Vermeer 7030 Cutter

[mml373]

I am considering buying one of these from a friend, and wonder if anyone here has any experience with them. What should I look for? Are shop manuals available anywhere?

I suspect I'll have to go through and inspect/replace worn parts on this one...it's been sitting in his field for awhile. I'm buying because it will work just fine for my needs. Can't afford new equipment but am OK with fixing and resurrecting old.

Thoughts on a range for fair price?

Thanks for any helpful replies.

 

[Peanut]

I’ve run a vermeer mower once, belonged to a cousin. It was a good mower, cut well. He used it for several years. I’ve also owned a vermeer baler. It was a good baler, ran well for many years. So I like vermeer equipment in general.

I’ve owned 2 Vicon mowers (eu). I ran the 1st one a season or 2 longer than I should have and it came apart while I was running it. That said, they make excellent mowers. I like them better than the vemeer.

With used equipment the question is always ‘how many hours are on it’. If it’s been used enough to develop a personality I’d pass. A badly worn haybaler probably won’t injure you. A worn out mower can kill you in a blink. I’d be very cautious about buying a used mower.

I’d ask around, can’t be the only vermeer mower in the area. A dealer would be even better. I’d find out the usual complaints or problems with the model in question. The operators manuals by vermeer are good in my experience, very detailed. A manual would have come with the mower.

One thing I always check on used equipment is zerk fittings, all of them. Especially the ones that are a pain to reach. They usually tell how well the equipment was maintained. I’d check the color of the hydraulic oil too, is it properly filled? Also look at the cutting blades, dull is okay. However, if they look like they were run without sharpening, battered blunt on the edge… that goes to how well the equipment was cared for. Another tell… are the drive belts worn the same? Or stretched different lengths? If the equipment wasn’t well cared for I’d pass. Hope this helps...

 

[Tirediron]

If you don't don't need the speed of a disc bine they are costly to fix compared to a sickle bar mower

 

[Peanut]

For a few acres a sickle bar is fine, in fact I still have one. A hay mower, sickle of disc has other uses besides hay. We had a 200 tree peach orchard until ‘15. Before picking in late June I’d cut around all the trees. A pain with a bush hog, trees would be loaded with fruit so had to be extra careful. A hay mower gave me about 9ft of reach. I could cut within 4” of the tree trunks. I used the sickle mower in the orchard or cutting weeds in hard to reach places on the farm.

I used to cut hay in 20 acre chunks. That’s about as much hay as I could cut, rake, bale, move, stack and cover in 3-4days (and dodge summer rains). I have cut 20 acres with a sickle mower in a day, very slow. I’d much rather use a disc mower for the time saved. Also, fire ant beds are a problem here, they will dull a hay mower quickly. A disc mower will keep cutting when dull, a sickle bar starts to jam and bind up.

If you have less than 12-15 acres to cut might check the price of sickle mowers in your area.

 

[mml373]

Thank you all. I was on the fence re: sickle bar mowers, so went with a disc. I'd be cutting up to 30-35 acres some of the time, but much less most of the time. Guess we'll see how this mower looks; sickle bar mowers seem pretty rare out here and farming friends are advising against them due to issues with them such as mentioned above.

 

[mml373]

Took a look. The cutter needs some work but I think, even taking it to the dealer for a full going through, I can end up OK. This will help me save toward a new baler in the next year or two. I think I can get a "like new", fully serviced cutter for less than a few grand. Compare to cost of new.