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| We made the very switch you are contemplating last year. Went from a 499 to a Vermeer 1030. I just couldn't hardly get the 499 to run all day without breaking something. The Vermeer is 13'11" and it's not at all hard to push 10 acres an hour. Yes, rocks can be hard on the disc machines. If you are in rocks, tilt the cutterbar back and put more tension on the float springs. Our is on year too old to have the new blade change system so can't comment on that. However, whenever we need to change discs it will get it.
As far as regrowth, I don't see any difference at all. When we had the 499 we also had a Gehl discmower, actually still have it. We've cut fields on either side of a fenceline, one with the 499 and one with the discmower and couldn't tell any difference. I think the main thing is to keep the knives sharp and not tilt the cutterbar on the discmachine so much it scalps.
The disc machine is a joy to run in down and tangled crops, or just plain heavy grass. I wouldn't even try to run the 499 in 3 ton Bromegrass.
My personal preference for rolls would be Hesstons rubber on steel. We had a Gehl with that setup and I always liked it. Some say the newer tine conditioners are O.K. I haven't been overly impressed with the conditioning on the Vermeer. Other than that, it has been absolutely trouble free. I don't know what it would take to make me go back to a sickle machine. | |
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sycle type mower vs discbine
