Drum mower

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gobcows27

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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 think this is my 3rd summer with one. I have a Kuhn. Appears to be a remake of the PZ 170. Not the fastest. I haven't actually timed myself cutting hay with it. I usually cut 25 acres at a time. Takes a while, but it gets done in a day. The kids do the hay cuttin, and I'm sure it could be done faster. I just say all that, because it sounds like time is a factor for you.

I like the simplicity of it. Not much to break.
I also like the economics of it. Much cheaper than all other options.
Blades can be changed in a couple of minutes as well.
I've owned conditioners, and disc mowers. When I need another one, it'll be a drum mower.
 
We use a drum mower and I have to say it's by far the most trouble free piece of equipment we own. Blades and grease is all we have ever had to do with it.

Ours is 6.5ft model and its heavy when sitting straight back to the rear in transport position.

The limiting factor on cutting speed with our drum mower is bumps in the field. It will cut as fast as you are willing to drive.

The only downfall to a drum mower is it windrows the hay between the drums. This has to have the Tedder ran over it to get dry. Which we have to do regardless of what we now with.
 
The biggest downside to drum mowers, for me, is the limited cutting width. I would think if time is the biggest factor, a disc mower would be the better option.
 
kentuckyguy":12799a4b said:
We use a drum mower and I have to say it's by far the most trouble free piece of equipment we own. Blades and grease is all we have ever had to do with it.

Ours is 6.5ft model and its heavy when sitting straight back to the rear in transport position.

The limiting factor on cutting speed with our drum mower is bumps in the field. It will cut as fast as you are willing to drive.

The only downfall to a drum mower is it windrows the hay between the drums. This has to have the Tedder ran over it to get dry. Which we have to do regardless of what we now with.

I should have mention tedding. I tet twice anyway, and always have. You want get by without one if you have a drum mower.
 
Thanks everyone! Sort of the reason we are considering one is the fact that we tedder twice as it is with our mower conditioner so we didnt consider that a down side, the price brand new is super nice as well. We do live in PA and none of our fields are flat and many contain bumps.
 
Next question is when mowing can you raise machine to exit a row while its running or do you have to shut it off? Or do you leave it down and running and just keep going?
 
Bigfoot":3v541fsj said:
I think this is my 3rd summer with one. I have a Kuhn. Appears to be a remake of the PZ 170. Not the fastest. I haven't actually timed myself cutting hay with it. I usually cut 25 acres at a time. Takes a while, but it gets done in a day. The kids do the hay cuttin, and I'm sure it could be done faster. I just say all that, because it sounds like time is a factor for you.

I like the simplicity of it. Not much to break.
I also like the economics of it. Much cheaper than all other options.
Blades can be changed in a couple of minutes as well.
I've owned conditioners, and disc mowers. When I need another one, it'll be a drum mower.

I have heard they are not as good on slopes as a disc mower. Is that true?
 
Bright Raven":1tob1p9f said:
Bigfoot":1tob1p9f said:
I think this is my 3rd summer with one. I have a Kuhn. Appears to be a remake of the PZ 170. Not the fastest. I haven't actually timed myself cutting hay with it. I usually cut 25 acres at a time. Takes a while, but it gets done in a day. The kids do the hay cuttin, and I'm sure it could be done faster. I just say all that, because it sounds like time is a factor for you.

I like the simplicity of it. Not much to break.
I also like the economics of it. Much cheaper than all other options.
Blades can be changed in a couple of minutes as well.
I've owned conditioners, and disc mowers. When I need another one, it'll be a drum mower.

I have heard they are not as good on slopes as a disc mower. Is that true?

They're heavy. That may very well be the case. I'd rather transport one folded back on our hills,than a disc mower sticking straight up.
 
gobcows27":11v5ca9s said:
Next question is when mowing can you raise machine to exit a row while its running or do you have to shut it off? Or do you leave it down and running and just keep going?

I just leave mine running, and in contact with the ground.
 
I have looked at mowers on Craigslist with the idea that if I could do my own mowing it would be easy to get a rake and then just pay someone to come in and roll my hay.

The drum mowers are 40% less than a good disc mower. I see new ones for under 4K.
 
Bright Raven":3qmevlxv said:
I have looked at mowers on Craigslist with the idea that if I could do my own mowing it would be easy to get a rake and then just pay someone to come in and roll my hay.

The drum mowers are 40% less than a good disc mower. I see new ones for under 4K.


Thats honestly why we were looking into them prices are great compared to disc and mower conditioners
 
We've had ours for around 14 years now, and it's been a solid machine. We go over some rough ground, and it's been very durable, and has cut anything we've run it through. We can mow with it the same groundspeed as our disc mower. As others have said the only downside would be the cut length and wind rowing the crop some. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another if the need arose. There's lots of lower hp tractors around here, and they are a great fit.
 
I like the the drum mower windrows hay when the ground is wet. I usually cut one day and allow the ground to dry good before tedding the next day.

I really feel spreading the hay out on dry ground helps.
 
Bigfoot":35penzc0 said:
kentuckyguy":35penzc0 said:
We use a drum mower and I have to say it's by far the most trouble free piece of equipment we own. Blades and grease is all we have ever had to do with it.

Ours is 6.5ft model and its heavy when sitting straight back to the rear in transport position.

The limiting factor on cutting speed with our drum mower is bumps in the field. It will cut as fast as you are willing to drive.

The only downfall to a drum mower is it windrows the hay between the drums. This has to have the Tedder ran over it to get dry. Which we have to do regardless of what we now with.

I should have mention tedding. I tet twice anyway, and always have. You want get by without one if you have a drum mower.

Do you cut your sudex with s drum mower?
The general consensus here is you have to have a mowco .
 
I have a Reese drum mower as a backup to the discbine. Only downside is the limited cutting width at 8' wide. The Reese is very heavy duty and there are only a couple of bearings on the drums, and a few belts to wear out so it will run forever.
 
callmefence":1l2wv5te said:
Bigfoot":1l2wv5te said:
kentuckyguy":1l2wv5te said:
We use a drum mower and I have to say it's by far the most trouble free piece of equipment we own. Blades and grease is all we have ever had to do with it.

Ours is 6.5ft model and its heavy when sitting straight back to the rear in transport position.

The limiting factor on cutting speed with our drum mower is bumps in the field. It will cut as fast as you are willing to drive.

The only downfall to a drum mower is it windrows the hay between the drums. This has to have the Tedder ran over it to get dry. Which we have to do regardless of what we now with.

I should have mention tedding. I tet twice anyway, and always have. You want get by without one if you have a drum mower.

Do you cut your sudex with s drum mower?
The general consensus here is you have to have a mowco .

Yes. I usually need 3 days of sunshine after cutting for sudex to dry. Baled some Johnson grass (different grass, but same concept) after 2 days this year. No mold so far.
 

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