If you have small acreage and thinking of cutting hay... Drum Mower

[bjr]

DaveO

I live down in the Tri-Cities and have mostly sandy loam soil. I've used triple 16 fertilizer and a some urea (46N) on my previous orchard grass. What are you using on your alfalfa? I'm just now seeding a 1-1/4 Acres into alfalfa. bjr

 

[flusher]

I fertilize once a year... the pay backs are worth it... healthy crop and the tonnage stays up pretty good... Very few weeds... folks drive by and see the crop and I have no problem selling it for a good price... fertilizer runs about 5-10% of the sale price of the alfalfa, depending on the soil analysis every couple years...

Your operation is a lot different from mine. I grow oats on non-irrigated land, plant in Oct/Nov, bale in May, only one cutting per season. Yield is only about 1500 lb of baled hay per acre.

My neighbor has a operation similar to yours--about 25 acres of irrigated alfalfa. Between May and Oct he gets 4-5 cuttings. Uses an old self-propelled Hesston swather with a 12-ft wide head to do the mowing and a 3-twine square baler.

 

[DaveOmak]

DaveO

I live down in the Tri-Cities and have mostly sandy loam soil. I've used triple 16 fertilizer and a some urea (46N) on my previous orchard grass. What are you using on your alfalfa? I'm just now seeding a 1-1/4 Acres into alfalfa. bjr

Below is one table from Canada.... I have looked at others and they are basically the same.... On the bottom is my soil analysis..... My guy at the fertilizer place calculates what I need.... I have been doing business with him for 5 years..... In the interim I add 100# 16-16-16-8sulfer and 50# ammonium sulfate... I think what he recommended for this falls addition was N,K, S and B..... I cut yesterday and will be seeing him in a day or 2 to pick up the nutrients... I wish I was more help but I don't need to remember that stuff... He has a Chemistry degree and takes care of me and a lot of other folks...When I bought the land the soil analysis showed 0.6% OM (Organic Matter)... I spent a lot of time growing cover crops and tilling it in... I think I have it pretty good now at 3% OM.... I'm happy...


Table 1. Nutrient removal per ton of dry matter alfalfa
Nutrient Amount removed (lbs/ac)
Phosphorus (P)
4 - 6
Phosphate (P2O5)
10 - 15
Potassium (K)
40 - 55
Potash (K2O)
50 - 65
Calcium (Ca)
30
Magnesium (Mg)
5 - 7
Sulphur (S)
5 - 7
Boron (B)
0.08
Copper (Cu)
0.01
Iron (Fe)
0.3
Manganese (Mn)
0.1
Molybdenum (Mo)
0.002
Zinc (Zn)
0.05

 

[DaveOmak]

Your operation is a lot different from mine. I grow oats on non-irrigated land, plant in Oct/Nov, bale in May, only one cutting per season. Yield is only about 1500 lb of baled hay per acre.

My neighbor has a operation similar to yours--about 25 acres of irrigated alfalfa. Between May and Oct he gets 4-5 cuttings. Uses an old self-propelled Hesston swather with a 12-ft wide head to do the mowing and a 3-twine square baler.

Evening flusher.... Do you plant a cover crop after the harvest, like Buckwheat, to till in before it goes to seed ?? It adds a lot of nitrogen to the soil... I've planted Buckwheat, Piper Sudan Grass, field grass and tilled it all in....Then went permanent with Alfalfa... I'm getting just under 1 ton per cutting..... Getting 5 cuttings at 28-35 days... All depends on what the weather man says for a 10 day forecast....

 

[flusher]

Evening flusher.... Do you plant a cover crop after the harvest, like Buckwheat, to till in before it goes to seed ?? It adds a lot of nitrogen to the soil... I've planted Buckwheat, Piper Sudan Grass, field grass and tilled it all in....Then went permanent with Alfalfa... I'm getting just under 1 ton per cutting..... Getting 5 cuttings at 28-35 days... All depends on what the weather man says for a 10 day forecast....

Haven't tried a cover crop yet. Tried to plant beans and peas two seasons ago to add nitrogen. Didn't work out well--crows and pigeons had a feast.

 

[countryguy1225]

Hi Larry.
The Galre Drum mower I have from goodwinconcepts.com is supposed to skid along the ground. I have run w/ it suspended but really need to tweak the rear 3pt to make it level . At 800lbs I do not reccomend for large runs.... Up to your Tractor if this is OK or not. I supposed you know now to wear a something covering your Neck, eys and even face. I get slapped w/ grashoppers, frogs, dirt, etc... But i can go literally as fast as I want. It mows better the faster I go actually. Best, CG .

 

[atgreene]

Sorry to hijack the thread, wasn't sure if I actually needed to start a new one as this is all related.

Looks like I'm ready to pull the trigger. My 7' 990 IH is spoken for, looking at:
Zetor (dealer is 1 hour away, 3 year warranty, $5k)
CCM (forget the price, need to call them back and get a current one + freight)
SFI ($3899.00 + freight)
Reese (seems way too much for now, great looking mower, but out of my league for now)
Galfre 190 $5699
Haymag T190 - need to call for price
Ranch Rite- dealer I spoke to said they didn't have any 190's as the smaller size is more popular.

Whom I missing? Kuhn? Other's?

Shaft drive or belt? I tend to lean toward belt for simplicity and maint, but then again I've heard of twisting problems.

I'm not concerned about conditioning as most of what I'm doing now is wrapped silage bales.

I'm certain on the larger size, other than that I can be persuaded. Thanks!

 

[DaveOmak]

I chose CCM because it is a small family owned business... been in business for years.... carried their mower design forever.... been to the factory and had upgrades built into the mowers... Light weight.... belt drive is fewer parts to wear out.... It's design is simple and works very well... I'm pleased with the all around performance and the way it cuts very thick alfalfa... my neighbors green MoCo didn't cut as well even with new blades.... less damage to the field using the CCM... alfalfa regrows to 26+ inches in 30 days.... I'm irrigating and fertilizing once per year.... I may up the fertilizer to twice / year between the 1st and 2nd cuts and the 4th and 5th cuts.... I expect my production to go up by 10-15% getting 5 cuttings / year and a better quality alfalfa.. Using the small drum, I usually cut on Monday and bale on Thursday... thin wind rows dry very fast.. then the irrigation goes back on.....
I have a customer that buys it all.... I'm looking to keep him happy... I don't have to store the hay..... One phone call and they pick it up that day...... Great customers.....

 

[atgreene]

Went with the Zetor. We'll see how this works out.

 

[SPYDERLK]

What cut width did you get?
Thanks.