John Deere 800 windrower - opinions?

I may have an opportunity to buy a John Deere 800 windrower in excellent condition for a good price.

I have about 25 acres that I hay, and I have been getting by using a neighbor's equipment.

Apparently self-propelled windorowers like this are obsolete- but they seem like a good idea to me. Looks like the raking step would be skipped using one of these.

I do have free use of a NH 495 haybine, in pretty rough shape, but mostly functional except for the metal in the back that forms the windrow- so I still need to rake. Also, moving the big haybine between fields is a major hassle.

I need to measure, but I think I could drive the windrower through my 16' gate. Not certain tho.

If I could get this machine in good running shape for < $1000, it seems like a good plan to me. Why are these machines not widely used? Is it the fragility of the cutters? The haybine would have the same issue.

The windrower seems like a really nice thing also because of the ability to to square turns easily.

Of course, it is a one-trick pony. After haying, it is good for nothing.

So- I'm looking for opinions on self propelled windrowers, and on the JD 800 in particular.

I"ve used similar model JD swathers in the past for swathing oats ahead of the combine, and the 2 that I used were fairly easy to run. Lots of farmers are getting away from them because it"s one more engine to have to maintain, and like you said it"s a one trick pony.

Depending on what"s wrong with it it might be worth it, might not. I think they come with either a 12" or a 14" head, so a 16" gate would be tight on both sides but if it"s truely 16" you should be fine. I go through a simliar sized gate with a 14" hydro-swing and I just slow down when I approach.

If you have to go down the road to get to another feild, those things are definately not speed demons. I think the top speed might be 10 MPH, maybe a hair faster.

Depending on how thick your hay is, you"ll still probably have to rake it simply because the windrow will be so narrow because of the crimper, and air won"t be able to get underneath to dry it out. We have to rake our 1st crop without a doubt every year, but after that sometimes we rake, sometimes we don"t. Depends on how wet the year has been and how much grass is in our fields.

There are still self propelled windrowers out there, but with the new discbines that can be pulled behind tractors, most small to mid-size farmers are going to those instead. For a small guy like you or me, it"s not worth it because used machines are normally used up and ready for catastrophic failure, and new ones are priced way out of a reasonable budget.

Hope I managed to help some.

Donovan from Wisconsin

we had one on my dad's farm cut 300 to 400 acres a year not much for problems you just have to make sure the canvas are running nice and straight there is a tightener on each side you loosen when not in use ,and there are many,many, many grease zirks as far as the engine its a chrysler they seem to last forever get yourself a manual because you will never find all the zirks without it.hope this helps and good luck

I've put thousands of acres of hay and grain through a 10ft and 12ft draper platform 800's.A few ground hogs too.An all around fine machine.
To expand on the draper tightening. Make certain the bottom slides are moving, they will rust tight from plant juices after a while.
Make certain the final drive chains are at the proper tension and in good condition. It's a two day job to unwind the chain from around the lower sprocket and axle.
Windrows are adjustable with height and width deflectors under the machine. The windrows can be made a narrow or as wide as you like. I kept the rear deflector down to make the windrow stand taller. And the width deflectors out fully.
Top speed is about 7mph with a tail wind.
Get the manual or wish you had, no kidding about the grease fittings and proper tension.1-800-522-7448

Adjust the header lift assist springs so that the header shoes carry only light weight if the header is down low as possible.
If the full header weight is riding in the shoes instead of being carried on the wheels. Drive train belt and chain wear will be increased. Fuel consumption will be increased. And the shoes swill wear out.

Had one for 11 years for making hay before buying the discbine, but kept it for another 10 years for swathing barley. 14 foot would cut about 5 acres per hour- top road speed is about 8mph. Many use a transport trailer to move any distance. 14 feet is nice to chop behind, but hay for baling dries too slow. Check the lower platform bearings for rust- moisture accumulates there and they wear out sooner than top ones. Weak spot is right end of platform, reel drive. Double that sheet metal with quarter inch plate and a ball bearing instead of the bushing. Make sure you find the zerk on the right planetary- I never saw it, but found it by feel with the grease gun. Keep chains adjusted properly underneath the machine. Doesn"t take two days to fix the final (unless beer is involved), but it is a miserable multi-hour job to get the chain back on. Engineers should have made more space on one side of the housing so the chain could fall cleanly down to the axle instead of catching on bolt heads. Helps to make a wire hook to work through the access hole.

Spun ours off on a steep side hill at the neighbor's place. It was the 2nd day of working on it before we were going again. Not at all handy trying to keep it from heading downhill while up on blocks. And of course several runs all the way back home and to town for tools or parts.

if you can find a Verastile 400 or even a 103, it makes a much better hay cutter, both the angle of the draper belts and the power of the knife drive are an advantage in cutting hay.

Have run and repaired both models for many years, and while the 800 JD is a good grain cutter, it is a poor hay machine compared to the Versatile, too heavy, too little cutting power with the weak knife drive, to apt to break front wheel bearings on rough ground.
The Versy's have a much flatter angle to the drapers so short hay does not pile at the front, are much lighter and have a very powerful knife drive for cutting tough hay.

I've got one. I cut about 100 acres of hay and 50 acres of wheat is swathed with it. Not a bad machine but I always handle it with tender loving care because I have heard to many horror stories about fixing them.They have a leaf spring to counter the drive belt tension on the crankshaft. Get a manuel and keep that spring set to specs at all times other wise you will break crankshaft in engine. Guess how I know that. It is a very poor crimper on them things so you will still have to rake alfalfa. Here in so. central Mn. you can buy nice ones for $500 or less so I have a parts machine setting out back that I used the engine when crank broke on mine. Have sold most of the header parts but still have all the drive componants. If any one needs parts let me know.