So, maybe you're wondering what would stop a discbine?

[BeeferMan]

I don't mean break knifes, or tear up bearings. I mean stop it dead in its tracks. Like a chain saw hitting Kevlar chaps...

I cut one field as much as a favor as for the hay. The owner always leaves something in the field, branches, garden hoses, lawn tools... this year it was - rope. Cheap plastic rope.



That stuff stopped everything in the cutter bar in about a half second. I thought I could unwind it there in the field, but even though I had a good grip on the pieces, I just couldn't get some of the rope out from under the turtles. I ended up bringing it back to the shop to get all the rope out. Turns out after the rope wrapped around the hubs, they spun just enough to melt the rope loops together, creating one solid piece of plastic once it cooled. Was easy to cut it out after pulling the turtles, but still a royal PIA!

 

[creekbend]

What a Mess. It's a good thing that it wasn't discarded wire.

 

[tessiers]

no good deed goes un-punished as they say.

 

[DT86]

Ah yes, been there, done that. Except my guy had lost half a roll of barbed wire in the edge of the field. Good times.

 

[cqaigy2]

What a pain, i've run into the melted rope condition also, saying to myself, this shouldn't be too bad to clear, only to find the rope won't unwind!

 

[Tx Jim]

My disc cutter found a chain link gate in a hay meadow that a storm had deposited there. The grass had grown up through it and the gate did $1000 damage to my cutter.

 

[AKfish]

Oh man... you guys are gonna get me all spooked up!! I'll be lookin' for old junk cars and half buried foundations everywhere I mow... I'll bet ya those belts on your cutter have a "distinctive odor" about them, too!

AKfish

 

[corey9212]

Oh man... you guys are gonna get me all spooked up!! I'll be lookin' for old junk cars and half buried foundations everywhere I mow... I'll bet ya those belts on your cutter have a "distinctive odor" about them, too!

AKfish

Your telling me, having my pasture right beside a major hi way I get all sorts of things in my pasture that blow off of vehicles (and some things that people can't hold onto for another 10 mins to get to the closest city) most things are soft enough they don't wreck the mower but with me starting to cut and bale now I will be out there picking up every piece of plastic and other garbage. The only good thing is each year I pick up enough bottles in the pasture to pay for 1-2 tanks of fuel for my tractor.

 

[corey9212]

Here's a question while on this topic what happens when a Discbine hits a mole hill? That's my biggest worry in my field.

 

[DT86]

Here's a question while on this topic what happens when a Discbine hits a mole hill? That's my biggest worry in my field.

Have you ever ran a brick through a wood planer? Lol It's not that bad, but try to avoid it. It will obviously reduce the life of the blades some what.

 

[Tx Jim]

Here's a question while on this topic what happens when a Discbine hits a mole hill? That's my biggest worry in my field.

There are lots of mole(Gopher) mounds down here in Texas in the sandy hay fields. My disc cutter goes right through/over them. Makes a "Whump" sound,blows out a dust cloud and keeps on cutting grass.

 

[BeeferMan]

Here's a question while on this topic what happens when a Discbine hits a mole hill? That's my biggest worry in my field.

In my experience, whenever knives get into the dirt, be it mole/gopher hill, edge/berm, or just feild topography, there's an immediate danger of rocks being thrown forward to the operator. I found out *after* buying my discbine that a cab tractor is recommended. And you'll read lots of stories of discbines taking out the rear windows of cab tractors. So make sure you keep the front curtain in good shape. I've only had that happen to me in a very dangerous manner once - I was coming over a slightly elevated road way so the discbine was in the raised position and the tractor was about level with the cutter bar. When the moving knives hit the edge of that gravel road all heII broke loose, the tractor was pelted with a bunch of small rocks at speeds of probably well over 100 mph - it was like someone was shooting at me. I was lucky and took no direct hits, and learned an important lesson!

Longer term, cutting through dirt is obviously not good for the knives (but they're easily replaceable), and probably not good for the bearings. Running rocks through the flails or rollers can't be good for them either.

 

[PMA]

There are lots of mole(Gopher) mounds down here in Texas in the sandy hay fields. My disc cutter goes right through/over them. Makes a "Whump" sound,blows out a dust cloud and keeps on cutting grass.

Same thing here, but the mounds are fire ants.

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[Tx Jim]

Never fear there are plenty of fire ant mounds where I live to go along with the Gopher mounds

 

[AKfish]

Never fear there are plenty of fire ant mounds where I live to go along with the Gopher mounds

I don't think I'd trade all the mosquito's, black flies, white socks, and no-see'ums we've got up here for your fire ants... nah; rather be itchin' than burnin'! :laughing:

AKfish

 

[PMA]

Hey we got other pest too, yellow flies, mosquitos, and no see ums also known as sand knats. When you get bit by fire ants toy want forget, they don't bite until about 15 to 20 gets on you and then BAM.

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[CliffordK]

The previous owner of my disc mower (bar only, not conditioner) said that it will cut right through metal fence posts.

When I was cleaning it, I also found coils of barbed wire under two of the discs, which obviously had thrown it off balance enough to make a hole leaking oil in the cutter bar.

 

[BeeferMan]

The previous owner of my disc mower (bar only, not conditioner) said that it will cut right through metal fence posts.

When I was cleaning it, I also found coils of barbed wire under two of the discs, which obviously had thrown it off balance enough to make a hole leaking oil in the cutter bar.

Ouch! I hope you caught it before all the oil leaked out? Still sounds like you're going to want to drain, disassemble, clean and repair that cutter bar? Could be bits and pieces of anything in there...

 

[JasG]

On some of the Deere disc mowers they use a pipe nipple for a fill tube. The threads cut into the tube tend to allow the end of the tube screwed into the cutter bar to crack. Which we didn't catch in time the 1st time. So the tube broke off flush with the cutter bar. Yet it fits in a cutout in the frame so even when broken right off still sits up straight.

Needless to say once the pipe breaks off it only takes a short time to blow the oil out of the cutter bar. Once that happens in a very short time the cutter bar stops turning due to parts of it set up solid.

 

[Bison]

One year neighbor had a sometimer and hit a 1500 LB rock he knew was there full tilt dead center with his next to new discbine...5 sec in dreamland ,..and total distruction.
There were not that many good parts to be salvaged from it.

15 years ago I scooped up a discarded/forgotten powerpole lengtwise top first in my haybine on the first round in a cropshare hay field 4 hr drive from home, it went in between the cutterbar and the auger and was 10' trough the crimper before it jammed solid,..slam bam thank you mam.
I went home power pole and all and never went back.
Took me a full day to get the pole out and the damage repaired.