AGCO Unveils New Hesston By Massey Ferguson Pull-Type Disc Mower Conditioners At Husker Harvest Days
AGCO says everything about its new Hesston by Massey Ferguson RazorEdge 1300 Series of pull-type disc mower conditioners aims to give operators “trouble-free hay-cutting performance.” Indeed, the machines’ completely welded frame provides “unmatched” efficiency and reliability in “even the toughest” conditions, AGCO adds. AGCO owns the Massey Ferguson brand and debuted the RazorEdge 1300 Series in mid-September at Husker Harvest Days in Grand Island, Nebraska.
Meet The Models
Replacing previous RazorEdge models, the four models comprising the 1300 Series include the 9.83-foot (3-meter) MF1373 side-pull model, the 9.83-foot (10-meter) MF1376 center-pivot model, the 13-foot (3.9-meter) MF1393 center-pivot model, and the 16-foot (4.9-meter) MF1395 center-pivot model. All include a RazorEdge cutterbar featuring a spur gear design, which AGCO says produces a close cut without having to tilt the header. That trait helps limit scalping and minimizes dirt and debris in the crop.
The cutterbar has a modular design that makes it possible to remove each gear assembly and adjacent gear individually without having to disassemble the entire cutterbar. Counter-rotating discs, meanwhile, enhance cut quality and minimize crop streaking. Each mower conditioner has a heavy-duty, cast iron gearbox, which comes standard with Hesston by Massey Ferguson rotary heads.
Although various knife options are available to match different crop/field conditions, each model comes with factory-equipped 18-degree “high lift” bottom-bevel Radura knives created with a “special cold-rolled process for a wear-resistant edge.” A quick-change knife system and quick-change tool, both designed to minimize knife-replacement times, are available as options.
Conditioned To Roll
The 1300 Series models use one set of steel-on-steel conditioner rollers to crimp crops every 3 to 4 inches (roughly 7 to 10 centimeters), which results in stems breaking open for faster drying and leaf-quality preservation. Operators can replace that conditioner roller on the MF1373 and MF1376 with optional rubber-on-rubber conditioner rollers or with rubber-on-steel rollers on the MF1393 and MF1395. Elsewhere, while the MF1393 and MF1395 use an industry-exclusive hydraulic roll-conditioning-tension system, the MF1373 and MF1376 use a spring tensioner. Producers can also order the MF1373 and MF1376 with a tine conditioner or without a conditioner.
Source: AGCO