bitty

Looks torturous to use.

We have a '81 Chevy dually what did they have back then ?

The problem with Gehl once they got out of the equipment manufacturing market was they didn't want to sell the lines to another company because they thought they were going to be making money on selling parts........ Another company might have kept making them

X2

New Holland auger looks more of a bottleneck compared to the JD auger. BOTH waist power and limit capacity compared to the Dion (no auger) or even the older Gehl with the slinger between the cutterhead and the blower

If you are cutting 150 tons per hour at 3/4" theoretical length of cut it doesn't matter to me if you have one knife, 20 knives or 50 knives. It takes the same work to cut it all the same amount in the end of the day. I think it's classic Deere marketing and the key to the statement is Deere CLAIMS ...... I buy all premium Claas knives, shearbar and new hardware for a little bit more than a grand. I have almost never had to replace a knife from damage but when I do I use some matched used ones from a set I saved The aftermarket thing that supposedly helps those older John Deere's out a lot is you get rid of the auger bed (I think that's what they call it) and you put a wind tunnel underneath of it to transfer the crop from the cutter head to the blower

Guy we got our year old 1224 Dion from had a 5830 before the Dion. He said the 1224 out chopped the JD in haylage especially. He demoed a Gehl 1275 and said it was nothing compared to the Dion

Those Dion's are animals it's like a self-propelled but it's pull-type . All the other pull-type Choppers I've ever been around are a joke when they try and say they have self-propelled capacity. There were no minimum hours on lease that we had I don't know that there was a set hour's that we couldn't exceed but there probably was. We put a around 200 hours a year on so we were definitely underneath what it needed to be. I'm sure this isn't a cash price but the last I heard it was 125k plus with a 4 row head and a hay head

I never understood the Deere drum. We have had great success with full or half width knives. The price of the Dion is crazy. To spend that is not sane. Lease a two year old SP for the same monthly payment as the Dion will be and chop easier and faster with the SP For those wanting a pull type for small usage it's just like what we are doing with skidloaders or boxcar Magnums. Buy ones that are decent and keep fixing them up for future use. I don't see me buying a new tractor or skidloader without major changes in the offerings of what is available

Lancaster Parts Eqpt Joe's machinery Both somewhere in the Lancaster PA area Both have access or are a manufacturer of aftermarket parts for choppers. Improvements for old designs also

I was at Redpower Roundup and there was this guy riding around on a golf cart with a small coffee ranting about the barrel train having no noodles .......

I am not sure. I thought the Delco may be either. Checking casting# should identify no matter what

I thought it could be either vertical or horizontal? I always look at the casting #s

It had been a rumor for years Deere and Dion were going to be together. I don't think it's them . RCI or something like that maybe who makes windrow doubler, wide head etc for the choppers ?

Ring and pinion could get swapped over then? Our trouble is in the ring and pinion area. We swapped out the axle with the one from the tractor in the shop waiting for the crankshaft being checked and turned. They were the same ratio