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Leroy 09-15-2012 17:58:36 69.88.205.38 Report to Moderator

Those Meyer units never did amount to anything, that is why there were not many of them made. I know of one setting in a scrap yard run be a neighbor that also farms. Think he tried it before a haybine. That sounds like a fairly heavy crop so the last model crimper John Deere made should work good for you, that was the No. 22. Wasn't as tight of a crimp as the earlier Deere units and did not do the job in Alfalfa like the earlier models, the No. 1 and the No. 21 but with your thick stems and heavy crop should be ideal. No problems with the crimpers picking up the crop. The problen was with the crushers that did not have as agressive a bottom roller. Started out with a either Yetter or Cuningham, forgot for sure but was a borrowed unit. Did not work. Next was a New Holland that Uncle had out on trial, so poor the dealer took it back and brought out a McCormick No. 2 I think and both my Uncle and us used it for several years. Bought our own a John Deere No. 1 crimper and it did the best conditioning of any unit I have used, Only top roll drove and it busted the bottom roll, got rid of it. Bought a Allis crusher and it worked decent but did not gain the 2 days in red clover the Deere did. Found a Deere No. 22 crimper and bought it but on by that time alfalfa it would not set tight enough to do much good, did great at picking up the crop tho, went back to using the AC. Would have loved to have had a Deere No. 21 that was very simular to the No. 1 but both rolls drove and was a lot quiter. Ended the haymaking in 1981 with a Case 555 Mower conditioner that was the same as the Heston PT-10 and was a 9' unit. Have used all types of bar mowers and from what I see now would not even consider a drum or disk mower, look at any field and the cut is terible. But the Deere No. 22 should do you a good job behind that mower provided you can get it to lay the crop in the same width swath as a 7' bar mower. They are all made for a 7' cut mower and if your new mower is only a 6 foot model then you will have trouble, a wider unit that you can set for a 6' swath the same as the 7' bar mower would make it should work ok. [Reply]   [No Email]