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south central WI | A self propelled will be lightyears better than 2 pull type hydraswings. We cut 500-850 acres of alfalfa 4-5 times a year, plus another few hundred once a year for our heifers. We run 1 15' discbine and hire a neighbor with another so we can get it cut in 2-3 days since it's for dairy cows. We could easily cover it with 1 mower if we wanted to.
Here's my thoughts on a self propelled. Make sure you can afford one forever, because going from a self propelled back to a pull type may not be a easy to do. I don't cut the hat, but I run the chopper. We switched to a self propelled 4 years ago and it is a lot better. If we didnt have as many acres of hay, I may be able to switch back but I would definitely prefer the self propelled. If you want to cut a lot of acres and feel decent at the end of the day, get a self propelled. If you want to cut the most acres in a day, get a pull type.
A pull type discbine is only limited by how many horsies you have in front of it (and field conditions). On lighter crops we commonly run in the upper teens, and have hit 26 mph once in perfect conditions in a decent dry crop. Turning around may be slightly quicker with a self propelled but I doubt if its significant with the right operator. It will also be cheaper. Farm paper has a new leftover NH for 98k for base and I think 28-35k for head. It was right around 130k for the pair. A new pull type is 34-40k. That leaves a big chunk of money to buy another tractor or trade your in on a new one. If you're going used, I have no idea on prices. I would suggest staying away from a used pull type for your acres, and would think the head on a self propelled might be suspect as well.
If your fields are rough, that might be your limiting factor. Truthfully I haven't run a self propelled since the 499's we had in the 90s. We have looked into them but all the dealers we have asked said or implied that mid teens would be as fast as they would cut. I c would be wrong or they could have improved in the last 5 years since I have asked. | |
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How many hay acres to justify self propelled windrower
