# Krone AM323S 3 point Disk Mower?



## CRE10 (Sep 28, 2013)

We run a New Holland 617 in smaller fields now for accessibility where it would be tough getting a moco in. It's been a good mower, but getting some age so we need to trade for a new one the next time I have the tractor and mower on the trailer in a couple weeks. Should I go back with another NH or the Krone? What are the pros and cons of the Krone? It's about a foot more cutting width, but never been around them or know much about them.


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## TJH (Mar 23, 2014)

Krone, best disc mower on the planet period!


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## bluefarmer (Oct 10, 2010)

New holland,individual pods, totally rebuildable


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## Colby (Mar 5, 2012)

Krone all the way. Shaft driven instead of the belt like the NH. Major plus down here. You won't beleive how quite they are either. Alot Easier to hook up if you don't have a caddy. I don't care much for how they have the blades set up, putting the bolt through the bottom and nut on top but that wouldn't stop me from buying one.


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## rajela (Feb 15, 2014)

> . I don't care much for how they have the blades set up, putting the bolt through the bottom and nut on top


 Colby how do all the others mount the blades????


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

I like my M7030 Vermeer disc cutter. It has individual pods & quick clip for blade pin no wrenches required to change blades just a special tool.


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## rajela (Feb 15, 2014)

Tx Jim said:


> I like my M7030 Vermeer disc cutter. It has individual pods & quick clip for blade pin no wrenches required to change blades just a special tool.


Vermeer, Krone, Kuhn, NH all make good mowers.


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

Krone, Kuhn, Vicon, most others-- "gearbed" design using a row of idler gears running side-by-side to transmit power down the bar to the "turtles"... Krone puts their "turtle" drive gears/bearings forward of the main idler gears, Kuhn, Vicon, all others (that I know of) put them BETWEEN the idler gears... most belt-drive from PTO to gearbox, except Krone as previously mentioned, which is shaft drive... (Not sure why that's "such a big advantage") Krone's "hub protection" uses a shear pin (roll pin IIRC or cotter pin) linking the turtle hub with the gear shaft... if the turtle hits a rock or something, the pin shears and spiral threads push the turtle UP out of line of the neighboring turtles, preventing a "chain reaction" type damage from a sheared, out of time turtle from being hit by the ones next to it... Kuhn mills a groove in the gear shaft the turtle is bolted to, so that when a turtle hits something, the whole shaft simply SNAPS OFF and tosses the turtle out the back... replace the whole bearing/gear/shaft assembly for about $240 bucks, versus replace the roll/shear pin on the Krone after turning the turtle "back down the threads" into position. "Old style" Kuhn (non-top service hubs with the single nut) hit something and it breaks, you rebuild the ENTIRE CUTTERBAR GEARBED... Most others, depends on make/model; some have cutterbar protection, some don't. BTW, JD 3 point mowers are Kuhn "top service hub" new style painted green. Frontier and some others are "old style non-top service hub" Kuhn machines painted in their colors... (cheapy IH mowers as well IIRC).

New Holland, Vermeer, high end CaseIH, Lely, maybe some others-- individual "modular" design cutterbars with individual gear drive units for each turtle, driven by connecting shafts between them (New Holland, high end CaseIH, which is just a rebranded New Holland mower in CaseIH colors) or a single long cross-shaft with the gearbox units "stacked" on it with long cross-bolts to hold them all together into a cutterbar (Vermeer, Lely (which makes Vermeer mowers IIRC). Either are individually rebuildable, if a given turtle bearing/gear goes out. Each holds their own lubricant for each module. If a bearing or gear fails, ONLY THAT MODULE needs to be rebuilt, and the contamination of metallic debris is CONTAINED IN THAT MODULE, and cannot cause a "chain reaction" of damage and destruction of broken bits of metal running between the gears up and down the gearbed style cutterbars running in a common oil sump. Modules won't "starve for lubricant" running continuously on slopes like common-sump gearbed-style bars can, with the high end of the bar only getting "slingoff" oil from the other gears running in all the oil that ran to the low end of the bar... NH/CaseIH bar protected by "MowMax" shear hubs (newer mowers, older ones can be refitted with them if desired) that use hubs with only a few splines that "shear off" when the turtle hits a rock/obstruction, preventing damage to the module/cutterbar... hubs cost $40 and about 20 minutes to fix, versus about $240 bucks and a half hour to hour to fix Kuhn... only drawback is the turtle remains "inline" with the ones next to it, instead of "spiraling up a threaded hub" out of the way of the surrounding disks like Krone... If a module gear/bearings fail or needs rebuilt, NH/CaseIH just unbolt from the spacer to either side of the damaged module and can be rebuilt or replaced in short order. Vermeer/Lely modules have to be unbolted from one end, then "unstacked" and slid off the long "arbor bolts/driveshaft" running the length of the cutterbar, so damaged inside modules require "unstacking" the entire cutterbar to get to them.

That's pretty much the pros/cons of the different makes/styles of mowers as I've come to understand it from my own research... LIke you I'm thinking of replacing an aging mower and have been looking at the different makes/models and options, as well as parts and design philosophy...

FWIW, I'll go NH when I get one most likely... I'd go Krone before I'd go Kuhn on a gearbed style common-sump bar, but I like the NH "modular" design MUCH better... One other thing I've noticed... the NH has GREASABLE pivot points between the midframe (connecting the three-point hitch and the gearbox on the cutterbar) and the gearbox/cutterbar mounts themselves... everything else I've seen (Kuhn specifically but many others as well) use simple ungreasable PLASTIC BUSHINGS between the midframe and the cutterbar pivot point... Greasable is always better in my book than PLASTIC...

Later! OL JR


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## rajela (Feb 15, 2014)

Like I said form someone that has actually used them...............Krone, Kuhn, Vermeer and NH all make a good quality product.


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## CRE10 (Sep 28, 2013)

Thanks Luke. I have the 617 now, but if I go that style again it will be Case just bc I like that dealer. They also have the Krone though is why I asked on here. I need to look at it in person and see prices and whatnot to decide.


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## TJH (Mar 23, 2014)

Oh, make no mistake, Krone will be at the top on price, but you also get very good quality in return for your investment.


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

CRE10 said:


> Thanks Luke. I have the 617 now, but if I go that style again it will be Case just bc I like that dealer. They also have the Krone though is why I asked on here. I need to look at it in person and see prices and whatnot to decide.


Have you been pretty happy with your 617??

The CaseIH MX92 is the same as the 617 if I'm remembering the numbers right... looked at one at our local CaseIH dealer and they're the exact same mower as the New Hollands, just in IH red paint instead of New Holland red... Picked up a couple sales brochures and evidently CaseIH does sell an "economy model" but they don't say much about it. From the photos of the cutterbar, though, it looks identical to the older Kuhn "non-top service hub" models like the one sitting junked in my pasture... LOL

Only Krone dealer around here is our local JD dealer... he carries a few Krone mowers. Interesting that he doesn't stock the JD mowers... he had ONE on the lot, which I presume he ordered for someone because it wasn't there too long. Had a look at it, and they're the new style top-service hub Kuhns painted JD green.

I've run the new style Kuhns for a local guy who needed some extra help running his equipment... they're a nice mower, but when I started looking at parts costs I about choked... Kuhn used to sell the ball bearings to replace between the gear and disk hubs, but no longer... now they sell the entire assembly only-- claim that nobody can tighten the things up correctly and get the right preload on the bearing... more like they want to sell a $240 gear/bearing/bearing housing/shaft assembly rather than sell those parts separately for $20-40 each... There's a youtube video showing their "drive protection" shafts on the mower in operation, and showing what happens when they hit a water pipe... 



 The shaft twists off under the disk where it's milled down with a slot from about an inch in diameter to about maybe half an inch in diameter... shearing off the turtle and tossing it out the back saves the gears and the cutterbar from shredding all to pieces, but it's a $240 fix (IIRC) to buy the new drive gear, shaft, bearing, and hub assembly to bolt into the bar...

New Holland Mow Max hubs with shearable splines are like $40 to replace and don't require "breaking into" the cutterbar to replace, keeping dirt/grit out of the oil...

Old-style Kuhn bars used on "cheapy" mowers like Frontier, you have to gut the bar to do ANYTHING on them...

Just makes better sense to me with the NH system...

Later and best of luck! OL JR


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

And in fairness to the others...

Krone...






New Holland...






CaseIH...






Lely...






Kverneland...






Major...






Vicon...






In fairness to all...

Later! OL JR


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## CRE10 (Sep 28, 2013)

Ok I stopped by and looked and now I'm confused. On the Krone site it says that the "easy cut 320" is the Euro model the the AM323S is the US model. Basically on tractor house it's filled with 323's and a handful of 320's. My dealer has probably 10 of the Easy Cut 320's. What's the deal with that? Based on pictures and seeing the 320 in person I kinda liked the frame on it better than the 323.


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## TJH (Mar 23, 2014)

The AM series is the bottom of the line no frills type thing, EC starts the mid-point suspension and has one less disc than the same width as the AM. The new ECR has the same stuff as the EC but has a different headstock and has the ability to change ground pressure from the cab if you chose that option. The AM is several thousand less than either EC models. It is a good mower as I have a AM 283 that is 18 and still going. Now whether the AM has the new protection stuff I don't know, mine don't. But I don't care either as I don't mow in rocks and my hay fields are picked up every spring, cause anything the mower hits usually breaks a cab glass anyway, and one time of that was enough for me, so they are kept as clean as I can maintain them.


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## CRE10 (Sep 28, 2013)

TJH said:


> The AM series is the bottom of the line no frills type thing, EC starts the mid-point suspension and has one less disc than the same width as the AM. The new ECR has the same stuff as the EC but has a different headstock and has the ability to change ground pressure from the cab if you chose that option. The AM is several thousand less than either EC models. It is a good mower as I have a AM 283 that is 18 and still going. Now whether the AM has the new protection stuff I don't know, mine don't. But I don't care either as I don't mow in rocks and my hay fields are picked up every spring, cause anything the mower hits usually breaks a cab glass anyway, and one time of that was enough for me, so they are kept as clean as I can maintain them.


Cool. I'm seeing that a little now. Their site is tough to navigate and compare all the models. My dealer definitely has the Easy Cut 320 though which appears to be mid level. It looks pretty nice. I just figure if I trade on a new 3 point may as well get bigger and better than just go back with what I got. I prefer a pull type, but we have to have a 3 point too for the smaller stuff and even just fitting through gates on some farms.


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## TJH (Mar 23, 2014)

CRE, Krone is good equipment, It last, parts are high but you won't need many, in the 18 years I've ran mine other than blades, one set of bearing in one hub, a cylinder seal kit, and a aftermarket curtain, that's it. You almost have to try to tear one up to do it. I'm not saying others are inferior, but to me Krone is the mower I'll ever own. If you can take the time to compare you will see what I mean. And talk about a nice clean cut, you will wish your lawn mower did as good.


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## CRE10 (Sep 28, 2013)

We'll see what the prices look like. I just hate trading a 617 plus paying money for the indentical mower only newer and Case color. I kinda like the Krone, but we'll see. I've cared for my 617 well, but it's been used a lot and on some rough stuff. I'd like to trade for a new one so I don't have my pants down with a failure having to put money in it or not getting any money on trade.


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## CRE10 (Sep 28, 2013)

OK for the Krone 320 we're at $11,400. The Case with shear hubs is $10,800. They said 5k trade on my old 617.


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## TJH (Mar 23, 2014)

Well, I know what I would do, but it's your cash!


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## Colby (Mar 5, 2012)

KRONE!!!!!


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## CRE10 (Sep 28, 2013)

The verdict is in...

Krone. Going to cut my farm this week then swap mowers when I'm trailering to the other farms next week.


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## krone.1 (Jul 28, 2013)

CRE10- You have very good taste in disc mowers! 

Thank you!


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## TJH (Mar 23, 2014)

You will be happy with the Krone. If you've never used a mower without an inner shoe you will like that too.


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