Spring Mowing Late this Year

[TerryR]

I'm a little late with the spring mowing of our field this year, and it's offering my John Deere 870 all it wants in third gear (2½ mph):

The flail is doing a good job on it. But I'm going to have to get a couple more cans of diesel, as it's going though it faster than usual.

 

[John0829]

The flail is doing a good job on it. But I'm going to have to get a couple more cans of diesel, as it's going though it faster than usual.

I'll bet it less diesel than if you were pulling a rotary cutter...

 

[scootr]

That flail is giving a very clean cut
Think of the fuel as being less than 2 cuts you may have done had you gotten on it early. I have a lower field that grows like crazy, been cut 4 times since January... and the mustard is 2 ft tall again.

 

[TerryR]

I'll bet it less diesel than if you were pulling a rotary cutter...

Actually, I found the flail normally requires at least half again as much fuel as my old rotary.

 

[TerryR]

That flail is giving a very clean cut

It does this time of year. Not so much in the fall when some of those weeds get stiff and the flail wants to bend them over and not cut them. But it does a lot better even then since I replaced the factory belt guard with a chain guard.

 

[scootr]

I have the hammers on mine and it rarely cuts as clean as you showed, do you have finnish cut knives on yours?

 

[Lineman North Florida]

That flail is giving a very clean cut
Think of the fuel as being less than 2 cuts you may have done had you gotten on it early. I have a lower field that grows like crazy, been cut 4 times since January... and the mustard is 2 ft tall again.

Have you ever thought about spraying it with a little herbicide to kill the wild mustard?

 

[scootr]

Have you ever thought about spraying it with a little herbicide to kill the wild mustard?

The mustard is the hardest to kill - I'm afraid the grasses would die as well.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

2,4,D will kill wild mustard and will not harm grass, as always read the label, but it should get it done for you.

 

[TerryR]

Today I was in a different part of the field, grass not as heavy but the terrain offers another challenge: