Hope you have great luck with the new drum mower! Appreciate the kind words, thanks for watching!

Thank you very much!

Thanks so much for the kind words! Much appreciated. Good luck with the first cutting. Best to you and your family.

@@8thdaychronicles of course! And you were NOT kidding when you said once she’s leveled she cuts as good or better than any other system and as fast as you can stay in the seat!!

@@leostewart1361 A good drum mower, for the money invested, is hard to beat for smaller family farm haying operations. Our hay fields are all sloped to varying degrees and because of that I cant run high gear full throttle here (not sure I'd want to anyhow, LoL), but as fast as ive been with the drum mower, it never skipped a beat. God bless you and your family!

@@8thdaychronicles takes me a bit longer than the neighbors with their large scale equipment but you can’t put a price on independence!

@@leostewart1361 Very true!

That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing that info!

Thanks, Tom...and Happy Mothers Day to Mrs. Sally also! Basic setup for a drum mower, maybe it helps folks new to the drum mower and small-scale hay. I think most of the info will be applicable to most drum mower brands, Ibex, Samaz, Farm Maxx, etc, etc. For the funds invested, IMO, a drum mower is a tough act to follow....if....set correctly. We appreciate it, friend!

Thanks Darrin

I run my 3 point arms down. A drum mower is supposed to skid along on the bottom plates. Make adjustments to the top link and side link to get it leveled so it can float to the contours of the field. A lift kit helps with a higher cut height but I’ve found on rough, bumpy fields, probably going very high isn’t the best option. Good luck!

@@8thdaychronicles Thanks for that... we installed 4 spacers when we set the mower up, which does help keep us off the gopher mounds pretty much, but I think it compromises the cut quality appreciably. I'll pull 2 spacers off (each drum) and give that a go. I find that the space between the spring blade holder and the top pan gets packed with debris and freezes the blade, not sure how much this is contributing to the poor cut. I'm running this FDM-165 behind a Kubota L-4600, there's plenty of power, the mower never slows down even in thick belly high 1st cut grass. 8 spd manual (4x2), I run in 3rd low range.

@@ericalmquist889 Run it at 540 PTO speed too. I found that if the rpm’s drop it don’t seem to cut as cleanly. My mower actually has a sticker on it that says “540 min”. I’m running 6 spacers now with no issues. Keep sharp blades. Hit em with a file between cuts, easy on and off, easy to do. Like you said, heck of a lot of machine for the price. Just work on tuning it in. Good luck!

@@8thdaychronicles Just to be clear, are you running 6 spacers on each drum, or 3 per drum (X 2 drums)? And thank you for all the suggestions.

@@ericalmquist889 Yes, 6 spacers on each drum. I may reduce it back down to 4 each drum sometime soon. My fields are pretty smooth and not rough. I felt it cut plenty high enough to avoid root damage with 4. The spacers in my kit are 1/4" thick each. I assume your spacers are the same thickness? But adjust to your own preference. Everyone seems to have their own preference, and none is right or wrong. Like I said before, I wouldnt go 6 to start....add one or two at the most at a time until it suits you. Good luck.

Howdy. I just stick the appropriate length bolt up thru the plate and the spacers and hold it up with one hand line it up and with the other start the bolt. I kinda kick the bolt a bit sideways so the threads hold the spacers until I can get one bolt started. I have used a floor jack too, which is probably easier. If you have to, use a bit of tape like electrical tape to hold the spacers in alignment until you can hand-start the bolt. Once you get one started, the rest is easy. Ive added/taken off spacers multiple times by myself, its not difficult, just take your time, use safe blocks to block it up and even then, dont get nothing but your hand/forearm under those drums, just in case. If it falls somehow, it could be BAD if your torso was under there. And a bit of advice....dont put too many spacers to start with. Add 1-2, cut with it, look at your cut quality, if satisfied, maybe add 2 more, inspect the cut, etc, etc. I feel there is a limit with spacers to getting a good cut depending on how rough your field is and how thick your hay is. Ive heard some guys put alot on at once and find the cut quality dont suit them. Moderation is the key. Heck Ive heard some folks really like the cut at factory setting. Id suggest trying it at stock height one and see what YOU think. You may like it. Everyone likes things a little different. Do what suits YOU. Good luck!

No idea on an assembly manual. Id suggest contacting the dealer you bought it from and request one. If no luck there contact the manufacturer and ask for one via email. My drum mower and the 165 model could have slight differences in assembly. If no luck with any of that, find an experienced hay farmer in your area and coerce them into stopping by to look at your machine to see if its assembled correctly. Good luck!

Thank you I think the wife and I got it together. The question I have the break away spring how would u know how loose or how tight it should be. The other stupid qquestion We have how much tension should be on the belts the deflection it does not state it anywhere just says tight?? We feel so bad asking all of these questions and sorry we know u are busy. Thank you very much.

@@BertSchmidt-jt5go no problem. Some of this is tough to answer without being there and seeing your individual mower. You will know if you’ve set the break-away spring tension too light. Mine broke away a time or two and I kept increasing tension until it stopped breaking loose at just stuff it should go over. You want it to break away when you hit something hard, immovable, but not at a small bump. I know that probably don’t help much but time mowing with it will teach you better than I can tell you… Hope that makes sense. Push on your drive belts with your fingers…if they deflect more that 1/2 inch or close thereby, tighten them. If you mow thru heavy hay and you hear the mower bog down a tad, tighten the belts a tad at a time until it zips thru heavy hay. Thick hay is usually no match for a drum mower, it shouldn’t even slow it down usually…unless your drive belts start slipping from being too loose. Hope this helps

No, mine didn’t either. I just looked closely at pictures and looked at a parts diagram on Kowalski website to make sure my assembly was correct. If you are unsure about anything while assembling, contact your dealer and see if he can get you a manual