Sickle Bar sickle vs. disk vs. drum mowers

[HillbillyFarmer]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( My haying experience involved 7' sicklemowers and hayconditioners. Later it evolved into a 9' New Holland Haybine. When the weather cooperated we could cut in the morning of the first day and bale in the afternoon of the second day. We did over 100 acres a year that way for years. Sold a lot of the hay to horse people so it had to be good. No mold or the horses get sick. Cows are not as fussy. What is the advantage of the drum and disc mowers over a haybine style cutter? Are they a better alternative for certain hay crops or just cheaper than a haybine while still doing a fair job? Just asking. I don't know of anyone using discs or drums in my part of Michigan. )</font>

Toolguy, do you know exactly what a haybine does to the hay?
I've been told it actually squeezed the moisture out of the hay. That doesn't sound like a good idea to me. I've done some research that seems to indicate it simply cracks the stems, allowing it to dry faster.

 

[Toolguy]

You are correct. The conditioning rolls on a haybine just crimp and break the stems without damaging the leaves on alfalfa which helps the stems to dry faster. I remember hearing that conditioners squeezed all the good "juice" out of the hay, but that is just not true. The conditioning process saves a day of drying. It is very important to get the hay baled before it gets rained on so a day less on the ground means a better chance of it not getting wet. "Haying" is an art that involves knowing when to rake the hay before the leaves dry out and crumble from raking and then baling the hay when the moisture content is just right so the hay does not mold in the bale. Let it get too dry before baling and all the leaves crumble when it goes through the baler. Moldy hay is not good hay, neither is hay that is too dry. In addition to making horses deathly sick the mold decreases the nutrient value of the hay. My experience is with an alfalfa-grass mixture. We mixed brome grass and a little timothy seed with the alfalfa when seeding new hay fields. It is a mix that provides a good balance of protein and other nutrients. Race and show horses and dairy cows need protein and alfalfa is a good source. There is also a difference between first cutting and second and third. The first cutting is when the grass is heavy in the hay. The second and third cutting have more alfalfa as the grass stops growing as fast once summer comes and the ground dries out. The first cutting is a good all around hay and the next cuttings are more for those that want more alfalfa. It costs more because of it's increased protein value. Whew! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif I better stop now. This is bringing back memories of moving all those bales. Baling in the summer and selling it in the winter. Not bad memories, just lots of sweaty days in the summer and cold fingers in the winter. Good luck.

 

[HayDR]

rambler,
47% of all Beef cattle producers have herds of less than 100 head. 2005 Beef Cattle Stats.
28% of all beef cattle producers have operations of less than 50 head.
What this tells you, is you'll see than most of the cattle producers in the USA are grassland farmers and do not raise Alfalfa. These producers use smaller tractors (35-70 HP) and often graze 100% of their pasture and hayfields. Alfalfa does not last long under grazing pressure of livestock. These producers for the most part use 3 point disc & drum mowers to harvest their hay. When you start talking pull-type disc mower conditioners you need larger tractors and larger capital investment these smaller operations can not justify.
When you live in Dairy cattle country like PA, NY, MN, & WI you will not see many small producers using 3 point equipment. These dairy operations have larger tractors and use larger pull-type machines than the smaller beef cattle producer.

 

[HillbillyFarmer]

CCI, Are you saying my 50HP JD5205 isn't big enough to work a haybine?

 

[HayDR]

50 Hp is fine for a haybine but not for a discbine. The haybine is older technology and does not give the grass hay farmer any advantages over a disc or drum mower. A haybine will not mow as fast as a disc/drum mower nor will the haybine mow in all types of crop conditions like a disc/drum will mow. A haybine is better than a single action sicklebar mower. In alfalfa and other legumes you can build a case that the haybine may have a slight advantage over a disc/drum mower alone setup. From AR, KY to the VA coast and all the states south of that line, less than 10% of hay acreage grown is alfalfa. Take a disc/drum mower and a tedder and you will put up any grass hay as quick and any discbine mower conditioner setup out there. The discbine mower conditioner will cost close to $20,000 new and it will take at least a 80 PTO HP tractor for a 9' discbine. You can take that 50 HP tractor and a 9' HayMAXX 3 point disc mower and have the same production as a machinery set-up costing twice as much. Smaller tractors use less fuel, compact the ground less and require less capital outlay. 3 point disc & drum mowers make since and fit the economic demands of producers even with 300 head beef cattle operations.

 

[rambler]

It's all about location. Anywhere around here, if you have more than 10 acres of hay, you probably have alfalfa, and you have a mower conditioner of some kind. Losing money if you don't.

I'm one of the 28% you talk about. I have a moco - looking for a better one, a sickle mower, a round baler, and a square baler. Typical around here. Can't afford to grow grass unless it is wet land too poor to harvest reliably. We have snow & tundra for 1/2 the year, so must harvest a lot of hay in 3 months time to feed the froxen half of the year. I bale a lot of corntalks & bean stubble as well.

Way different in a more moderate climate, or a much drier one. Here we have it wet & short.

--->Paul

 

[HillbillyFarmer]

CCI, What is a "tedder?"

And yes, $20K is WAY too much for my needs or resources.

Thanks again for the info,
HbF

 

[gman1772]

OK, for the the risk of sounding like an idiot. what advantage does the disc mower give over a drum mower. Looking at the money a drum mower is substantially cheaper than ANY disc mower I have priced and I am in the market to buy. I currently have a 20 acre area in hay production and use custom harvesters but I am looking @ buying my own equipmnent in the next 12 months.

 

[dawoodwa]

I have never used a drum mower, I simply never saw one in a working width that was sufficient for my needs. We currently use a 9' Khrone disc mower on a KMC caddy. I can cut ryegrass in the spring, which time the ground is still damp and we have heavy fireant infestations, and still run in 6th gear and still have a clean cut. We usually begin cutting early in the mornings and try to follow the next morning after the dew is off with the tedder. The tedder lifts the grass and fluffs it encouraging a faster drying time. I began using sickle mowers when I first began farming but it was a constant battle with broken blades and pluggage because of the ant hills. Went to a JD 1209 moco, still had the pluggage problems but the hay would dry faster due to the crimping. Graduated to my first disk mower, it was a 5' New Holland. No more plugging, not having to backup ever few minutes to clear a cutterbar. Considered going with a disk conditioner but got the caddy for the 3ph Khrone, already have the tedder, can't justify the additional capital costs for a disk moco.

 

[blueriver]

I started with the sickle mower, if you use it early morning with the dew it will shake the heck out of you, plug with wet grass, ant hills and gopher hills ... if you run into (what we call wire grass) sure to knock out a section, break a pittman stick.

Bought the Frontier DM1160 disc mower, cut 10 acres this fall to try it and am looking forward to hay season. BTW, Bermuda and Bahaia are my main grasses.