Making hay with low horsepower tractor

[deadmoose]

I finally did it. After much research online I figured my 2007 28.5 pto hp Kubota L3400HST might be able to make some hay. I bought (all well used) a 7' IH 990 haybine, New Holland rollabar rake, and a Hesston 5530 rounder (Min 30 pto required). The Kubota pulled them all. You could definitely feel the haybine and baler behind, but they worked well. More power would be ideal but I made some hay with the tractor I own. The baler pulled much better than expected, doing a nice job bailing some clover/timothy and some canary grass. After I figured out how to wrap the twine I got some nice little bales (makes 39" wide by 54" round bales, I made them about 4' round). Now I need to plan ahead for the future. The haybine was the toughest to pull and seems as though it requires a bit of maintenance. Does anyone have experience with drum mowers making hay on a tractor of similar size? I am starting to look at drum mowers for the future--in the 5-6' range on the 3 point. Are they worth the money and how about maintenance? I don't have enough money or power for a diskbine, and have a haybine. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Verticaltrx]

If you are willing to do the associated maintenance on them, really a sickle bar is the best hay mowing tool for a low hp tractor. I have a New Holland 451 that I use on my B3200 (23 pto hp) and it has plenty of power to run it, even on the steep hills we have around here. I mow full speed in M range at 6mph and can really cover some acreage fairly quickly. Last hay I mowed was about 12ac and did it on less than 5gal of fuel. I also pull a two rotor hay tedder with the B3200 as well as a NH rollabar rake. I use my Ford NAA for baling as square balers are pretty hard on the drivetrain of compact tractors and I don't want to tear the little Kubota up.

Sounds like you are on the right track, I would look at a good quality sickle bar mower if I were you. The drum mower may not be a bad option either, but I have no personal experience with them .

 

[flusher]

I finally did it. After much research online I figured my 2007 28.5 pto hp Kubota L3400HST might be able to make some hay. I bought (all well used) a 7' IH 990 haybine, New Holland rollabar rake, and a Hesston 5530 rounder (Min 30 pto required). The Kubota pulled them all. You could definitely feel the haybine and baler behind, but they worked well. More power would be ideal but I made some hay with the tractor I own. The baler pulled much better than expected, doing a nice job bailing some clover/timothy and some canary grass. After I figured out how to wrap the twine I got some nice little bales (makes 39" wide by 54" round bales, I made them about 4' round). Now I need to plan ahead for the future. The haybine was the toughest to pull and seems as though it requires a bit of maintenance. Does anyone have experience with drum mowers making hay on a tractor of similar size? I am starting to look at drum mowers for the future--in the 5-6' range on the 3 point. Are they worth the money and how about maintenance? I don't have enough money or power for a diskbine, and have a haybine. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

AFter rebuilding for the 3rd time an old MF31 sicklebar mower (7 ft) that I bought at auction a few years ago, I plan to go with a 5-6 ft drum mower and run it with my 2008 Mahindra 5525. You have to be aware of the minimum tractor weight recommended for the drum mower to be sure that your tractor can handle the mower weight. And a drum mower tends to windrow the cuttings somewhat, which may or may not be what you want.

Good luck.

 

[JoeinTX]

If you're really wanting to plan on the future............get a bigger dam@ tractor.

The implements will do no more than the unit powering and lugging them. If you really wan't to make full use of the tools, get a good 40-60hp tractor and put the power to them. S-Cuts are not field yielding rigs....they are piddle around at multiple things kind of stuff.

FTLOG, stop trying to make Belgians out of Shetlands and then complain when they don't move the Earth on a lever.

 

[deadmoose]

No complaints about my shetland here. Ultimately a bigger tractor would be nice, but in the mean time I will make do with what I have. The other factor with that is if I do get a bigger tractor, I would also like to be able to still use this one as a backup in an emergency. Plan A for now could be plan B for later. Thanks for the input. Has anyone had experience with drum mowers?

 

[cowboy bowhnter]

Why dont you like the haybine? How fast can you go? Im in mn and looking for one and would like as much info as possible before i buy one.

 

[mwb]

Drum mowers (3PT) are very heavy and hard on your tractor. If you can find one a smaller towable type would be better.

I have an old 7' IH sickle mower and it works very well with little maintenance. I cut everything from sumac's, poplar trees (up to 3/4 inch), and clear my fallow field every fall. During the summer I use a slower ground speed and it cuts the rougher part of my lawn. Like most things, if they are set up properly and maintained they work well.

For the amount you are doing I think a sickle would be the way to go. They are relatively cheap to buy, parts are available and they are build out of WWII technology. Pretty expensive if your drum mower blows a gearbox. Sickles don't crimp like your haybine probably does.

I was curious so I googled for a smaller drum mower and http://www.ccmachinery.com/drum mowers.htm has them. I don't think I would have the patience to work with a 53" cut though!

 

[MMagis]

I can’t think of one good reason to give up a haybine, that works, just to get a sickle bar. It makes no sense.

 

[Duffster]

I can't think of one good reason to give up a haybine, that works, just to get a sickle bar. It makes no sense.

Ditto.

 

[deadmoose]

They haybine does work. It just seems like a lot of things that can go wrong with it. It seemed to do a nice job on everything-a little slow in thick canary grass but I wont be mowing much of that. Thanks for all the replies. I think instead of looking at a 5' drum mower I will get myself a spare sickle bar for my haybine just in case and keep up on the maintenance. I don't have a lot of experience with this type of equipment. The haybine looks a little rough on the outside (could really use a fresh coat of paint), but everything seems to work great. I need to replace a few sickle sections. Before using I went through everything I could. I replaced 1 of the 3 belts. The other two look ok. I oiled up the gearbox and put my grease gun on every zirc I could find. After using I cleaned off excess hay on it to sit until my oats are ready to cut. Hopefully this summer I can get a lean to up so it doesn't have to sit outside all year long.