# 1209 John Deere mower conditioner question



## Rooster Ridge Farms (Jan 9, 2011)

Ive recently purchased this 1209 mower conditioner and know nothing about hay or cutting it. Ive planted a field and its starting to come up, meanwhile Im rebuilding the mower that looks badly worn. Ive purchased a new bar with all new sections and now am debating on how many gards to replace. some are badly rounded but others are only slightly and are not bent,, Having never used this Im wondering what I can get buy with. I was also wondering how tight the crimping rolls should be together ? right now just sitting there it has about a 1/4 inch gap between them.


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## Toyes Hill Angus (Dec 21, 2010)

the rolls should never touch each other, the gap should be around the 1/4 inch that you have now, possicly less but not alot. ass far as the guards go. unless you are opposed to it, replace them all with a new knife and then you are good to go.


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## Rodney R (Jun 11, 2008)

You might find that the rolls are not round -you might have a 1/4 gap at one spot, but only 1/8 at another spot - you have to do a complete revolution to make 100% certain. By my way of thinking, 1/4 would be getting real close to too wide, but 1/8 is too close. I wouldn't go much under 1/4, but I wouldn't let them go much over that. The new knife that you have - is it all riveted, or bolt on sections? You for sure what bolts. If it has rivets, take it back and get one with bolts. If the guards are rounded off, they are probably wore out. The cutting action occurs between the knife and the guard - the bottom of the knife has to be sharp (like new ones are) and the guard has to have a nice edge as well - if it is rounded off, it is shot and cutting will be difficult. You should get about 3-4 knives out of the life of the guards. So the guards do last longer, but not forever.

Rodney


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## Rooster Ridge Farms (Jan 9, 2011)

Hey thanks, thats some really good info, and makes me feel better about the rolls. My new sections are bolt on and now Im really considering just replacing all the guards. Just so I know what I have and If I have a problem when I start using it I'll know its not because I was cheap! Can you give any advice on how to set the guards and hold downs ,, like amount of slop ect.? Im putting new ware plates on and have to buy all new hold downs also how to set them and were and how many I need? The ones on here now are very few and all different kinds The gentleman I purchased this machine from used it without the skid feet on the bottem . He was cutting grass and alot of dirt mostly! It just wore everything out! But amazingly I watched him cut a patch befor I bought it and It never missed a blade of grass. not sure how it cut so well but the grass was only about a foot high and not super thick. Well like I said befor my only knowledge is just a little self proclaimed commin sence and Im green to the hay business. any and all info is usefull and really appreciated!


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## Rodney R (Jun 11, 2008)

We used to set the hold downs with a hammer. If it was too high, then we'd smack the sucker to press the sickle down. If the guy was cutting a lot of dirt that may have wore things pretty fast. You don't want too much tension on the blade - you wanna be able to slide the thing in and out, but it's going to take some effort. The last foot might be pretty hard? I have a lot of experience with a 12ft NH, but that had two 6 ft sickle from each side, so that's 3 less feet. Those go kinda tough towards the end, and the older ones had a 12ft one piece sickle, and that took 2 guys. You do wanna make certain that the guards are all in a straight line across - not that a few are higher or lower than the rest. In that case, something is bent, but that's no big deal, as a long pipe is all that is needed on each portion of the offending guards. Just bend them to the right spot. You do need a long pipe, as they do not go easy.

Rodney


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## Larry (Mar 28, 2011)

My new idea disc mower condtioner calls for a 1/16" gap at the closest point. It tells you to measure on each end and in the center.


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