finish mower vs. sickle bar

mjw357 · Feb 20, 2016

I have B3200 that I want to use to keep about 15 acres of horse pasture mowed. Want to keep it cut no shorter than 6", and no taller than a foot or so. Any big advantage of one type of mower over the other?

How big of a mower can I go? Land is very flat. Manual says 72" on finish and 5' on sickle bar, but I suspect I could go bigger. Thoughts?

davesl708 · Feb 20, 2016

Depends on what you want the field to look like after cutting. The sickle bar will cut the grass in one swoop and lay it down on top of the grass.
The finish mower will chop it up fine and leave a more lawn look.

As far as bigger if the grass is not to dense then 72" would be fine. If thick you would need to go slower.

bcp · Feb 20, 2016

Sickle mowers don't take much power. They cut each blade once. The limitation may be about the offset weight of the mower.

A finish mower cuts each blade many times.

Bruce

chim · Feb 21, 2016

6" to 12" or so aren't parameters I've had to work with. I have about 3-1/2 acres that is pretty much just a big yard and usually keep my grass around 4" with a finish mower. The L3200 handles a 72" RFM just fine. I'd wonder if a rotary / bush hog might be better for your application. Unless you want to mow very frequently a finish mower may not work very well. If you let it get to 12"+ and whack it down to 6" I'd be surprised if you would be happy with the finish mower.

Trials · Feb 21, 2016

Two completely different beasts. The sickle bar is for harvesting hay and straw, the finish mower is for mowing grass.
Too bad you don't live closer, I've got an old 8' tow behind sickle bar mower I'd give you for free :|

DaleHotz · Feb 21, 2016

I actually have both types of mowers that I use on my 33 hp New Holland for my 18 acre horse facility - a BEFCO 7' 3 blade finish mower and a 6' BEFCO Sickle Bar mower. I acquired the finish mower when I bought the tractor, but it took me forever to mow pastures, particularly in the early spring when growing season occurred faster than I could get to the pastures. Further, anything higher than about 8" of growth required me to go very slow and I had a lot of "clumping", even with a rear discharge. I was also concerned about putting the horses back on the pasture too quickly, as ingested clippings can be a prescription for colic.

I really like the sickle bar mower - much different than the pull behind used on the farm as a kid to cut hay. This one attaches to the 3PH and has a hydraulic lift hose. I can make quick work of mowing pastures no matter what the height of the growth and also use it in places I could never get the finish mower (ditches). Now I only use the finish mower later in the summer to tidy up the uneven growth from where the horses graze.

powerscol · Feb 21, 2016

mjw357 said:
I have B3200 that I want to use to keep about 15 acres of horse pasture mowed. Want to keep it cut no shorter than 6", and no taller than a foot or so. Any big advantage of one type of mower over the other?

How big of a mower can I go? Land is very flat. Manual says 72" on finish and 5' on sickle bar, but I suspect I could go bigger. Thoughts?

Trying to get a sickle bar to mow at 6" will be almost impossible. Have you thought about haying the pasture you don't use?
If you need to mow, a finish mower, if it can be set that high will work, but a brush hog might be better. Brush hog will leave a rough cut though.

Many many years ago I worked on a golf course as a laborer. They used a gang reel mower that they could set high for the rough, also used it for the fairway. It was PTO powered behind a Ford N Don't know if they exist anymore.

mjw357 · Feb 21, 2016

Thanks everyone. I think I'll plan on just sticking with the brush hog.

Sawyer Rob · Feb 21, 2016

mjw357 said:
Thanks everyone. I think I'll plan on just sticking with the brush hog.

Smart move...

SR

Streetcar · Feb 21, 2016

DaleHotz said:
I actually have both types of mowers that I use on my 33 hp New Holland for my 18 acre horse facility - a BEFCO 7' 3 blade finish mower and a 6' BEFCO Sickle Bar mower. I acquired the finish mower when I bought the tractor, but it took me forever to mow pastures, particularly in the early spring when growing season occurred faster than I could get to the pastures. Further, anything higher than about 8" of growth required me to go very slow and I had a lot of "clumping", even with a rear discharge. I was also concerned about putting the horses back on the pasture too quickly, as ingested clippings can be a prescription for colic.

I really like the sickle bar mower - much different than the pull behind used on the farm as a kid to cut hay. This one attaches to the 3PH and has a hydraulic lift hose. I can make quick work of mowing pastures no matter what the height of the growth and also use it in places I could never get the finish mower (ditches). Now I only use the finish mower later in the summer to tidy up the uneven growth from where the horses graze.

Dale
Why are the clippings from finish mower more of a horse problem than the clippings from sickle mower.
My only horse experience is from boarding a friends with my cows. The horse ate the same things as the cows.

LD1 · Feb 21, 2016

Yep, smart move. You'd be burning belts off and going really slow trying to mow 12" grass down to 6" with a RFM

DaleHotz · Feb 21, 2016

The clippings can ferment, can become impacted, or otherwise cause digestion problems. Big difference in cow and horse digestive systems/ stomachs.

powerscol · Feb 21, 2016

DaleHotz said:
The clippings can ferment, can become impacted, or otherwise cause digestion problems. Big difference in cow and horse digestive systems/ stomachs.

Very true - he would be better keeping the horses in one pasture and let the other grow and hay (12 inches is very good for haying). Find someone to cut and bale. That would maintain the pastures better. Rotate through the cut and uncut with the horses.

jimmysisson · Feb 22, 2016

Here's to an open can of worms: think about a flail mower!
Jim

powerscol · Feb 22, 2016

jimmysisson said:
Here's to an open can of worms: think about a flail mower!
Jim

You know that might be a viable option for the OP. Interesting

rbtjr · Feb 22, 2016

I have a 7 1/2' sickle mower and a 5' 6" brush hog. I previously had a 7' finish mower and a 6' brush hog. Based on my experience, and IMHO, I would not buy another finish mower, because the brush hog mows large areas about as well as the finish mower. The brush hog is indispensable for mowing rough stuff. I use the sickle mower to a/ mow around the edge of a pond and b/ to mow the edges of trails, roads, etc., with the sickle bar turned up 90 degrees. The application of mowing with the cutting blade turned 90 degrees up saves a huge amount of time that it would otherwise take to trim the edges of the roads and trails by hand. But if I had to pick one and only one, I would choose the brush hog because of its versatility and the fact that on average I do more mowing of fescue in the open without baling it and of brush, weeds, etc., on the roads and trails.

zzvyb6 · Feb 22, 2016

I use a 9' sickle (NH479) to cut hay for baling and also for trimming pastures. I mostly use a Woods 84" rear discharge finish mower to trim to a higher length. The Woods does a better job because the cut grass rots off a lot faster and it distributes the horse poop nicely if set down to that height. My JD1070 runs it in high gear easily. I set the gauge wheels down for the highest cutting height. I only use the two lower links and don;t bother with the top link. Then you are just dealing with a trailer mower.

Sharp blades are mandatory.