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East of Broken Bow | We had a Hesston 6600, and went to a 1160 swing tongue. The 6600 was still going, but we kept having to wait a long time, for the hay to cure. We demoed the 1160, on one field, cutting half with it, and half with our 6600, and the cure time was half with the 1160.
I think the main difference was the conditioning rolls. The 6600 had very narrow rolls compared to the 1160, and in thicker hay, the mat of crop material going through was just too thick to get a good crimp. The 1160 rolls are twice as wide, and more aggressive, to boot, making for much faster drydown.
I do miss the self propelled part of the 6600, as it was nice to just look down and see the head, but the 1160 has a far superior head, both in terms of capacity, and conditioning. What I don't miss, is one more engine, drivetrain, and set of tires to maintain.
If I had $5000 to spend, I'd rather put it towards a nice swing tongue, instead of an old self propelled that needs work. Now, if you could up your budget to $12,000-$15,000, you can get a fairly nice SP, with a lot of life left. | |
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Older Self propelled mower conditioners?
