear points and is higher maintenance.


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## Chessiedog (Jul 24, 2009)

Had a New Idea bought new was a 5212 I think 12 foot wide anyway . I bent a roller in it some how .Traded it for a new NH 1431 I've had no problems with it 6 or 7 years I've had it .


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## carcajou (Jan 28, 2011)

If a 946 frags be ready to take out a bank loan to fix it. If you don't have rocks you may be ok.


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## oliver1955 (Jan 7, 2015)

Sounds like the general opinion is for the JD, other than the fact that it's expensive if it breaks.

Thanks


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## Maxzillian (Sep 11, 2014)

I'd go with the JD as well. The 5312 is a little light for a 12 foot center pivot, in my opinion. It uses the same cutterbar as the smaller 9 foot mowers (which AGCO still builds today) and the 3 point mowers (which AGCO built up until a year or two ago). It's not a bad bar, but compared to other 12 foot mowers I wouldn't treat it as rough or expect as much capacity.


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## oliver1955 (Jan 7, 2015)

Would a 120hp tractor, oliver 1955/ JD 4320, be enough to run a JD 956 moco? Does anyone know the actual physical width of the machine. Need to know if it will fit through some of my customers gates.

Thanks.


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

Over all width is 14.7 ft. with optional trailer it is 9.7 ft. 120 hp would be on the low side but would do it. Seeing your from Indiana I would assume you are not pulling hills with it. Get some wet ground and it will push you around.


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## Chuck (Dec 14, 2014)

I would go with the deere. Does it have trilobe rolls in it ? My 946 has trilobes in it,,, they work exstreamly well.


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## oliver1955 (Jan 7, 2015)

This one's got the impellers on it. I would prefer steel rollers, but I like everything else about the machine


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

oliver1955 said:


> This one's got the impellers on it. I would prefer steel rollers, but I like everything else about the machine


To me, conditioning system is non-negotiable. If steel rolls is what you want, I'd recommend continue searching until you find them.


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## oliver1955 (Jan 7, 2015)

I've never used an impeller conditioner before, I lean towards rollers cause that's what I've always had. My basic understanding is that impellers are for grass, rollers for alfalfa. However my local dealers say as long as they're adjusted correctly an impeller will work fine in alfalfa. I like the idea that you can't plug impellers like you can rollers. I'm split about half on grass vs alfalfa hay. There certainly seem to be way more used impeller machines than rollers in my area for some reason


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## Chuck (Dec 14, 2014)

Last year the local Jhon Deere dealer did a comparison ,, impeller vs trilobe. The hay was cut, tedded, and rake at the same time. The hay cut with the trilobe was 8 to 14 percent dryer than the hay cut with the impeller . The tri.lobe crushes the stalk the entire length. These rolls are 10,000 $ more on a new machine. There are farmers in Hanover PA that use these rolls.


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## JMT (Aug 10, 2013)

A neighbor bent a roller on his conditioner and the repair cost was so high it drove him to impeller on his next machine. Now, if he has extra tall extra thick forage, he looks for a neighbor with rollers to cut. The impellers get wrapped and can't handle it. He runs a John Deere, not sure which model.

He was running a rubber roller, not the tri lobe.


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## oliver1955 (Jan 7, 2015)

I had a bent roller on my first sickle machine. It vibrated every nut and bolt out of that stupid machine. never again!


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## TJH (Mar 23, 2014)

While I can't speak of the conditioners, a lot of guys around here bought New Idea disc mowers when they came out-didn't take long for them to get rid of them.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I have used impellars in alfalfa and they do work OK(adjust agressiveness down)....but rubber rollers work better....but not by a real wide margin. Impellars work in grass best....and are better in grass than rubber rolls....but not by a wide margin. So, if I baled mostly grass I would buy impellars....if I baled mostly alfalfa, I would buy rubber rollers.

Regards, Mike


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## PaCustomBaler (Nov 29, 2010)

Vol said:


> I have used impellars in alfalfa and they do work OK(adjust agressiveness down)....but rubber rollers work better....but not by a real wide margin. Impellars work in grass best....and are better in grass than rubber rolls....but not by a wide margin. So, if I baled mostly grass I would buy impellars....if I baled mostly alfalfa, I would buy rubber rollers.
> 
> Regards, Mike


I agree, it's whatever works best for your situation.

When I was a teaching assistant for the undergraduate Forage Management class at PSU, I conducted an experiment with students on rubber rolls, steel rolls, and flail/impellers and various degrees of aggressiveness. We conducted it on straight alfalfa (unfortunately didn't have enough time to do one on grass). There were slight differences between the conditioners, but they were very minimal. As long as you had the machine conditioners adjusted for alfalfa, similar leaf loss and drying times were seen by each conditioner.


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## oliver1955 (Jan 7, 2015)

Thanks everyone for the info. Haggled with the JD dealer and got him to come down on price a little. Told him I'd take it. Supposed to be delivered sometime next week. Looking forward to mowing hay this year now that I've got a disc mower!


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## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

Chuck said:


> Last year the local Jhon Deere dealer did a comparison ,, impeller vs trilobe. The hay was cut, tedded, and rake at the same time. The hay cut with the trilobe was 8 to 14 percent dryer than the hay cut with the impeller . The tri.lobe crushes the stalk the entire length. These rolls are 10,000 $ more on a new machine. There are farmers in Hanover PA that use these rolls.


They need to extend these type of tests. Yes test which one dries faster. But than bale each one seperate and feed test each one. That way you can compare dry down to feed value.


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