1359 Massy-Ferguson Discbine

Looking at purchasing a new discbine, looking for input. Because we are setup to rake, trying to stay with a 9 foot unit for windrow drying. Wondering about conditioning types, Horse Power, Maintenance, and any other information and experiences good or bad. I'm cutting with old 469 New Holland presently pulled by John Deere 2555 Turbo 4x4. Cutting mostly Alfalfa/mix grass.

Thanks.. Merry Christmas!

Take a look at the krone mowers before you buy...they are good machines.Deere,Kuhn and New Holland in that order are good as well.Think the Massey 1359 does not not have the razorbar cutterbar but the other Massey models do.If you buy a Massey get the razorbar models.They all make models in the size you are looking for.Also there are several styles of conditioning systems that can be had on most models.I prefer the impeller style but I put up mostly grass hay.Roller/crimper style works best for legumes.Having said that my impeller conditioner does a good job of drying down red clover which is a legume if adjusted properly.BTW impeller conditioners are basically the same as finger style conditioners.


Paul

Forgot to mention,for optimum performance pulling a nine footer I wouldn't want anything less than 90 horsepower.

Paul

Brady, I think that is the same machine as a New Idea 5209. Looks identical to our 5209 anyway. Ours is a gray one, but it's right there close to when they switched to the red paint on them. We've only had ours 1 season, bought it used of course. It needed the cutter bar timed, but that was easy enough to do. It doesn't seem like it has excessive play in in it. Anyhow, that's one big thing to check if buying used. It pulls really easy compared to our 1411 New Holland. I ran it with my 1655 Oliver with no problems with power. It has roll conditioners. I personally can't say which is best, rolls or flail. I hear flail is better in grass, and is to aggressive for alfalfa. I've never ran or been around flail conditioning so I can't say if it's good or bad. Ours cuts good, pulls easy, and doesn't seem to require near the horsepower the New Holland does. Don't get me wrong I like the New Holland too, but so far the New Idea seems to be a lot less expensive to operate than the New Holland. I'm sure cutter bar repair isn't cheap and not as easy as the New Holland, but no issues with that yet. I've been long winded enough. If you have a question I didn't touch on, just ask and I'll try to help. I'm definitely not a expert on them, but I've learned a little. There's a lot of information from people that have them on the net. They have a overall good review.

I'm not familiar with the Model 1359 but most Massey hay equipment is rebadged Hesstons. I have a 9 ft Hesston 1320 discbine that doesn't need a whole lot of power. I've run it with an Int 684 (62 PTO hp), a 6530 Mahindra (57hp) and a 53 hp Deere 5065E. They each ran it with ease in heavy s.w. Pa hay.

I looked at MF 1359 two years ago. Researched a lot and went to see one in the field. Looked like a good machine. Wound up buying a 1363 instead. If I could do over would buy 1359. Pull 1363 with JD 2555 and get along fine. Neighbor bought a NH 9 ft disc mower conditioner last year. Probably a better machine but more money and we have a great MF dealer close by.

Wondered how long it would take for Agco to drop another well known name off the list and replace it with Massey-Ferguson looks like they finally did it

The 1359 is essentially the old New Idea 5209 with MF paint and decals. IMHO they are are very good machine. I'vae attached a link for a review of the original 5209 in white paint. The red ones were improved.

We looked at one very closely before buying our Krone 2801cv mower conditioner - a 9ft machine. What I didn't care for was no shear hub protection on the MF. Our decision came down to hp limits and price. We narrowed our search to a JD625 and the Krone. The Krone was a left over model from the prior year and the dealer gave us a smoking deal on a new machine for not much more than a New Holland 488 haybine. It is an impeller machine with gear swivel head - mounting to the two lower lift arms on the tractor. We have high skid shoes and mow at 5 inches - timothy hay.

I feel the JD 625 - an 8ft machine is very good too.

FWIW - New Holland just came out with replacement models for the 9ft discbine - the old numbers were H7220 for the roller machine and H7320 (I believe that is the correct number) for the impeller version. I am to hear that NH is clearing out these models at really low prices. I would not hesitate to buy one of these mowers either.

Good luck,
Bill
PAMI report

who did Kubota buy out? was it Krone or a different EU hay tool maker?

Kubota bought out Kverneland. Krone is still independent.

I have a 5209 and pull it with my JD 4020. I went with the NI because it is a lighter machine, 9? wide matches my other equipment, has widest rollers in that width machine, requires less horsepower than other brands. Mine was used and had the drive shaft replaced by the dealer I bought it from. I disassembled the entire cutting bar anyway and replaced 2 bad bearings and one cutting module. I keep the knives very sharp with a hand held grinder. I wish I had bought this thing years earlier. I ran a NH469 for 15 years which I basically rebuilt all moving parts, including the rolls. I haven?t had to replace anything in 10 years on the 5209 and the haybine was constantly needing knife sections, batt teeth, knife bushings, bearings, etc. way more moving parts to adjust and replace. I vote yes to the 5209 types. I can get home in the evening, start mowing before dark, get done with heavy dew like clockwork and have zero problems. I loathed 1st cutting hay with a haybine. This mower really changed that. Photo is of it gliding thru very thick grass hay just rained on night before and not cleared up yet.

Those 5209 have a feature unique to them too - I believe. When you raise the maching, the rollers separate too - so if you have plug, it is an easy think to rid the mower of it. Don't think the new 1359's do this anymore - since the ticor rollers went away.