disc mower with impeller conditioner

[oj]

Seeing as there"s been a bit of talk about disc mower on here lately, i"ll ask for your input on this one.

Anyone ever used an impeller conditioner in Alfalfa? I"ve used one for straight grass hay (across the pond - many years ago) but never used one in alfalfa... would it work?

One of the locals tried one about 10 years ago and said it was pretty hard one the leaves... tended to rip them off... every machine i"ve seen locally has rollers, but i"ve got a line on a year old machine with an impeller, it"s a Kuhn, so i"m not scared of the machine... juts wondering if the conditioner will work on alfalfa?

 

[Farmer Alf]

I have been running a JD 635 disc cutters and Y shaped flails. I was loosing a lot of leaves in alfalfa. This was my first time running it. You can change the flail shaft speed but even at slow I wasn't totally happy. You can also adjust the clearance between the flails and their cover but I didn't get it right. I will say this for it, the machine is much faster than the sickle mower/conditioner rolls type I used last year.

 

[JDseller]

Set the impeller on low speed. Then adjust the rub board as close as you can get it to the impeller. Then mow twenty feet or so, up at speed. Then look at the hay. If it is too aggressive then adjust it open a little at a time until you are not damaging the hay. This way you are getting maximum conditioning and minimum damage.
I sold a lot of impeller mower conditioner. The key was the operator. If he was the type of guy that wants to set something and never adjust/check it. Then sell him a roll machine, because you have to adjust an impeller machine to match crop conditions. The impeller will mow more plug free and they tend to suck the hay off of the cutter bar in shorter hay. The impeller works by rubbing the waxy surface of the hay allowing it to dry out, it DOES NOT FLAIL THE hay if set correct. Rolls condition by breaking the stems open. The rolls are simpler to operate but have some draw backs. Roll Wear, not much adjustment in conditioning, and plugging. So the key is to match the machine to the operator so he/she is comfortable in using and operating the machine.

 

[JDseller]

Farmer ALF, shoot me an email I will email you my phone number. I would gladly walk you through the setting process.

 

[tjdub]

I've got an JD 935 impeller and I think it does a fine job with alfalfa. Then again, I'm making hay for my beef cattle. I've been told that the only reason mother deere keeps the roller option is for dairy farmers / high-grade alfalfa market. I think you're better off with the impeller as far as maintenance and longevity go. You also don't have to worry about plugging in really thick non-alfalfa hay.

 

[Josh in Pa]

I've used mine (JD) on alfalfa and I thought it did a nice job. It seems like it takes more power than a machine with rolls, especially in real heavy hay.
Josh

 

[Mike Aylward]

I run a John Deere 946 with impeller conditioning and love it. I still have it set on high speed but I can set the machine to do absolutely nothing to alfalfa or be pretty agressive or anything in between. It has been a trouble free machine that does a great job. I run it in dairy quality alfalfa all the time and have no complaints whatsoever about the impeller conditioning method. Just takes some adjusting. Mike

 

[Stuart]

Well I will put it this way to you. The theory of the impeller is to remove the wax off the stem so it improves drying. With that being said, how do you remove all the wax and not the leaves. John Deere does not recommend the use of an impeller in pure alfalfa. I have a JD 956 Moco. It has rolls and they never plug. I had one with an impeller in it and after 5 JD techs looked at it and a regional man, they still could not get it to dry hay. Good dairy cow hay is made with rolls not an impeller

 

[Farmer Alf]

Hi JDseller,

Thank you for your offer but the board won't let me send you an e-mail so I'll post the particulars here:

The machine I was running (635 Moco) belongs to a neighbour who hires me to operate equipment for him during haying season. (As a pig farmer I don't do any hay myself)The machine was purchased new, he previously had a JD (don't remember the number) conventional cutterbar and rolls. We had more or less assumed the new one was set by the dealer so I was surprised when there was a blanket of leaves under the windrow. I quickly read the part of the manual on leaf loss and slowed the rotor. I guess I also foolishly assumed my boss had read the manual on initial set up. Anyway the mistakes were made and first cut alfalfa is done but I would like your thoughts on set up so I can use them on second cut. I am using a JD 3140 with a 1000 rpm pto using about 1800 engine rpm. I believe rated speed is about 2300 engine rpm. The downward deflector is set nearly all the way up and the clearance deflector is set about 2 marks in from maximum clearance. Windrow guides are set for a wide windrow. Travel speed hi second, lo on the power shift. Crop conditions vary but the alfalfa was fairly heavy and about 3' tall. Any advice you can give to make me better at my job would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Alf

 

[JDseller]

Make sure that the leaves you are seeing are from mechanical damage, Go over into the uncut hay and look and see if there are leaves on the ground. I have had disk machines pickup lose leaves and blow them into the windrow.
It sounds like you are on the right track on what you are doing. I would try adjusting it more under field conditions next cutting. Also you might need to speed up to get more crop going through. here is my email [email protected]