Ultan Duffy from Ballinahown, Co. Westmeath, is an agricultural contractor running three Krone mowers: an ECF 320CV front mower; an ECR320CV rear mower; and an older mower all bought from Tom Shaw Farm Machinery.

“I traded in a 1365 trailed and changed to the Krone front and back. Tom Shaw is my local dealer and I have been buying machinery off him for the last few years, so I have a good relationship with them and was happy to move to the Krone,” Ultan explained.

Krone front and rear mower combinations have been an Irish contractor favourite thanks to their clean cut, versatility, and ease of running.

High output

“The front and back mower set-up would average about 2,000ac a year and is just heading into its third season, and the older Krone mower is just starting its fourth season cutting about 1,000ac a year,” Ultan commented.

The mowers are “very simple to use; we’re driving the front and back mowers with an MF 7620 running at its ease”.

Ultan went on to say: “The third mower is usually pulled with a NH 210.”

Krone EC 320CV mowers have a working width of 3.2m and are famously easy to run which makes high daily output possible.

“With the front and back mowers you’d definitely do 100ac a day and that would be with a lot of transporting from field to field. Running the two of them you’d be getting 150ac a day no problem at all.”

Clean cut

Maintaining a consistent pressure across the entire working width of the mower is key to Krone’s famous ‘clean cut’.

“Very clean cutting, especially in heavy meadows and lodged meadows, we’ve never had a problem with them yet,” Ultan stated.

A clean cut is essential for producing quality forage. It is the result of the special design of the cutterbar and the suspension system that provide a clean cut.

All EasyCut Krone mowers come as standard with the unique Krone DuoGrip suspension system. This system suspends the disc mower in its centre of gravity which allows it to float on even the most uneven ground.

Unlike other mower beds, Krone mowers feature a one-piece fully welded wedge-shaped casing made of heavy gauge steel for huge strength and durability.

Maintaining this consistent ground pressure across the full working width combined with the wedge-shaped cutterbar is what guarantees the cleanest cut.

Hit a foreign object? You’re protected!

The SafeCut system has been tried and tested in Ireland for many years. The patented system protects the disc and complete driveline. On impact, the roll-pin shears and the disc spins up and out of the way of neighbouring discs.

10 minutes and a 20c roll pin gets you back working and could save thousands in repairs.

The Krone EasyCut mower is also protected by a break-back system as standard. On impact with an obstacle, the mower swings backwards and upwards in a 140cm arc before returning automatically to its working position.

Low running costs

“We’ve had to put no parts into the front and back mower so far. We have had to put a few small bits in the older mower but just wear and tear because it’s an older mower,” Ultan explained.

In four seasons of mowing grass “basically all I’ve had to buy is blades, a couple of conditioner tines for the old mower and one or two stone guards and that’s it. No real parts bought for any of them so far.”

Convenient to transport

Thanks to their ability to fold past 90° over the back of the tractor for road travel, it makes the ECR 320CV mower good to travel narrow roads with and distributes the weight evenly across the axle instead of leaning to one side.

“For transport you wouldn’t know the back mowers were behind you; its very easy to get in and out.”

Farmhand became the exclusive Irish importer for Krone in 1962. According to Stephen Scrivener, sales and marketing director for Farmhand, the success of all Krone disc mowers is based on a clean cut, reasonably priced wear parts and unmatched longevity.

“Krone mowers have been our star product over the last 10 years. They might be built in Germany but they are clearly designed for tough Irish conditions,” claimed Stephen Scrivener.

For more information, contact Cormac Megaw on: +353 87-905-5393; or simply click here