We went from an IH 1190 mower conditioner to a straight 9' disk mower in '02 and cut our mowing time in half.  This year we bought a Kuhn FC4000G 13' center pivot conditioner with the Finger Comb II conditioner and I really like it.  The Finger Comb II conditioner is alot more gentle than the other brands impeller conditioner and if your willing to take 30-40 seconds to adjust it for the conditions your in even in straight alfalfa leaf loss is almost zero and so far even under less than ideal drying conditions we haven't had any hay on the ground longer than about 55 hours, with grass hay we've been able to mow late one morning and bale the following afternoon. 

I started out looking mostly at the Hesston and Case IH machines but this Kuhn was priced right and the more I looked at it the more I liked it.  The Kuhn is 1,200lbs heavier than a comparable Hesston, Case IH or New Holland, has pressure lubricated gear boxes and has no drive belts or chains.  Total maintance on the Kuhn is six U joints, three gear boxes and the cutterbar.  I wasn't totally sold on the impeller conditioner until I used it and I'll put it up against a roller machine in alfalfa anytime.   

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