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One Last Swather/Mower Question

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Bobl1958

Well-known Member
What would you say is the difference between the rubber conditioning rolls and the steel conditioning rolls? I would assume the rubber would wear faster, but any difference in how they take the material coming back does anyone know? Thanks once again - Bob
 
We had an old NEW idea 290 or something like that with a bottom steel roll and rubber top worked fine wore pretty even and was good till it went down the road for a Deere 1219. The Deere has both rolls rubber and are good yet been since early to mid 80's.
 
Rubber scuffs the surface more taking the waxy surface off. This makes them better for grassy hays. Steel breaks the stems, making them better for stemmy hay like alfalfa and clover. One of each is a compromise of course.
 
The steel rolls are the most popular on the larger pull-types and are the only option on the SP headers due to their longevity. The rubber works well too and should last a long time in a pull-type since the amount of acres is usually much less than what a typical SP gets. If you're planning on any kind of sudan grass or similar cane-type crop I'd recommend the steel-on-steel configuration as this will give a lot more aggressive conditioning to the thick stems. Either will work well in crops like brome or prairie grass even though roller conditioners really don't do much to thin-stemmed grass. In your climate (maybe I should say our climate since we're only an hour apart) grasses like these will typically dry down quickly when spread out in a wide swath, regardless of the style of conditioner. Some folks feel the rubber rolls handle rocks better but I've run lots of rocks through SP headers with no more damage than little dings in the angle bars.

The rolls themselves are the only difference between the options so converting a machine from one to the other is simple but not inexpensive.
 
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