buying a new hay mower?

[jdg]

I've read through a few of the threads back in the history, but wanted some advice.
Looking to replace a rather old Morra 3-point hitch disc mower, which has held up well, but is an absolute pain to hook up and get the pin to lock in to travel mode. Cuss worthy. I was wondering if they make a 3 point hitch model that is easy to hook up by yourself, or if i should just consider a cart or tow-behind. (Tractor is JD 7330, so heft isn't a problem) I was leading towards a Claas or Kuhn after reading threads and talking to neighbors, but am open to advice. I cut about 50 acres of grass hay or baleage, and will be cutting 20-70 acres of Ryegrass, Oats, and or forage Sorghum in the future.
I had also considered a mower conditioner, but wasn't sure it was necessary.

 

[dun]

FWIW my take is go for acart and and conditioner. My disc mower "used to be" a real pain in the butt to connect until I made new parking legs for it that keeps it at a better level for connecting it. The neighbor has a cart/caddy for his mower and it's even easier but he needs more room to manuever his then I do. The conditioner will cut a day from your drying time and when the weather is unpredictable it opens more windows for getting the hay in. For sorgum a conditioner is almost required to get it dried down before it spoils.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

I like disc mowers, but with what you are wanting to do you probably need a conditioner. Either way I would buy a Kuhn.

 

[bigbull338]

if i was you id get the caddy an mower at the sametime.because when you hook it up takes 5 mins to drop the pin in the hitch an plug in the hydro hose.doing so will cost you about $14,000 so you might find a good used pull type for that.

 

[jdg]

I certainly agree the conditioner would be advantageous making hay and cutting the Sorghum, but i suspect i'll be making more baleage than hay. This will be the first year we bale Forage Sorghum, we've grazed Pearl Millet in the past, but are experimenting with BMR Forage Sorghum after a neighbor's successes. I know Ryegrass and Oats will figure heavy into the equation though. I borrowed a moco from a neighbor last year and we windrowed the hybrid bermuda pretty tight and the drying time didn't seem to improve much. I suspect because of the smaller windrow.

What about the difference in a trailed mower vs. a 3-point on a cart? Is transport width the main reason to go with the cart? Wouldn't the trailed mower but a little more user friendly and less prone to repairs?

If a Mower conditioner is to be considered, would the Kuhn be a better choice than a John Deere? We have a good service department at our local JD dealer. But i would prefer to buy something without a lot of service needs.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

We have a great John Deere dealer, and new holland dealer that sells Kuhn, there both good so If it was me I would probably buy the Kuhn, but it would be close between the 2.

 

[Cabo]

I'm not sure about the trailed mowers but Kuhn makes the John Deere 3 point hitch mowers, my brother bought a John Deere 265 and under the green paint is orange and it is exactly the same as my Kuhn 600 Gen II Hd. I think the local Kuhn dealer told me that he would sell a trailed Kuhn for about $14,000. If you decide on a conditioner, I would definately get the disc conditioner,JMO.