Buyers guide to non-conditioner disc mowers
Mounted and trailed mower conditioners can offer significant time-reduction advantages for hay and silage crops, but their cost and power requirements can limit their appeal for farms looking to optimise feed quality and cut their own grass with mid-sized, multi-use tractors. With many farms focusing on the cut timing and cost of winter fodder production, multiple models and sizes of plain or non-conditioner machines are available for businesses looking to bring mowing back in-house and retain greater control of forage production.
Claas
The Disco range from Claas extends to 15 models across three configurations of front, rear and large-scale. Two front-mounted machines are offered with both three-metre working widths and a choice of direct linkage or spring-assisted ground following.
The rear-mounted range covers nine machines across a working width of 2.2m to 4.2m. All machines have a narrow folded width through the use of a 120-degree vertical fold. Ground following can be achieved through either a spring-assisted or hydropneumatic system. Four large-scale butterfly units are provided in the manufacturer's Trend specification, with working widths from 8.1m to 10.7m.
All Disco mowers feature the brand's MaxCut beds, which incorporate a wave-shaped base plate to enable maximum overlap between the discs. Hubs are colour-coded for their direction of rotation to assist with the correct blade fitment.
Fendt
The Slicer range from Fendt is supplied with three different designs of cutter bar depending on the model across its 14-model range. All cutter bars include a reversible blade, bolt-free, quick-change system through the use of an onboard tool. Working widths of 2.4 metres to 9.6m are offered across front, rear and butterfly combinations. Terrain following is achieved with side or centre support, with the option of an alpine pendulum frame on some front-mounted models. This allows the unit to be side-shifted 210mm left or right to account for the crabbing of the tractor across a slope.
Its centre-suspended rear-mounted range can be supplied in working widths of up to 4.5m, with the unit allowing a 13-degree lateral movement and 22-degree swivel breakback angle. The larger butterfly combinations are supplied with Isobus control and offer a pendulum support system with a wide angle of flexibility across the chassis.
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Krone
Forage specialist Krone divides its mowers into two machine groups of ActiveMow and Easy Cut. This comprises two rear-mounted ranges, a butterfly series and a front-mounted range. A total of 14 machines are provided, with a working range of 2.05 metres to 10.1m.
Unique to Krone, the manufacturer provides a 4.04m-wide front-mounted machine, which incorporates a twin rotary fold of the outer sections of the bed to reduce the machine to a more suitable transport width.
Krone says this design offers advantages of productivity and increases the overlap between front and rear units when operating in field corners, allowing a tighter turn without the creation of uncut strips. In transport, the narrower front machine is helpful for users with narrow lanes and tighter field entrances.
All of Krone's EasyCut machines are fitted with its quick-change blade system. This uses a specific lever tool to release the blade from the hub for reversal or replacement without any additional tools. The elliptical hubs within the bed include a shear pin breakaway, which releases the drive during an impact. Krone says this design prevents the discs from colliding and allows a quick replacement of the retaining pin.
Kubota
Kubota's plain mower range covers working widths from 1.65 metres to 9.50m, and includes front, rear and butterfly configurations. All machines use a three-blade disc design, and the widest machine is fitted with 20 discs over its working width.
Each mower has a lower upfront power requirement than competitive models, with ground-following suspension offered in spring assist and hydraulic support depending on the model size. There are 14 different machines available: 10 rear-mounted units, two butterfly and two front-mounted.
Its smallest machine in the rear-mounted range incorporates a headland lift system to bring the machine out of work without raising the linkage, with cutter bar protection provided by spring or hydraulic breakback.
Kuhn
French implement manufacturer Kuhn provides a range of machines in two folding configurations and one trailed unit across nine cutting sizes.
Unlike other manufacturers, Kuhn does not offer a non-conditioner butterfly combination, but it can provide a 5.2-metre-wide trailed machine with a rotating centre pivot, plus transport wheels to support the machine for road transport.
Its range of mounted machines can be supplied as a vertical or horizontal fold to the rear, with working widths from 2.4m to 4.35m. The three smallest vertical folding versions use a mechanical spring suspension system, with the larger versions utilising the manufacturer's Lift-Control hydraulic suspension system.
Kuhn says this design provides consistent contour following with the addition of an impact safety mechanism, where the machine moves backwards and upwards if hitting an obstacle before returning to work.
Kverneland
Norwegian manufacturer Kverneland provides 15 machines with a working range of 1.66 metres to 9.5m. All machines use a fully-welded cutter bar with a combination of spring and hydraulic breakback.
The larger ProFit range mowers, from 2.81m to 3.92m, use a centre suspension mounting for improved ground following, with the option of a twin-speed gearbox. When folded for transport, the machine lifts up to a 125-degree vertical position for a reduced width, and can be removed and parked in the vertical position.
Three front-mounted machines with working widths of 2.8m to 3.2m are provided, which incorporate a 640mm vertical travel range for ground following with an up and backwards breakaway system. Depending on user preference, a swathing kit can be provided for reducing the cut material to 1.3m for front-mounted machines, which prevents the crop from being compressed by the tractor.
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Malone
Irish manufacturer Malone has developed a reputation for producing robust, mechanically straightforward mowers designed for heavier and wetter crops. Its non-conditioner range covers 11 mounted and trailed machines from 2.1 metres to 3.8m, and one 3m front-mounted version. All machines use Comer cutter bars and gearboxes with spring or hydraulic suspension systems. Reversible blades are removed using a bolted quick-change system, with nine discs on the manufacturer's widest 3.8m model.
All mounted machines fold vertically for transport, with the trailed units using a mechanical lock to secure the implement behind the tractor. Trailed versions do not reduce in width for road use.
Massey Ferguson
Massey Ferguson offers 14 different machines split between its Farmer, Pro Series, HD series and Professional Series ranges. Working widths across the range from 1.66 metres to 9.6m are provided with the HD and Professional series, operating with the manufacturer's heavy-duty spear gear bed and TurboLift suspension system.
This system is claimed to reduce crop contamination by using a hydraulic suspension to allow a floating cut above the surface, ensuring the sward height is left at the optimum length.
To cope with undulations and awkward-sized fields, the mowers have up to +30 degrees and -19 degrees of lateral movement during work to provide uniform terrain following.
McHale
Introduced at LAMMA 2023, McHale's non-conditioner ProGlide R310 is the only model offered by the Irish manufacturer. Providing a 3.1 metre cutting width, the unit uses a heavy-duty, fully welded cutter bar with seven twin blade discs. Each mowing disc has its own individual protective safety mechanism which will shear in order to protect the drive during a collision.
Similar to its conditioner versions, the R310 uses the manufacturer's three-dimensional ground following technology, which McHale says provides three-dimensional ground contour tracking and allows the mower to easily mow on rough or undulating terrain.
The implement uses a mechanical breakback, which is designed to swing the unit backward, up and away from the object before returning to work.
New Holland
The mower range offered by New Holland incorporates many of the features originally seen on the machines from its purchase of Kongskilde in 2017. However, New Holland says the eight-model range has seen several design updates since.
The range covers working widths from 2.4 metres to 8.6m, and incorporates five rear-mounted, one front and one butterfly combination. Rear-mounted mowers can be specified with a vertical or horizontal fold for some larger models, with ground following support provided by either a pendulum mechanical system or a contour-floating, hydraulically supported variant.
The twin blade disc uses a quick-release system through a compression tool which is mounted on the implement. Its front-mounted offering provides 550mm of vertical movement through its trapezium mounting system and can compensate for side inclinations of up to 12 degrees.
Pottinger
Reflecting the more typical use of non-conditioner mowers in its Austrian home market, manufacturer Pottinger provides a range of 26 different options across rear, front and butterfly combinations. Working widths of 2.2 metres to 10m are offered, with horizontally folding rear machines providing a working width of up to 4.3m.
The entry-level Novadisc variants are vertically folded and use a belt drive for an up to eight disc cutter bed, and are also supplied with a mechanical breakaway. The larger Novacat range includes front- and rear-mounted versions, with hydraulically supported ground following. The left-hand link arm of the mower is equipped with a hydraulic cylinder, which Pottinger claims allows easier hitching and levelling. The larger Novacat butterfly models are split over three working widths, with bed combinations of up to 3.5m each. Control of folding, headlands and operating width is managed through an Isobus connection, with vertical or horizontal folds offered.
SIP
Less well-known in the UK market, Slovenian manufacturer SIP provides two ranges of plain disc mowers in the form of its Alp and Silvercut series. The 16-model range covers front-mounted, rear-mounted and butterfly combinations, with working widths from 2.16 metres to 10m. The entry-level Alp series covers front- and rear-mounted machines with a maximum front width of 2.99m and a rear width of 3.4m. SIP says these models are designed to be very agile and suitable for working with small- and medium-power tractors.
The higher specification Silvercut series includes a wider range of fixed width front units up to 3.32m. Silvercut front-mounted mowers can be specified with mechanical dual spring or hydropneumatic suspension. Rear-mounted versions cover a working width of 3m to 3.8m, with the larger butterfly version providing a 9m or 10m working area.
All SIP cutter bars use a brass pin overload protection system. The pins shear when encountering an object, which SIP claims prevents any further damage to the driveline, and they are also easy to replace. Blades are protected by a spring holder which retracts during an impact.
Vicon
Covering a working width of 1.6 metres to 9.5m, the range offered by Vicon uses a contra-rotating triangular three-bladed disc design across all 14 models.
Ten vertical-fold rear-mounted variations are offered in conjunction to two front-mounted models. There is the option to add an auger swathing system to its larger 3.2m-wide machine, which is designed to reduce the swath width to 1.3m. Terrain following is provided by a spring support on its smaller machines and hydraulic control on its larger 8.7m- and 9.5m-wide butterfly versions.
