MF124/224

What are the differences between the two? I would assume the 224 is new and improved. I picked up a 224 last year in decent shape and even better low price

MF124/224

Good Feeling this week

Just finished selling all last years hay and already have 2018 probable harvest pre-booked with known customers.  Two days in the mid-70s this week and almost finished hammering out the rockoutcrops in the hay field, just in time to grade out after drying and getting seed down early march.  Feels Good to Farm

Good Feeling this week

Tub grinder....please help

Good day all

 

I need some help on this, bought this tub grinder but doesn't have any idea what make or model this is, the problem is when you are farming in South Africa some of the older implements thats imported from the US or Europe gets another name or number here .Best regards

Tub grinder....please help

Sprigging Coastal Bermuda

I have known of people who took fresh cut coastal grass and disked it in the ground to establish it. Which came to my memory when looking at a roller-crimper.  It is a roller with blades I think about three inches on it and could not help but wonder what kind of result you would get using that to press fresh cut coastal in the ground, then rolling the ground all in one step. Our count owns a roller-crimper that rent to farmers so cost would be small to try. 

 

https://rodaleinstitute.org/our-work/organic-no-till/organic-no-till-roller-crimper/  

Sprigging Coastal Bermuda

Hesston 540 round baler

I have a Hesston 540, actually rebadged to Case/IH.  I bought it over 5 years ago and could never get it to work right.  When starting a bale, every few bales hay will travel up the bale chamber and wrap the top roller, the one that presses against the rubber roller.  It gets jammed so bad it can take hours to unjam.  Right now the baler is sitting with the tailgate up where I left it a year and a half ago jammed so bad I can't even run it backwards with a big wrench.  I pick away at it here and there, but it kills my bad shoulders.  Last year I bought a 530 as an interim baler and used that for the season.

 

A couple of years ago it spent over 5 weeks at the regional Case/IH dealer.  I instructed them to go over it hitch to tailgate and find and fix anything wrong.  2 trips back and forth and it still didn't work.  They got several thousand dollars of my money and in the final analysis left me questioning their competence, but to be fair a lot of the work they did needed to be done.  But it still didn't work.  So I took it to a New Idea dealer that had an old time mechanic, and he found a bunch of things the other dealer missed, and he even came out and walked alongside while I was baling.  But there it is, sitting in the yard jammed up tight.

 

I've scratched my head plenty over it, and questioned my own operating ability quite a bit too.  But I can make round bales with the 530, so it isn't entirely me.  My latest session had me wondering about the belts.  It has the stock style Chevron belts but I'm wondering if they are just too aggressive for my native hay.  I've looked back when starting bales and actually seen hay being tossed or dragged up towards the top of the chamber when starting a roll.

 

Sorry to be so long winded, does anyone have any opinions on the matter?  I'm just stubborn enough to keep banging my head on it.  Thank you. 

Hesston 540 round baler

Share hay field

I am looking for someone to cut my field and neighbors field and to share the yield. I am in Oxford/Metamora area of Michigan.

Share hay field

JD disc mower conditioner models

For the past two years I have been saying that I'm going to upgrade to a disc mower conditioner from the sickle haybine I have currently. Unfortunately I haven't had any luck selling the haybine. Hopefully it will sell but I don't want to wait and be caught at the start of another hay season having to use it so I'm starting to look into buying a used disc moco that I can run for a year or two until I can afford to upgrade to something nicer. Since what I can afford will probably be well used I'm going to go with a Deere since they have the best parts support here.

I know some of the early JD mocos used a Kuhn cutter bar as did NH. What models were the first to use the Deere designed cutter bar with the shear hubs that are in the new machines today? Any model recommendations of what models to look at would be great. I would greatly prefer a center pivot model but at the right price would not be opposed to a side pull.

Hayden

JD disc mower conditioner models