The accepted wisdom is that contractors need everything to be built like the proverbial brick outhouse because the equipment will be worked extra hard and suffer twice the stress.
This view is challenged by one contractor at least, who has purchased a Kverneland 5087 butterfly set to match his front mounted unit, which up until this season, had been used in conjunction with a conventional side mounted mower at the rear.
Ease of use
The Kverneland 5087 butterfly unit is described by the company as an uncomplicated mower conditioner designed with low operating costs in mind, and it is this simplicity which attracted Patrick Hanley of Ballylanders, Co. Limerick, to the machine.
When Agriland caught up with him recently the combination was working on a crop of reseeded pasture that was as heavy as he has cut for many years, but the mowers, mounted on a 212hp New Holland T7.210, were working effortlessly in knocking the grass down.
Patrick, who runs the business with his father, had been looking to more fully exploit the power of the T7 and saw a butterfly set as the way forward.
He trialled another model last year but they were not available for this season so he plumped for the 5087 instead, trusting the Kverneland brand to deliver a solid machine even though it was not the model he had originally intended to purchase.
Faith in 5087 rewarded
However, any misgivings he might have had have been totally forgotten as the unit has, so far, performed effortlessly this season and he is genuinely delighted with the job it is doing.
Working at around 9km/h with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) transmission on the tractor he need only worry about the steering, throttle and raising the the mowers in and out of work.
The rear units needing only one spool valve for each side and cord to pull at the locks when folding for transport.
This might sound a little archaic, but it works, and other than the lights there are no electrics involved at all, something which Patrick appreciates as the previous model had a control box and switches, which, he felt, added a small but significant layer of complexity that he doesn’t miss.
The tractor copes perfectly with three mowers and output has been drastically increased.
Travelling at around 9km/h Patrick notes that the work now just melts away in front of him and once the headland is done, he is not long in finishing the rest of the field.
More work, same fuel
The overall result of the purchase is that theT7, a CVT model, is now working at its optimum with fuel usage being much the same, to Patrick’s surprise.
A full tank will still last from 7:00a.m to well into the evening yet more ground is being covered, supporting Kverneland’s claim that the 5087 has a lower power requirement and is deigned to bring butterfly combinations down to 150hp tractors.
In this it has appeared to have succeeded, and the family’s faith in the manufacturer, which has always supplied its mowers, from the days of Tarrup, has been vindicated.
Weighing around 2.5t and being balanced, the mower puts little stress on the back end of the tractor, another bonus according to Patrick who has come to appreciate the overall smoothness of operation, including the folding of the units once a field is finished.
This is the mower’s first season and is being worked hard.
Patrick concedes that there are areas where the company has saved burdening the machine with extra steel, but overall he sees no reason why the 5087 should not last as well as any other of the company’s models they have owned and operated in the past.