USED MACHINERY: Soft mowers, underpowered, expensive — all things that have been said about the Krone Big M, and they’re mostly true. Or at least that’s the case for the early units. But with those models in Ireland now approaching 25 years old, there has been a lot of experience gained. Bottom line: if you’re in the market, you need to buy the right machine for you. We suss out the weak spots when considering Krone’s self-propelled.
The type of grass silage being produced in Ireland 25 years ago was radically different to today’s cow chow: big cuts of grass crop, with more emphasis on drying out the ground between the rows to support the under-tyred trailers than actually ensiling the best quality wilted forage you possibly could. Contractors were looking at more efficient ways of dropping crop and merging two or three rows to get their often at the time 1,600 to 2,500 hectares of three-month-long workload done.
For many the ideal solution was a tractor with enough gusto to power a front and rear combo or a set of triples. Another new to the market option was the Krone Big M self-propelled mower. Although launched in 1996, the first of these only landed in Ireland in 1999, but it struck a chord, and there have been 15 to 20 new self-propelled mowers sold here every year since. In fact, the Irish market has proved to be a lot more fruitful for Krone than Britain and this regular supply of new machines means there is a decent selection of used examples to choose from. This is why the prices for this feature are in Euros, with Co Waterford dealer Jim Power offering the advice.
For more up-to-date farming news click here and subscribe now to profi and save.
