Balance between new equipment and using what you have question.

[Kipling]

So I own a 4' bush hog, 5' 3pt finish mower and a 6' Disc Mower on a Caddy. The property has had a 6' bush hog and a batwing bush hog. Currently we bush hog some with the toy but we have maybe 35 acres the cows graze that is somewhat hilly and needs knocked down. Not enough cows and well, you know, they leave things. We have run the disc mower high and just cut areas.

Do I need a bigger bush hog? say 7-10'. Big single spindle or dual? Am I abusing a hay tool? Is it a sin?

Go ahead, give it to me, I'm a tenderfoot farmer

 

[Janicholson]

If the land is just hilly, and not potholed, or rutted, just use the bushhog. It just takes time. We do not know what tractor/s you are running, so giving advice is a bit tough. an 8 foot rotary would be a time saver. Or just enjoy the seat time. If the land is rutted/holed, till those areas and use a box blade to smooth things out, then reseed. That makes equipment and your back survive longer. Jim

 

[DRussell]

So I own a 4' bush hog, 5' 3pt finish mower and a 6' Disc Mower on a Caddy. The property has had a 6' bush hog and a batwing bush hog. Currently we bush hog some with the toy but we have maybe 35 acres the cows graze that is somewhat hilly and needs knocked down. Not enough cows and well, you know, they leave things. We have run the disc mower high and just cut areas.

Do I need a bigger bush hog? say 7-10'. Big single spindle or dual? Am I abusing a hay tool? Is it a sin?

Go ahead, give it to me, I'm a tenderfoot farmer

You say the property has had a batwing bush hog. Do you have access to this? That would be my choice for mowing a pasture.

 

[Kipling]

25 HP 4WD Yanmar, 80 HP 4WD MF481, 80 HP Ford 6610 2WD. No Batwing, I think the PO decided he was oversold and got rid of it. I would not spend that kind of $ and would spend more seat time. I run the 4' bush hog on the Yanmar and knock down high grass with the disc mower and the MF.

Don't have a box blade, did at one time...get your point.

I consider 7' Single spindle or a 8-10' multi spindle for behind the MF or Ford. Borrow the neighbors 6' Bush Hog , maybe.

Or use the 4' as appropriate and take care with the disc mower?

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Well, if you can police the area for rocks, sticks and other foreign objects that may damage the mower, and it's fairly smooth, there's no reason you can't use the disc mower.

If you've been using the disc mower and haven't smashed it to pieces, it can't be terribly rugged.

 

[paul]

Sounds like keeping an eye out for a good deal on a well used but servacable 8 foot brush hog would be the thing to do while using your 4 foot for now.

The disc mower can be used carefully in ‘good’ areas of the pasture, but as a an expensive and more delicate machine I wouldn’t want to run it through everything. A distant neighbor took on a pasture/ crp mowing job. Used his disk mower. A couple hidden rocks and hundreds of small knee high to shoulder high saplings wrecked his disk mower that it would have cost $4k to repair it. He was kind of beside himself on that situation…..

He borrowed his uncle’s stalk chopper and finished the rough mowing job.

The cow pies you can wash off, but rough ground with maybe rocks and saplings, that gets hard on a disc mower.

Paul

 

[Kipling]

Would be embarrassing for my next post being how to repair or get Vicon parts huh?

I'll stay in the market. Seems to me the disc mower is more fragile and the need is more time sensitive.

 

[E.B. Haymakin']

Would be embarrassing for my next post being how to repair or get Vicon parts huh?

I'll stay in the market. Seems to me the disc mower is more fragile and the need is more time sensitive.

There may be 8' single spindle mowers, but anything over 7' dual spindles.....and price 10' units if there isn't much price difference if do 10'. On areas that I know, and can keep clean from limbs I use my 7' sickle mower every year. It cuts faster than any rotary-less wasted fuel, closer cut to the ground. Check and see if Vicon makes Kubota hay equipment. It may not help though if your mower is dated there may not be a corresponding model in Kubota

 

[Tony in SD]

If it was me, I would just put more critters (cows, sheep, horses, etc) on it and let them mow it down for you. No labor, fuel or equipment repairs.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

If it was me, I would just put more critters (cows, sheep, horses, etc) on it and let them mow it down for you. No labor, fuel or equipment repairs.

You seen cattle prices lately? Equipment and diesel is cheaper.

 

[showcrop]

After moisture and fertility, the most important thing that you can do for your pasture is to "top" it. Any animal when grazing is going give priority to what they like, and graze around what they don't like. Without some attention this causes the feed value to go down hill a little every year as your good grass gets killed and weeds take over. Depending on stocking rate, topping once or twice a year should be adequate. The tool that you use is going to obviously depend on time and the nature of the ground surface. Another factor is seasonal growth rate. Your desirable cool weather grasses are going to grow much faster and support far more animals in April May and June than in July and August. Depending again on your ground surface, and whether or not you have a full set of hay equipment, or only the mower, you could subdivide your acres into some that you take a cutting of hay off from before putting the cattle onto it come July. Rotating your pastures pays huge dividends in tons of feed grown per year. If you are on open range none of this is going to pay you back much, but if acreage in your area has any value, you can probably increase your stocking level by 50% through good pasture management. If you aren't familiar with rotational gazing I suggest you read up on it.

 

[urbancase]

what ever works for you, i have a hill that has crop on the top but the side of the hill you could not go up and down due to deep creek at the bottom. i would duel up a tractor and use 15 foot bat wing and still felt uneasy. i now have 6 foot brush hog on skid steer and a lot easier to do and lower to the ground and you are able to move to get the best spot to cut some areas.

 

[Destroked 450]

Do you use the disc mower for cutting hay? If so I wouldn’t be running over rough ground clipping pasture with it, also your clipping the pasture to low with that mower
Forage grass for cattle needs to be 4-6” high to get the most feed value from the ground and control weeds, this is better accomplished with a rotary mower
With the tractors you have a trailed 10 ft dual spindle rotary mower would be a good addition to your equipment line
I pull a 15 ft bat wing with my 6610 clipping pastures but don’t use it on steep hillsides, for steep or rough ground I have a 10 ft mower that’s much lighter and doesn’t push the tractor around like the heavy 15 ft bat wing will

If you don’t use that disc mower for cutting hay consider trading it for a bigger rotary mower, the disc mowers value may be limited due to its shorter 6 ft cut, but a good mower caddy retains its value, I haven’t seen a good used caddy in my area priced under $4000, up until this year I’ve been looking for one to mount a 8 ft Kuhn mower on

 

[Kipling]

It is a Vicon CM247 and when measured is a 7' I believe. Yes, it is used to hay and therefore is important and shouldn't be used to just wack pasture.

I looked at a 12' Industrias America Rotary Cutter the other day and was surprised how well built it looked for the price point. They didn't have the 10' one and the 12' fits in one of my barn bays. Medium duty is fine for my application. If I was young to buy an 8 I might as well get a single spindle 7'. I don't want the complexity or cost of a bat wing. I can always use the 4' one I own for special work. This 12' one uses the common chinese gear setup that many others use. A decent used 10' Bush Hog medium duty is about the same price...

Pondering

 

[Destroked 450]

I’m not a fan of a fixed deck wider than 10 ft, unless all you ground is flat it’s hard to keep the outside on the deck from digging into the ground
It’s only a foot on each side but you’d be surprised how much difference that makes
Kinda like trimming ditch lines with a wide deck zero turn

 

[will-max dairy]

In our area, grass grows three times faster in spring than in August.

I try to run grazing/hay land in "thirds"...

Pick the 1/3 of your land that is the most uneven, wet... generally unsuitable for making hay on. Confine your cows first for grazing. Make them graze it HARD.

Bale 1st cutting off of the other 2/3.

Next cycle...

Rotate your cows between another 1/3 of the land (which should grow back to grazing level after 1st cut) and that initial 1/3 (which should grow back with some rest)

Cut 2nd cut off of the last 1/3 of your land.

Next cycle...

Now open all of your land for grazing and/or outfeeding into the fall.


The land stays cleared.
You have good grazing.
You have good hay for winter.
You (generally) don't need any cutting equipment, other than your haymaking cutter.
(and... as an aside...even if you use a bush hog... they CAN go over rocks, trees and other such things... but planning on doing that on a yearly basis with it shortens their life, and the life of the tractor (and its tires) considerably...)


Now... my thought process is optimized for NY state... if you live in a completely different climate... of course, you'll have to adjust for local conditions and growth/precipitation rates...

 

[wh]

Tried a 10 ft rigid mower out and went back to dealer and bought a 8 ft. Both were twin spindles. Few years later traded it for a 15 ft batwing. The rigid 10 was just too wide. The 15 ft folds to a tad over 8 ft to move around. The 15 ft is very easy maneuvered when using. Cut mowing time down tremendously. Have a 5 ft for the areas the batwing is too big for.

 

[will-max dairy]

As for stocking rate... grazing (purposely) wastes some forage due to trampling and such... but that makes it so that you don't need commercial fertilizer.

In our neck of the woods, you can generally depend on about 100 small squares of forage per acre per year... which means 50 for grazing and 50 for the winter...

A cow needs 365 small squares per year... so an acre supports about 1/4 of a cow... safely with minimal external inputs.

Or... like you are planning to do... you can just stock way more lightly and mow/mulch/trample the excess...

 

[will-max dairy]

You seen cattle prices lately? Equipment and diesel is cheaper.

Barnyard... you hit my right square between the eyes on this one. Cattle are spendy... the markets are funny right now. High local price for a bull calf (CALF) was 1400 dollars. It's almost reminiscent of the "funny money" markets of the 80's and 90's for dairy cattle with trendy genetics... only now, its run-of-the-mill calves that just look like angus... because... let's remember, boys and girls that "certified" is not "registered" lol

 

[DRussell]

In our area, grass grows three times faster in spring than in August.

I try to run grazing/hay land in "thirds"...

Pick the 1/3 of your land that is the most uneven, wet... generally unsuitable for making hay on. Confine your cows first for grazing. Make them graze it HARD.

Bale 1st cutting off of the other 2/3.

Next cycle...

Rotate your cows between another 1/3 of the land (which should grow back to grazing level after 1st cut) and that initial 1/3 (which should grow back with some rest)

Cut 2nd cut off of the last 1/3 of your land.

Next cycle...

Now open all of your land for grazing and/or outfeeding into the fall.


The land stays cleared.
You have good grazing.
You have good hay for winter.
You (generally) don't need any cutting equipment, other than your haymaking cutter.
(and... as an aside...even if you use a bush hog... they CAN go over rocks, trees and other such things... but planning on doing that on a yearly basis with it shortens their life, and the life of the tractor (and its tires) considerably...)


Now... my thought process is optimized for NY state... if you live in a completely different climate... of course, you'll have to adjust for local conditions and growth/precipitation rates...

The only problem with this is when it rains, the cows will make holes in the 2/3 you cut for hay and you then have rough fields to drive over.