Dairyman Built 12-Ft. Self-Propelled Rotary Mower

Dairyman Built 12-Ft. Self-Propelled Rotary Mower MOWERS Mowers (31H) 24-5-12 When Robert Balmer's 1495 New Holland Haybine was destroyed in a fire, he decided to replace it with a self-propelled rotary disc mower. The problem was that it was 1994 and there were no big rotary disc mowers on the market at the time. So he decided to make his own. First, he located a self-propelled 1495 New Holland sicklebar Haybine. It was in good condition. For a header, he bought a brand new pull-type 12-ft. Hesston Hydra-Swing Discbine. He replaced the engine in the 1495 with a rebuilt engine from a 466 IH tractor. "I have the pump turned down about as far as it will go, and it still has plenty of power," he says. Most of the parts on his machine were off the 1495 cutter. The header, though, was brand new. "I never went to the field with the Hydra-Swing," he says. "The only reason I bought it was to use the cutting discs. "When I put the head from the Hesston cutter on the New Holland machine, it fit just like it belonged there . I didn't have to do anything to make it fit," he says. He used the lift cylinders from the Hesston Haybine to raise and lower the head. To engage the cutter, he incorporated a clutch housing from a 915 IH combine. "Everything went together so well, I went right to the field with it. I didn't even repaint it, so it still looks like parts from two different machines," he says. Balmer has used his cutter since 1994 to cut his own 150 acres of hay and a few acres of custom cutting, too. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Robert Balmer, 11295 County V, Glen Haven, Wis. 53810 (ph 608 794-2579).

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