Drum mower

[chevytaHOE5674]

My Reese is very heavy. It will stand a 2wd 100hp cab tractor up on the back tires without some serious weight up front. Also takes some power to turn.

 

[Texasmark]

Looking for anyone who owns a drum mower for quite a while now and what your thoughts are on them? Do they hold up well? Pro? Cons? Brands? We've used a IH 1190 mower/conditioner for years now, we mow a little over 50 acres a years and it's slow going, farming is not our day job and it starting to weigh down on us taking 4 or 5 hours to mow a field.

I have a 6' I bought from Small Farm Innovations online around the 2005 time line. Got tired of the sicklebars. Mine is probably too small for your aspirations but I understand larger ones are available with 3 drums as compared to my 2. Very rugged machines. I had a wet spring in 2014 and couldn't get into my "Gotcha Plus" (late maturing S+S) hay patch for quite a while. As a result it grew taller than the cab on my tractor (still small stems and no boots or seed pods due to late maturing hybrid) and it cut it clean as a whistle...have pics but not familiar with this site's loading technique....yet.

I forget the number of revs per min but it's very high producing excellent tip velocity and resultant cutting. Nothing really to fail. I run mine on my 65 hp 4wd tractor with FEL, not because it needs 65, but because of the side weight, when in the cut positon but for when not on the ground mowing, it needs a heavy front end, especially left side for counter balance. Blades are cheap and change out easily enough. Double sided so that you can swap sides and reuse a blade or do like I do and take a grinder to them just before mowing and hone 'em up.

Mine was just over $3k new. Few moving parts. Cut anything forward or backwards, wet or dry, in the water or out, ditches, roadsides, terraces, you name it. Does not clog period!

 

[dun]

We had a Reese and other then weight the darn thing ate belts from the get go and after 5 years sold it, still eating belts.
Much prefer the disc mower that we replaced it with

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

We had a Reese and other then weight the darn thing ate belts from the get go and after 5 years sold it, still eating belts.
Much prefer the disc mower that we replaced it with

My Reese is 10+ years old and still on the original belts. Up until 2 years ago it mowed 200+ acres a year. I have a new set of belts in a box for it just in case but never needed them.

Much prefer the 12' discbine but keep the reese as a backup because its stupid simple and have no doubt that if it sits for 10 years I could pull it out and be mowing hay within a couple minutes.

 

[dun]

We had a Reese and other then weight the darn thing ate belts from the get go and after 5 years sold it, still eating belts.
Much prefer the disc mower that we replaced it with

My Reese is 10+ years old and still on the original belts. Up until 2 years ago it mowed 200+ acres a year. I have a new set of belts in a box for it just in case but never needed them.

Much prefer the 12' discbine but keep the reese as a backup because its stupid simple and have no doubt that if it sits for 10 years I could pull it out and be mowing hay within a couple minutes.

The dealer could never figure out the problem. Replaced pulleys and bearings and they decided we would just have to live with it.

 

[gobcows27]

Thanks for all the info guys! Does anyone know of any dealers in or near Pennsylvania, and brands besides Reese? There's a place in Kentucky that called sweets that will ship and deliver for free, a bdr- 185 6ft cut (I think) for around $4299, is it a sweet deal? Thanks for any input!

 

[Texasmark]

We had a Reese and other then weight the darn thing ate belts from the get go and after 5 years sold it, still eating belts.
Much prefer the disc mower that we replaced it with

My Reese is 10+ years old and still on the original belts. Up until 2 years ago it mowed 200+ acres a year. I have a new set of belts in a box for it just in case but never needed them.

Much prefer the 12' discbine but keep the reese as a backup because its stupid simple and have no doubt that if it sits for 10 years I could pull it out and be mowing hay within a couple minutes.

The dealer could never figure out the problem. Replaced pulleys and bearings and they decided we would just have to live with it.

Were the belts rubbing on the shroud that encircles them, causing them to smoke?

 

[dun]

The dealer could never figure out the problem. Replaced pulleys and bearings and they decided we would just have to live with it.

Were the belts rubbing on the shroud that encircles them, causing them to smoke?

Nope. I thought it may have been that they were too loose but the dealer said no, that everything was fine. I wish I could get a hold of whoever has it now and see if they still have the same problem. But it could be like a Vicon baler that I put up with for 2 years. The subsequent buyers only put up with it for a year each. Now it's sitting in the back of a salvage dealers lot.

 

[Texasmark]

Very interesting. My problem was as I described and was nothing more than the sheet metal shroud wasn't properly aligned. How that happened who knows, could have been anywhere, could have been banged in the shipment over here. Mine is built like a tank and it's hard imagine a shev getting out of alignment, especially with 4 huge belts running parallel (to distribute the load) on the shame shafts.

 

[Hollis]

I bought a Zetor 165 last yr. Trouble free, mowed fast, way cheaper than disc mower. I have seen older 4 drum mowers but haven't looked recently for new 4 drum. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one and I do NOT Tedder anything. But my hay isn't very good. Haven't had a problem with curing.

 

[Johnnybar]

What Reese are you guys using that wheelies a 100 hp tractor? I have a 2070W and 3100 that my 57hp tractor handles easily. An occasional $10 bearing or $25 belt every 4-5 years is all they cost to maintain.