hay mowers

[barticus73]

Well, I ordered a Model 2060 FORT Disc mower (7'11") from Sweet Tractors today. Should be here by Monday so I'll try her out and let you guys know what I think.

Jerry /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[5030]

We are commercial growers and I prefer the haybine over the disc mower for all the reasons listed. Besides, my MoCo isn't paid for yet. I'm am a firm believer in snipping off the shoot, like scissors rather than wacking it off like a weedwacker. A cleaner cut is more desireable than a ragged wack.

I just know I'm going to take a lot of flak on that statement.


I apologize--Cowboydoc!!!

 

[cowboydoc]

I'm not sure why you say that a disc mower "wacks" the hay down? I sure don't see that with my hay. I get a much cleaner cut that I did with the haybine. You are basically cutting the hay just like you would with a lawnmower except it's not cut over and over into small pieces. With the sickle bar action of the haybine don't you think you get just as much tearing of the stalks? Have you used a disc mower and compared the field side to side? I've compared them side to side and actually will this weekend. There's a 250 acre field of grass that a friend owns and isn't running cattle on it this year. He's letting one of my other friends and myself have the grass hay off of it for free. We're both taking our equipment over there to make the job go faster. He's got a conditioner like yours. I'll try and snap some pics of both cut. The field is divided in the middle and he was going to one side and myself the other so it will be pretty easy to see the two separately.

 

[kensfarm]

Cowboydoc.. since the speed at whch you can cut w/ a disk mower is faster.. you probably be able to take pictures while your friend is finishing up his side of the field.. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[cowboydoc]

Ken,

You are right there!! LOL. Plus this stuff is heavy so I bet he will be plugged a few times. That alone is worth the disc mower to me. I absolutely hate digging grass or alfalfa out of the mower conditioner. Thick grass is especially prone to plugging the sickle moco's.

 

[HayDR]

I have to agree with Doc on this one. A disc mower makes a cleaner cut on the stem, where as a sickle chews the hay stem off. I've seen it a hundred times where two fields were mowed side by side, one mower with a haybine and one with a disc mower and the field mowed with a disc mower greens up faster by 3-5 days. Sicklebars and or haybines are most used in alfalfa and other legume crops.

 

[kensfarm]

Cowboydoc.. what brand bailer do you have.. the reason I mention it is.. of the 3 farmers around me.. they've all had problems w/ there bailers this week.. all 3 of them have either brand new or 1 season old NH bailers. Maybe it's just all the rain.. and like you said "the stuff is heavy"... these guys fly when they're bailing.. wonder if slowing down would help. W/ all the rain.. nobody's been able to cut or bail much until this week. They haven't been able to plant corn.. or harvest their winter wheat. I believe they won't even try to plant any corn now.. just beans. I've been bushhogging the fields on my farm to help prep.. some fields are still too wet to get into.

Anyone familiar w/ the term "Knee High.. by the 4th of July!"

 

[cowboydoc]

Ken,

I've got a John Deere. I just traded my 535 for a 567. You can't go too fast with hay, esp. heavy hay. Probably alot of their problems are the heavy hay and trying to bale it like it was a regular cutting. The other problem I see alot of guys make is plugging them up and trying to unplug them by going back and forth. It's really hard on a baler to be plugged up. Best to just shut it down, clean it out, and go a little slower. That's one of the reasons I hate to buy used balers. I know how these guys that commercial bale treat the equipment. Sure a bale may only be a few years old but it's had the abuse of a 10 year or older baler. That's where I wish I had the expertise of somebody like CCI to be able to look at a baler and tell it's weak points and how it's been used. If you can find a good used one great but I'm always afraid I'm going to get the one that's baled 5000 bales in two years.

 

[HayDR]

The pickup on any baler tells how much hay its baled. The pickup does all the work and cost the most to fix. In sandy areas a pickup wears 50% faster than in clay or loam soil areas.

 

[5030]

Cowboydoc:

I just knew I was going to take flak for my statement. I've never used a disc mower. Maybe someday when a drummer comes out, I'll ask for a demo. Anyway..........
On the subject of bailers, You can't really bale "high moisture hay" with a bailer designed for "low moisture" which is about 90 % of bailers sold. I bailed some orchard grass not too long ago and had to get it up quick. I mowed/conditioned one day. Raked the next noon and baled it that evening. The weather was threatening. I baled it at about 13 and it went to 21. It was only about 10 rounds so I fed it right away, but I broke 5 shear bolts trying to bale it and I could actually feel the heat coming off the bailer frame. I've had 2 friends burn down their bailers, one had a Giehl and one had a NH. I have the fire supression kit on my NH. Almost needed it on the grass hay!!!. By the way, I have a call in to MSU for that info you wanted.