# New Holland 7230 or JD830?



## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Decision time guys. Theres so many brands & models out there.
I kind of have it narrowed down to a NH7230 side pull with steel rollers or a Deere 830 Moco center pull with flails.
Both are in the $15-$17 k price range.

I know the 2 types of conditioners are different, but lets put that aside a moment since I'll only be doing grass hay anyhow. Assume both are in "good to very good" condition.
Without brand loyalty, which one would you pick?
The NH side pull will virtually center behind the tractor for roading. I realize the Deere can cut on both sides of tractor, too. I'm leaning towards the Deere.


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## askinner (Nov 15, 2010)

One vote for the Deere, only based on the fact it's a centre pull, I wish I had bought one. The 7230's are a nice machine though....


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## brandenburgcattle42 (Sep 6, 2012)

Flails are better in grass hands down


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## Colby (Mar 5, 2012)

New holland all day. They cut better and have better cutter bars and more features compared to a deere like the hydro tilt and deere has manual tilt. 
Plus steel rollers in grass is best you can get.


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## Colby (Mar 5, 2012)

The only thing deere has going for it is center pivot but I still don't like it. Would never own another cutter besides NH just because of what they are. 
Even though I wouldn't mind having a Massey razor bar


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Does Colby get two votes for his posts? Deere.....but that's a regional thing I'm sure, see an awful lot of NH up there


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Having not run either one if it were me I would go with the New Holland. Except for the fact the Deere is center pull I think the New Holland is an all around better machine. Does it have the drawbar swivel hitch if so that would be another bonus. I may be wrong but I believe the oil in the cutterbar on the Deere is one whole unit rather than individual ones like the New Holland.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

JD, They are both very good mowers. I have neighbors that have both and they are satisfied. They both have 3 year cutterbar warranties. They both have their own form of cutterbar protection. You can get rubber rolls, steel rolls, and flails in both. Don't let any salesperson kid you, flails are best for grass. My next door neighbor has flails in his JD mower and it dries a full 1/2 day and usually more before my NH rubber rolls in grass. Flails are NOT for alfalfa though. I think in your situation to go with whomever will give you the best service on the product and if the vast majority of your haying is going to be in grass, I would definitely go with flails....it will save your bacon at some point because of faster dry down and the weather.

Regards, Mike


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## Colby (Mar 5, 2012)

If I'm not mistaken JD is belt driven and NH's cutter bar is gear driven. Straight to the gear box and a shaft down to the cutter bar. 
I looked at a JD before purchasing and nh is a so much simpler machine


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## gradyjohn (Jul 17, 2012)

First I am a JD loyal person. I have had NH495 and several JD Moco's. I have had steel rollers (now), neopreme (rubber) rollers and a Flail. You could run fast enough to give me a Flail. The center pivot on the JD is great. I have a 946 and I love it. I bale coastal, haygrazer and sometimes milo stalks. When I had a Flail it took forever to dry out.

If I was you I would go with the NH7230.

That said, if you could find a JD830 with rolls then I would choose that for the center piviot.


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## gradyjohn (Jul 17, 2012)

First I am a JD loyal person. I have had NH495 and several JD Moco's. I have had steel rollers (now), neopreme (rubber) rollers and a Flail. You could run fast enough to give me a Flail. The center pivot on the JD is great. I have a 946 and I love it. I bale coastal, haygrazer and sometimes milo stalks. When I had a Flail it took forever to dry out.

If I was you I would go with the NH7230.

That said, if you could find a JD830 with rolls then I would choose that for the center piviot.


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## gradyjohn (Jul 17, 2012)

First I am a JD loyal person. I have had NH495 and several JD Moco's. I have had steel rollers (now), neopreme (rubber) rollers and a Flail. You could run fast enough to give me a Flail. The center pivot on the JD is great. I have a 946 and I love it. I bale coastal, haygrazer and sometimes milo stalks. When I had a Flail it took forever to dry out.

If I was you I would go with the NH7230.

That said, if you could find a JD830 with rolls then I would choose that for the center piviot.


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## SVFHAY (Dec 5, 2008)

Everyone knows my opinion on flails. I have had both brands recently, they're both good. I am about to give you the best advice ever given on this forum if your married .......

Let your wife pick it!


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

SVFHAY said:


> Everyone knows my opinion on flails. I have had both brands recently, they're both good. I am about to give you the best advice ever given on this forum if your married .......
> 
> Let your wife pick it!


Now that is the best advice I have heard.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

SVFHay,

Actually, I dont know your opinion on flails. What is it?

I thought the belt drive system was a little odd, too.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

gradyjohn said:


> First I am a JD loyal person. I have had NH495 and several JD Moco's. I have had steel rollers (now), neopreme (rubber) rollers and a Flail. You could run fast enough to give me a Flail. The center pivot on the JD is great. I have a 946 and I love it. I bale coastal, haygrazer and sometimes milo stalks. When I had a Flail it took forever to dry out.
> 
> If I was you I would go with the NH7230.
> 
> That said, if you could find a JD830 with rolls then I would choose that for the center piviot.


Grady, I can understand your aversion to John Deere (impellars) flails when cutting Milo or Haygrazer....Impellars are designed specifically for grass....and JD says legumes, but I am thinking they mean other than alfalfa. In the JD online brochure it states that Impellars "are not recommended for thick-stemmed(hay grazer) or cane-type(milo) crops over 5 feet tall". For those type of forages it recommends either the urethane or the steel rolls. I am not surprised by the difficulty drying that you experienced. JD 3430 stated in his original post that he would "only be doing grass hay" and that is why I wholeheartedly endorsed impellars/flails. You are 100% correct in stating that rollers are a good all around choice for conditioning milos, haygrazers, and grasses.

As far as the drive system, I was not for sure what it was and according to the JD website the 600 series is gear driven, the 800 series is shaft driven, and the 900 series is powerband belt driven.

Regards, Mike


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## gradyjohn (Jul 17, 2012)

Vol said:


> Grady, I can understand your aversion to John Deere (impellars) flails when cutting Milo or Haygrazer....Impellars are designed specifically for grass....and JD says legumes, but I am thinking they mean other than alfalfa. In the JD online brochure it states that Impellars "are not recommended for thick-stemmed(hay grazer) or cane-type(milo) crops over 5 feet tall". For those type of forages it recommends either the urethane or the steel rolls. I am not surprised by the difficulty drying that you experienced. JD 3430 stated in his original post that he would "only be doing grass hay" and that is why I wholeheartedly endorsed impellars/flails. You are 100% correct in stating that rollers are a good all around choice for conditioning milos, haygrazers, and grasses.
> 
> As far as the drive system, I was not for sure what it was and according to the JD website the 600 series is gear driven, the 800 series is shaft driven, and the 900 series is powerband belt driven.
> 
> Regards, Mike


No offense Mike, but it wouldn't do a good job on the Coastal. I am sure I was somewhat misguided by the dealer and it was a few years back. I do mostly Coastal now. They later told me it was for alfalfa?


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## Colby (Mar 5, 2012)

If that was the case you'd see alot more flail use in Texas. All we run down here is steel or rubber rollers. Flails are far and few in between. I don't know if y'all's grass is different up there or what.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Just got a really nice offer to buy a new leftover 2012 7320 discbine with a nice finance deal. 
Ends up cheaper than a $17k used one. Comes with warranty and steel on steel rolls. 10'-4" cut. 
Suddenly everything got more complicated.


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## SVFHAY (Dec 5, 2008)

JD3430 said:


> SVFHay,
> 
> Actually, I dont know your opinion on flails. What is it?
> 
> I thought the belt drive system was a little odd, too.


I like your new avatar pic. Look over on the "discbine buying advice" thread for my 2 cent, not a fan.

I had the neighbor with a flail cut for me when my machine was down. Very heavy orchard-timothy-alfalfa mix and plenty mature. Not impressed on drying but what surprised me was the ragged look of the bales. Many more cut edges, more of the inside whiteish part of the stem visible. Maybe it was the conditions or the settings on the machine. 
A friend says he can walk through a hay auction and tell which was cut using flail conditioning. I realize this is nit picking but I have to make the horsey folks happy.


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## Colby (Mar 5, 2012)

Less than 17k for a new machine? You can't beat that.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

gradyjohn said:


> No offense Mike, but it wouldn't do a good job on the Coastal. I am sure I was somewhat misguided by the dealer and it was a few years back. I do mostly Coastal now. They later told me it was for alfalfa?


Hey, no offense taken Grady...I run a New Holland conditioner myself....but like I said, my neighbor that I border about 1/2 mile with can cut at the same time.....he cuts his side with JD flails and I cut my side with NH rollers and his hay(same variety) is always ready before mine.

Regards, Mike


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Colby said:


> I don't know if y'all's grass is different up there or what.


Quite a bit of difference Colby, as we have alot of cool season(Orchard, Timothy, Fescue) grasses and up in JD3430's country, that is about all they have in grasses.

Regards, Mike


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Colby said:


> Less than 17k for a new machine? You can't beat that.


No, what I meant was there's a dealer that can finance the "new" (2012 leftover) NH7230 machine with such a low rate, it ends up costing the same as a $17K used machine.

BTW: I think the NH machines are belt driven, too. It says "4 HB V-belt" in the brochure.


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## 6125 (Sep 14, 2009)

Colby said:


> Less than 17k for a new machine? You can't beat that.


Sounds cheap, but isn't that model a flail machine? Only one flail machine around this area (northeast Pa), and he wouldn't fess up to whether it was better or worse than his previous roll machine. I think he bought it because it was cheaper.

Driving through the local NH dealer's lot last week, probably 6 to 8 new discbines in crates. None are flail. All rubber rolls. And mostly grasses in our area here. That tells me something.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

SVFHAY said:


> I like your new avatar pic.


Thanks. Its my favorite tractor along with the 7 series Case-IH Magnums.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

6125 said:


> Sounds cheap, but isn't that model a flail machine? Only one flail machine around this area (northeast Pa), and he wouldn't fess up to whether it was better or worse than his previous roll machine. I think he bought it because it was cheaper.
> 
> Driving through the local NH dealer's lot last week, probably 6 to 8 new discbines in crates. None are flail. All rubber rolls. And mostly grasses in our area here. That tells me something.


Sorry I messed up the numbers (old age/dislexia, etc.) It's a 7230. The 7230 can be a rubber or steel roll machine. This one is a steel machine.
Thanks.
The flail impeller is a 7330.


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## askinner (Nov 15, 2010)

JD3430 said:


> BTW: I think the NH machines are belt driven, too. It says "4 HB V-belt" in the brochure.


I think you're right JD, I was looking at one at the dealer the other day, and thought I saw a belt drive on it. The good thing about belt drive though, is that it is a lot more forgiving on the driveline if you hit something, and in sharp turns with a non swivel hitch drive. Takes a lot of the harmonics out of the drive which can only add up to longer life/less wear.


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## Colby (Mar 5, 2012)

Conditioning system is belt driven. Driveline is shaft driven


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## Colby (Mar 5, 2012)

I mean cutter bar is shaft driven


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## 6125 (Sep 14, 2009)

JD3430 said:


> Sorry I messed up the numbers (old age/dislexia, etc.) It's a 7230. The 7230 can be a rubber or steel roll machine. This one is a steel machine.
> Thanks.
> The flail impeller is a 7330.


Well then, that is a good price. If I were buying used, it would be 10-13,000. If I was to spend 17,000, i'd do all I could to buy new, or the machine better be in like new shape. But that's just me. I don't know how you could go wrong with that deal you've had offered to you.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

6125 said:


> Well then, that is a good price. If I were buying used, it would be 10-13,000. If I was to spend 17,000, i'd do all I could to buy new, or the machine better be in like new shape. But that's just me. I don't know how you could go wrong with that deal you've had offered to you.


As good of a deal it is, it's still more than I want to spend. Sort of wanted a center pivot and a little bigger machine, too.


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## sethd11 (Jan 1, 2012)

Throwing in my 2 cents. We have a 7330 (flails). Used to have older haybine with rubber rolls. Almost all our hay is a grass mix, exept for 30 acres of alfalfa. Absolutely love the flails, cut our dry time back on grass hay about 1/2 day. It also goes through alfalfa well and i really dont seem tohave much leaf loss. 100% of our hay goes to horse cutomers and i never get any complaints about stalky leafless aflalfa. We have had it three years with no issues. Machine is super easy to clean and grease. Only thing i wish it had was a center pivot. Lol


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Not having a center pivot seems to be a recurring regret.


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## R Ball (Feb 26, 2013)

JD, I have the NH 7230. It done a good job now for a couple years. Bought it on 4 years same as cash. My only dislike is in first cutting with my T5050 and I have to slow down due 
To horse power. However my fields are not that smooth anyway. I usually mow at 6.5 mph.
Takes about 4.5 -5 hours to mow 40 acres. Not bad I guess. 
I liked my 616 and 615 disc mowers just as well though. Let my son talk me into the upgrade.


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