Experience with Vermeer hay mowers...

Dad's talking like he might go for buying a new mower this fall or winter... he stopped by a Vermeer dealer and liked what he saw. 

 

I went over to the Vermeer dealer and talked to the guy.  He was really nice and pulled out basically half the parts I'd need to build a cutterbar onto the parts counter for me.  I like the fact that all their parts are cast iron and seem to be very stout-- The module housings seemed nice and strong, as did the spacers between them, and the design looked well engineered.  I've been FAR more impressed with the design of MODULAR cutterbars than the regular "stamped-steel oil-bath idler gear-on-gear type gearcase bars on mowers like the Kuhn's, etc.  I know those work fine, that MOST of the manufacturers out there are using a gearcase and idler-gear daisychain arrangement for their mowers, but from a longevity standpoint, I just don't like them.  I've run a Kuhn mower for a guy and it did a fine job, but I've read enough about the stamped steel gearcases rusting through and stuff like that to realize that they're not going to have a long, long life without expensive repairs down the road.  I was HIGHLY impressed with the heft and stoutness of the Vermeer/Lely bar parts... I like that their turtles are a little lower profile than the New Hollands and that the "high hats" just bolt onto the disks-- they're all universal.  The cast hubs and recessed seal grooves in the hub also impressed me.  AFAIK, there's only really two choices for a new mower with a MODULAR style cutterbar-- New Holland and Vermeer/Lely. 

 

What I'd like is folks who've got one or had one, what their experiences are like-- what are things about the mower that you liked?  Things you didn't like?  How was maintenance?  Hard to repair or easy?  What about the driveshafts in the bar itself.  We discussed the old problems they had with the driveshafts twisting into, as he put it "ornamental iron" and being hard to take apart-- he said that they've addressed that-- the new mowers have a hex shaft and each one only runs through a couple modules or something.  Anybody have an corroborating or conflicting information on that? 

 

If you've had a Vermeer or Lely cutter, I'd really like to hear your input.  I like the New Holland design, that the bar can be split between any module and the adjacent spacer, but I've wondered about the strength, since basically the bar is being held together at each module by two bolts.  The Vermeer, being stacked like a disk gang with a long through-bolt like a disk gang axle bolt, would seem quite a bit stronger, but more difficult to service, especially on inner modules.  I liked the looks of their skid shoes and rock guards on the front of the bar, and the bar design in general... it just seemed HEFTY!  A far cry from the thin stamped-steel everything of the Kuhns and other gearbed bar mowers I've looked at...

 

Good and bad, tell me all ya know! 

 

Later!  OL J R

Experience with Vermeer hay mowers...