Neighbor's Mower

I took the last cutting of alfalfa yesterday evening. My neighbor Russ let me do a "try before I buy" on his cutter conditioner. A cutter conditioner cuts and conditions. By conditioning it means that two rollers smash the plant as it exits the mower. This splits the stems and allows for a quicker drying time which was a major issue this year. The mower is a hydra swing type. Hydra swing means that it moves from side to side behind the tractor by hydraulics which allows you to cross the field rather than doing decreasing circles around the field. The mower moves from side to side by a lever. When you reach the end of the field you have to lift the mower with the standard tractor hydraulics and then move the lever to the side which starts the mower moving to the other side as you turn. It is more of a complicated move than I thought. If you turn too sharply you hit the tire with the mower arm, and when you come around if you aren't lined up right you miss some of the alfalfa as the mower gets lined up. Russ also let me use his tractor. I liked them both. Just as I was about finished the field however the mower stopped running like I had picked up a rock or something. I checked the mower but I can't find anything... Sooo I have to call him and tell him that his mower is down and I can't figure out why! I'm sure he won't be happy, and I'm not too happy about having to call him and give him the bad news. Oh well, guess it's time to pickup the phone and give him a call.