Mowing Sickle or rotary cutter?

[ModMech]

FF,

Thank you very much for the insights and you are right, just the wrong color...

That, a MoCon, rake and baler and I'd be set... except for the larger tractor

 

[sweettractors]

FF,

Thank you very much for the insights and you are right, just the wrong color...

That, a MoCon, rake and baler and I'd be set... except for the larger tractor

We also have a nice #9 John Deere 7 ft mower that is field ready that I could post a picture of tomorrow, if interested? Price is $795. A New 4 wheel 3 point hitch hay rake (8 ft raking capacity) $995 will work fine on that tractor, We have a couple of used square balers that may be a little much push for the weight tractor you have. Ken Sweet

 

[willt1981]

Thanks all.

For those that have used both, is a disc *really* that much faster of a cut? Also, most I have spoken with say that a disc takes more maintenance and parts are generally costly, compared to a sickle. Does that match your experience?

Faster is hardly the word. It's night and day. Also, when a disc mower breaks it really breaks... On mine (NH 452) if you have a bearing go out you have to split the whole cutter bar apart - believe me - i know from experience. Not fun and not cheap. I have both and am looking for a better sickle for a backup but the disc mower is hands down the quickest way to mow hay - you just pay more for that speed. I found my disc mower for $2500 used and have been happy with it generally. the thing i dont like is that you have to split the whole bar to change a bearing (on newer ones you dont) and it is VERY heavy. i was looking at used sickles and was surprised at the price of some of them. but for your current tractor a sickle seems the only option.

 

[rpirkle1]

I'm not sure I'd agree with faster on a rotary... grew up / learned to mow with a NH451 / 7 foot sickle. Generally ran it as fast as a teenager as could stay on the tractor. Just a matter of keeping sharp knives on it.

One thing you might look at.. NewHolland still puts out a trailer type sickle mower... (455/456 models) would get the weight off your 3ph.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Im fairly shure your mistakeing this...

No mistake, since the OP said "rotary cutter" and "sickle" , not "flail" or "disc cutter"

From what I understand, a rotary cutter will mow a LOT fater (2x-3x and maybe more) than a sickle but you also need a tractor with 3x to 4x the HP for a rotary cutter.

 

[ModMech]

I spoke with the NH saleman about it yesterday, they have a MoCon w/sickle bar that would do two things in one package, but I can buy a really nice used sickle and rake for 25% of what this thing cost new and there are no used ones locally. Besides, the B won't even come close to big enough with it.

He did say that *if* I had a FEL and loaded Ag tires for the rear, the smaller older square balers would work with our current tractor for a season as long as we are careful. He added that we should be able to cut about 5Ac/hr with a 7' - 9' sickle, depending on maintenance and density. That is definately doable.

 

[sweettractors]

I spoke with the NH saleman about it yesterday, they have a MoCon w/sickle bar that would do two things in one package, but I can buy a really nice used sickle and rake for 25% of what this thing cost new and there are no used ones locally. Besides, the B won't even come close to big enough with it.

He did say that *if* I had a FEL and loaded Ag tires for the rear, the smaller older square balers would work with our current tractor for a season as long as we are careful. He added that we should be able to cut about 5Ac/hr with a 7' - 9' sickle, depending on maintenance and density. That is definately doable.

I can ship a New 4 wheel 3 point hitch hay rake(8 ft), used 7 ft 501 Ford sickle mower to Tyler, Tx or Dallas truck terminals or any real business in your zip code (75103) that have offload capabilities and normal 8-5-store hours for $1998 including shipping. Ken Sweet