Rotary Cutter HayBine ? Rotary Cutter ?

[Dave5264]

Questions - in prep for next yr

Ideally Id like a Haybine. and will look for a New Holland (ive heard theyre the best to buy used.) I saw a Heston for sale and my local dealer advised me against them, kinda' a "Run forest, Run" pc of advice.

so the other thing that ocurred to me is...can i use my rotary cutter ? I heard on here that someone has used their bush hog to do this.

I have a NH Rake and a NH Sq Baler, just need to cut the stuff now.

what say you? Bush Hog ? will it work if i dont find a haybine?

 

[art]

I'd think that every farmer would be using that system if it worked! The price of a bush hog is far cheaper then the price of a mower conditioner, new or used!!!!

The bush hog will leave the hay in circular fashion rather then in a potential windrow.

 

[MMagis]

It can be done, but as mention, if it worked well everyone would do it. Many rotary cutters do leave a row of cut grass, but that’s not a good thing. A haybine doesn’t leave a wind row either, as the grass needs to dry before raking into wind rows. Grass cut with a rotary cutter would need to be tedded to dry properly (another piece of equipment to buy) and then raked. I don’t know how well the chopped up grass would bale up, but I expect not as well as properly cut hay.

 

[Train]

Without knowing your exact situation,( type of hay, horsepower, how much land) just a quick comment. I got into a situation where I needed something " right now". None of the local implement dealers had anything used so I wound up buying new and went with a discbine. The money it cost almost made me cry at the time but I'll tell you I haven't regretted it a single day. We grow straingt alfalpha and this thing cuts it short, tall, thick or thin. It's an amazing piece of equipment. I know you can get them as small as 9 feet. The blades are two sided so when they get dull you can flip them over. If you happen to break a blade they're about $1.50 and take 5 minutes to change. One bolt and nothing in the way.

Hopefully in your area you've got a good supply of used equipment and might get a good deal. Just a thought.

 

[Builder]

I'm probably buying a small, self propelled haybine with a cab. I found one with a cab in Gc for $2,900. I am finding they are cheaoper than a well used pull behind discbine. My CUT doesn't have enough HP to run even a small discbine (37PTO HP). From what I hear, that's barely or not quite enough.
Only disadvantage-one more engine to maintain and need a big building for storage.

 

[Mike120]

Just a point. It depends on what you are growing if a haybine will be useful. Roller conditioning doesn't do much for most grass hay....for grass you need flail conditioning.

 

[Dave5264]

Ive got mainly Timonthy/Clover mix, the guy that takes it off just now runs an older New Holland Haybine. Ill likely keep my eyes peeled for one locally.

thanks for the in-put guys

 

[MMagis]

Just a point. It depends on what you are growing if a haybine will be useful. Roller conditioning doesn't do much for most grass hay....for grass you need flail conditioning.

What would make you say that? In my experience, roller conditioning is very helpful with grass hay.

 

[Mike120]

What would make you say that? In my experience, roller conditioning is very helpful with grass hay.

With Alfalfa and other legumes you use conditioning to crush and minimize leaf shatter, rollers/crimpers work best, with grass (mostly leaf) you are going after the waxy leaf coating to speed up drying, so an impeller conditioner works best. There have been a number of studies, many done by Dr. Dan Undersander at U of Wis. that demonstrate the difference. I was looking for a specific study that I saw this summer, but I can't find it. If I do I'll post it.

Having said that, hay drying is more affected by the time of day it's cut, the humidity, sunlight, etc, etc. With grass, running it through a roller won't hurt it, but it won't do much for it either unless it's pretty stemmy....then why bother....just roll it up and feed it to cows. The weather conditions will differ depending on what part of the country you're in. I have nothing against conditioners, I've owned a few, my point is if you are going to get one, get the best type for the hay you are cutting.

This summer on one cutting, I cut in the morning, windrowed that evening, and baled it the next afternoon. It was hot and dry. Dragging a MoCo around wouldn't have helped me much. As a rule, I usually take three days between cutting and baling, so conditioning provides me little to no benefit.

 

[MMagis]

I see what you’re saying, and that makes sense. When I think grass hay around here, I’m thinking of things like timothy and orchard grass, which do have the long central stem. Cracking that stem (running it through the rollers) does seem to help dry the grass significantly faster.