# ???? about disc mower



## Mferguson3525 (Oct 20, 2011)

I am considering buying a disc mower. I have never used one and dont know a lot about them. I have 2 tractors. One 50 HP and one 100 HP Masseys. I am thinking about a 7-9 foot cut. There are several dealers close by. I am located in Central NC. Any advice would be great. Right now I am using a haybine and have picked up some more land and will be cutting about 50 acres of grass this year.


----------



## RockmartGA (Jun 29, 2011)

According to the Kuhn website, minimum hp for the GMD700 (9' mower) is 50 hp, so you could use either of your tractors. That said, in thick hay, you would probably be able to maintain higher ground speed with the 100hp tractor. Mowers - KUHN North America.com

Around our area, it is almost exclusively grass hay and just about all you see are disc mowers.

All of the name brands make quality mowers and for me, I buy value, so it would really depend on the deal you could work out with the respective dealer.


----------



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I agree with Rockmart, you should be able to use both tractors unless you get into some really heavy grass hay then you would want to use the larger tractor. I would definitely go with the 9 foot cut....just by adding the 2 feet will make your cutting time nearly 1/3 faster and the 100 hp tractor will be able to run in a higher gear than the 50 so you will probably come out in the end burning roughly the same amount of fuel.

Regards, Mike


----------



## hay rake (Dec 31, 2011)

my first question would be are you looking at new or used. if you are thinking used be very careful. the older gear to gear cutter bars can be a nightmare. most all new equipment is good or it would not still be on the market. i am also going to assume that you are going with a conditioner. these are opinions and like they say everyone has one. i love new holland mowers, to me there is nothing bad but that's me. i have used nh, gehl and new idea. these are all older models and i don't know the exact specs or who is building each mower today. the new holland stands out to me in every way except cutter bar strength. gehl made a box around the cutter bar that kept it safe. i did not like the way it cut but i have seen them take hits that would break a new holland in half. as for power a new holland uses more power than any other mower but you will still run one with 100 hp. i don't know why this is and always thought it was my imagination until i was at a dealers and the salesman asked a customer what horse power his tractor was. the guy said 85 and the salesman said ok that leaves out new holland we'll have to go with new idea. when i asked him why he gave me my answer " i don't know why i just know it is". everything i have said here is based on having conditioner rolls. if you are looking for a mower only i have no experience with any of them. in my opinion you will never regret the move to disk no matter what you get. also with all things being about equal your closest dealer that you like is usually your best choice. hope this helps gary


----------



## Edster (Feb 23, 2010)

hay rake I have the NH 1411 10'-4" cut with rolls If I remember right recommended HP is 85. As far as HP hogs JD always seemed to come out on the top of that list.

Rockmart--I agree I like the NH mowers. If all you are cutting grass I would look for one with a tine conditioner rather than rolls. THe newer NH have a feature called Shock Gaurd which is well worth it. Mine didn't have it when I bought it but it is upgradeable. That will be one of the first things to do this spring.


----------



## hay rake (Dec 31, 2011)

edster i could run a 10 foot gehl with 65 hp but i would not want less than 100hp on our 1411. we have a 7460 we run with 140 but i don't know how low i could go. actually going up to 160 hp this year. i have never ran a john deere but have been told that if you put a new holland and a john deere together you would have a hell of a mower. was thinking of trying a jd when we bought the 7460 but got a deal on it that i could not refuse so never tried it. gary


----------



## Hand&Hand Farms (Feb 5, 2011)

We run a GMD600 Kuhn with a Case/IH 585 which is 50hp, the only problem it makes the frontend light. Be prepared to add some weight to the front of 50hp if you go with a 9' mower. If your only cutting 50 acres an 7 to 8 foot will serve you well. We have the GMD600 and a JD260 (which is made by Kuhn) that between both of them cut about 400 acres at least 3 times a year.


----------



## Edster (Feb 23, 2010)

Hayrake--I'm running the 1411 with a Massey 1100, 95HP. I honestly don't think I would go any lower than that. THe massey doesn't have any issues at all, and I do have a few hills in my fields.

I've got a friend around the corner that has a 9' JD with tine conditioner. I've used it with the Massey and wouldn't want to do it on a regular basis. It definetly eats more HP than the NH. This is an older one so I think it was made by Kuhn.


----------



## Barry Bowen (Nov 16, 2009)

Generally speaking discbines are horse power pigs, the more the better, 100HP is a good starting point for really run a discbine. Disc mowers are different and do not need that much power. I have an early red model 5209 New Idea. Great machine when you learn how to run it properly! First few years ran it with 80 HP, and frankly that was not enough to get the speed out of the discbine that it was capable of. In 07 I went to 125 HP, and have never looked back. Cutting speed 6-8 MPH, and the same fuel as the 80 HP at 4-6 MPH. One of the design features I really like about the 5209 is that there are no belts or chains any where in the machine. The draw back is that the heavy gear box sticks out on the left side of the machine. Greasing the individual cutter pods is a pain once a year, but comes with the territory. Cutter bar will not go dry on one end like a Gehl or Kuhn will on a hill side. You need a 12' gate to get this 9' machine through comfortably. Cutting grass, other than fescue and rye, keep the cutter bar adjusted as high as possible a good 4 inches. It take modifications to a NH to be able to get that high as they are really ment more for alfalfa. Flail conditioning is far superior in grass, and rollers are better in alfalfa. Flails take more HP, but do the better job.

If you look at a used machine with rollers, you should be able to get under the hood and turn the discs by hand. If they do not turn very very easily, move on to the next one as some thing is wrong. Flail machines will not turn easily like the rollers so be more carefull there.


----------



## Mferguson3525 (Oct 20, 2011)

I have not made up my mind on new or used. It will be a disc mower and not have rollers. I cut fesxcue and orchard so I think I can get by with out one. I need to upgrade from my old haybine and with picking up extra land this year and working a fulltime jod speed is a factor. Thanks for all your replys and they will help my choices.


----------



## 52Trap (Feb 23, 2012)

Personally we have 2 disc mowers, both are John Deere's which are made by Kuhn. One is an 8ft and the other is a 9'2. I wouldn't use anything with less than 80hp, I know the dealer sites will tell you less hp and if your cutting some coarser material you can get by. But if your cutting some fine stemmed grasses like second crop blue grass etc I've had the 9 footer lug a 100hp tractor. Two pieces of advice I'd give you no matter what brand you decide upon 1. Keep sharp blades on it. It will reduce your hp and allow you to mow at a higher speed as well. 2. Absolutely only buy a mower that has a segmented cutter bar! The older disc mowers have a totally gear driven bar meaning if you hit something and bust a gear it usually causes damage all the way down the bar and can easily cost 2 to 3k to fix (sadly I speak from experience.) Where as the segmented cutter bar you can replace the individual assembly usually around a couple hundred bucks. Alittle more cash upfront but way worth it in the long run.


----------



## T & R Hay Farms (Jan 19, 2012)

4 years ago we bought a NH 617 Discmower and it has been great. As stated before make sure if getting used, you get the right type of bar setup. Most manufacturers I believe now have where the bar is an assembly of individual gear boxes. We decided to go with this because we cut mostly ditches and at the angle the we were worried about the oil just staying at the bottom, but with the individual gear boxes, this ensures all the gears will be getting oil. It has been a very reliable mower as well. We have had no problems (Well besides my dad running into a big rock in tall grass which took one gear box out), nothing 700$ wouldn't replace though :/. But As for hp i would suggest using the 100HP tractor because we first ran our IH 656 which was right around 60HP and that was the minimum requirement and it would work it really hard in think hay. Its better to have a little extra HP to spare and not work the tractor so hard.

Good luck with whatever you decide to purchase.

Best regards,
Richard Lewis


----------



## blueriver (Oct 19, 2009)

I run 2 Frontier DM 1160's ... rated per the MFG for 40 hp I have used a 43 hp and a 55hp ... in thick Bermuda I have to shift down the 43 hp ... 90% of the time no problems.

As said keep good sharp blades on them and know the field ... obstacles are dangerous.


----------



## wylde77 (Sep 29, 2011)

Barry Bowen

"Cutter bar will not go dry on one end like a Gehl or Kuhn will on a hill side"

You are completely wrong about gear to gear cutterbar machines going dry on a hillside. The cutterbars in a KUHN are gear to gear. They are actually made for hillside operations. The reason why they have a specific oil level is so that it doesn't turn into a gear pump and blow the cutterbar up. When you power up the disc mower (KUHN or GEHL for that matter) the oil turns into a mist in the cutterbar and lubricates the entire unit. You can even look on KUHN website and see they say it has range of 35 degrees up or down. Think about the concept of a gear to gear cutterbar, it is the exact same as a gear pump only that its repeated multiple times. So you think a gear pump won't circulate oil??? WRONG!!! Bad information isn't good for anyone.


----------

