A new toy

This is a picture of my latest acquisition - a prototype Hesston windrower from the late 1960's. This rig was sold at an auction a while back and I regretted getting cold feet as soon as it sold. I knew the buyer and told him that if he ever wanted to part with it to let me know. Well, as it turns out he contacted me around Christmas and said I could have it for what he had in it and I didn't let it get away. This past week my folks were visiting us and my dad and I went to pick it up and bring it home.

This machine is special for me in a variety of ways. I am directly involved with Hesston/Massey self-propelled windrower engineering and always wanted to own some kind of Hesston windrower but most are too large and expensive to buy as a toy. Also, my father-in-law and another farmer (the man who's auction it was sold at) went together and purchased this unit directly from Hesston Corp after it was field tested so I have a direct family connection as well. My FIL sold his half to the other farmer sometime in the '70's but over the years has told me about the little windrower that he and Don had. This model never went into production and as far as my FIL knows only two were ever built. The prototype serial tag with the X47 project number is even still there. It has hydrostatic drive and pre-dates the first Hesston production hydros by several years. The engine is a Wisconsin VG4D with 37 hp and it has a 9 foot header with a rubber-on-steel conditioner. Large it is not - the pitchfork standing against it gives reference to its small size. It needs a little work to fix some oil leaks and some other minor issues but it is in full operating condition. Should be a fun toy to play with.

awesome story and piece of equipment thanks for sharing it.
RICK

Those things are about as fun it gets in terms of farm machinery. I bought this MF last year and it spins on a dime. Needs an umbrella and then it will perfect.

Very cool. I'd take the seat for my MF180.

Really nice to keep developmental prototypes in the flesh. Cool.. Jim

I totally agree but also understand the issues that can arise from having prototypes "in the wild". I've sometimes been asked by test cooperators what happens to the protos after we're done with them and many are surprised when I tell them they are cut up and scrapped, even when they're still fully functional. These days there is too much liability and risk in having non-production machines outside of engineering's control so nearly all are disposed of. Fortunately a few like this one have managed to survive.

That little guy is small enough you could take it in the local Fourth of July parade. Put some flags and bunting on it and you are all set! Have a cute girl sitting in a chair on that back platform. Think about it.

A girl on the back platform would get some G's every time the machine turned a corner. Might even get some whiplash. She would have to be held in place with some seat belts, preferably the over-the-shoulder type.

The old early model Case windrower with 14 ft. cut is still at the farm. It is a belt drive machine, made by Hesston for Case. The original V4 Wisconsin engine has been replaced by a Case liquid cooled engine that makes it a lot more reliable.

Since you work for em maybe you have enough pull to have em drop the Massey Ferguson but Hesston crap and just go back to the Hesston name .

No where near that kind of pull here - I'm in the trenches, right where I like it! But, it is good to see the Hesston name be much more prominent both on the equipment itself and also in the literature than what it was 6 or 7 years ago. After Hesston was dropped as its own brand the name kind of disappeared for a while which really bothered many of us. Why discontinue a brand name that has such a strong reputation and market recognition? However, gradually the name came back as a trademark of the Massey Ferguson brand and the "HESSTON" decals on the machines got larger. Now the trademark is treated almost as its own brand with a hesston.com website (even though the product hyperlinks jump you to the Massey website) and sales brochures that highlight the history of Hesston, not Massey. For those of us who have been close to Hesston products for many years it is a nice thing to see.

I had a similar one once. Neat little toy and a real challenge to operate. It was a little under powered for heavy hay and a little slow on lighter hay. It did a nice job in crushing and windrowing to. ONE PROBLEM WITH MINE WAS THAT IF YOU HIT A WET SPOT YOU WERE QUICKLY STUCK AND IF ONE WHEEL WENT INTO A CHUCK HOLE YOU IMEDDIATLY BEGAN TO GO IN A CIRCLE.

That is cool! My neighbor has a Fiat Agri self propelled and I have ran it a couple times and loved it. He got it cheap because around here everyone wants the disc mowers. Glad you found it. Greg

I like it!

When I was just out of school I worked for a guy that custom hayed in our area. He bought a new Owatonna which he had me move from one job to another once when his regular cutter operator was sick. I highly recommend adding suitcase weights to the back end of that thing. I got to a steep hill and the rig started to fish-tail half way down. Upon touching the brakes it went right over onto its nose. Yup, weights on the back. gm

Neat find. Looks like a Knoedler seat from an MM.

Brendon, I went down to get a pic of my neighbors Hesston and he tells me his friend Bob has a small Hesston. I drove over and got a pic of that one and Bob told me its for sale. Greg

Looks like a neat little rig. From what I can tell it is a model 110 like the one in this ad.

I remember our neighbor bought a used New Holland that was similar back in the 70's. We have some steep hills and he ended up nose down a few times.LOL Greg

Glad you wound up with it, and hope you have fun with it. It almost looks like the big brother to my lawn clipper. It's a M&W 61 inch clipper.