JD 4895 questions/opinions

[tbeck]

I'm considering a 4895 w/18' sickle head, and looking for experiences/opinions. We've run hydra swings for a long time (Hesston and NH) and as the hay acres are going 'way up here, thinking it may be time to quit looking over my shoulder! Thanks!

[panhandle9400]

tbeck, I run 2 of them with 18' heads. I dont have any issues with them , wished they had 20' heads so they would fit better on center pivot spans.easy to maintain, reliable machines as far i can see.

[colohayhauler]

How many hrs on it? They are good machines. Check the sickle drive gearboxes, they will start to leak a little oil in about 1500 hrs dosen't take much to re-seal them, haven't had hardly any problems with them. Check both of the ends on the float cylinders on the head, they can crack and break also

[deeretech99]

if you are in any rocks stay away from the ureathane conditioner in this part of montana the steel is far better

[Itzenfarms]

We have a 4895 with a 18' head on it and it has been a really good swather, the only problem we have ever had with it is the double augers in the head. The flighting gets rolled over and then they vibrate really bad and its not cheap replacing them. I have somewhere around 1200 hours on the machine and 900 on the head

[agcoeric]

we prefer our massey hay heads over our deere
1. massey has center support for augers, deere is full length
2. deere has no slip clutches for augers
3. deere skid plates wore out with one third the acres of the massies
4. broke a chain that drives auger, there is no tensioner system to make replacement simple
5 our reel cam is wore out, massies have more hours and are fine
6. massies hyd conditioner pressure setting is light years ahead of deeres ready rod and jam nuts

in perfect cutting conditions they are very similar in capacity.

[tbeck]

Pulled the pin on a 2009 4895, 896 head at 18', big drive rubber, steel on steel conditioner. 1200/936 hrs. Hope it rains now, although we've had 4" of snow since it was dropped off!