disc mower question

[eod4647]

Good AFternoon,

Quick question (hopefully). I've been browsing the Internet to get "smart" on mowers fro making hay. Leaning towards a disc mower as ooposed to a sickle mower, but it appears from the literature I've viewed on the new stuff, a disc mower needs a tractor with a cab.
I'm just curious why that is so? I see the blades spin pretty fast (175+ mph), seems to me if a blade broke at that speed it would go right through a cab should it happen to go that way. Is it for noise? I don't know, just hoping someone might have an answer. I'd like a disc mower, but my Oliver 880 won't have one.

Chris

 

[WCS]

Disc mowers can hit and throw a rock at you if rocks are present in your hay field. My mower threw a rock at my tractor cab and shattered the glass in a side window.I thought I'd been shot at with a gun but then realized it was a rock. I'm glad I had the cab protecting me.
The curtain on the mower didn't stop the rock.

 

[kyhayman]

A cab certainly increases your personal protection, however Ive rarely seen them used that way. We got our first disc mower in 1988 and didnt get our first cab tractor until 1999. Even with that, the baler gets the cab tractor and the open tractors get the disc mower. Only thing Ive really noticed is in cloddy ground or mowing soybean hay I usually get a dirt bath using the open tractor.

 

[Craig C]

Keep a good curtain, and keep it in the hay and you shouldn't have a problem. I have seen them throw rocks, but usually it is when you are doing something you shouldn't, like mowing road ditches on the shoulder of the highway. That's when you are asking for it. If you are really concerned, build an expanded metal screen on the right side of your tractor between you and the mower. road crews usually have something like that on their tractors.

 

[thurlow]

For the first 15 years or so that we owned disc mowers, we didn't own a cab tractor. We had a commercial orchard during that time and removed the frame/curtain so we could mow under the trees. Don't have a picture, but we put a plexiglass 'shield' on the right fender to keep most of the dust/dirt/grass off of the operator.

 

[eod4647]

Thanks for the replys. I was thinking it had somethingto with debris, but wasn't sure. So a disc mower is still on my list, I'll just have to make a shield of sorts if I get one.

 

[JOCCO]

I use mine with no cab I ran a 7 ft on an oliver 550. Your 880 will handle it you will need a remote hydraulic cylinder. Unless you do only a few hundred bales you will like the disc compared to a sickle.

 

[Roy in UK]

A good one should already have a shield fitted to it

 

[trucker 40]

I dont see any advantage to a disc mower at all.They cost a lot,throw pieces of cut whatever you are cutting all over the place and the one I used was falling apart.I know a sickle can loose sections but if you have a spare sickle or 2 its a lot easier to replace a sickle than a drive shaft in one thats twisted in a disc mower.You can probably buy a whole sickle mower for less than what parts would cost to put bearings and cutter blades on one of the disc mowers.
If you get a good sickle mower that is not worn out then I wouldnt think a disc mower would be any advantage.Just my opinion.

 

[JOCCO]

Helll of a lot less maintance, cuts on corners, rarly plugs up, mowing speed is much faster, Not much advantage???

 

[trucker 40]

What sickle mower doesnt cut on the corner?How do you figure you are going any faster?I guess you run in road gear or something?I will say it rarely plugged up,but it will.I still dont see the advantage yet.Especially since I had to work on the piece of junk for a week before I could even use it,and after that it threw a couple of the things that hold the cutters.Maybe some are better than others.I still dont see any advantage to it yet.Also even with a tarp around it stuff will still get through.It is a lot more expensive to fix if you hit something like a tree limb thats covered up,or just about anything can knock it out of time which is why I had to spend a week working on it and drive 400 miles to get parts.You havent convinced me of any advantage yet.Maybe for the guy selling it.

 

[JMOR]

(quoted from post at 13:36:52 07/11/11) Good AFternoon,

Quick question (hopefully). I've been browsing the Internet to get "smart" on mowers fro making hay. Leaning towards a disc mower as ooposed to a sickle mower, but it appears from the literature I've viewed on the new stuff, a disc mower needs a tractor with a cab.
I'm just curious why that is so? I see the blades spin pretty fast (175+ mph), seems to me if a blade broke at that speed it would go right through a cab should it happen to go that way. Is it for noise? I don't know, just hoping someone might have an answer. I'd like a disc mower, but my Oliver 880 won't have one.

Chris

e have gophers, that even in a previously rock free field, once they push up their mounds, it isn't rock free anymore and those little rocks and the disc mower are responsible for cab window(s) replacement every hay season. Yes I do poison them, but new neighbor gophers move in & I hit 'em again!

 

[RodinNS]

Some of us mow at 10-14 MPH. Obviously not with a haybine...
Disc will also cut wet/down/tangled without much effort or plugging when the haybine is stuck sitting in the yard.

Rod

 

[showcrop]

One situation where it is apt to throw stones is when you go over an abrupt hill crest.

 

[JOCCO]

T 40 you must have had a used dammage one. I have used one for years with no major problems. As for parts buy some for a NH 451 or JD 350 sickle mower ouch!!!

 

[NEBeef]

Yeah, pretty straight forward. Advantages: faster cutting, less plugging, will cut about anything, easier to maintain (knife replacement). Disadvantages: more expensive, can toss rocks at you or your tractor, is more susceptible to damage (a lot of that is because you're traveling at much higher rate of speed).
Is a disc mower worth it? Maybe depends on which you have more - time, or money...

 

[Roy in UK]

At the risk of repeating myself. We got our first drum mower in 1969 , the year Mr. Armstrong walked on the moon! and believe me it was "Bye bye sickle mowers" after that. Then we sort of graduated to disc mowers in the late 70"s The sickle mower is virtually extinct here in The UK, enough said.

 

[SouthernFarmall]

We cut hay all the time with a 7 foot disc mower on an International 464 without a cab. I have never had any trouble with debris being an issue, but I will tell you that a disc mower is much better than a sickle. It cuts faster, as well as cuts hay that is laid down (something a sickle mower will never do).

SF

 

[johndeerefan]

If you have ever cut with a disc mower, you will let that sickle mower rust down. I use to cut with a New Holland belt drive sickle mower (471 or something like that). Besides breaking sections every little bit, clogging when you get down to the last strip to cut, clogging from crawl fish hole mud, clogging in thick hay, and having to wait for the grass to be completely dry, that style mower does pretty good.

Now, I have a Fella disc mower. Cut hay day or night, only change blades 2 times a year, cuts the corners better, will cut any hay, and can go much faster. Needless to say, my sickle mower is now my most useless piece of hay equipment. It hasn't been used since the day I bought the disc mower.

Cost wise, the NH belt drive sickle mowers sell for about $1000-$1200. A good used disc mower cost about $2500. Money well spent.

As far as flying debris, one farm I cut has tons of limestone rocks. Keep a good tarp cover on it and you will have nothing to worry about. I cut hay without a cab and never had anything come flying by me. A bush hog is a lot more dangerous than a sickle mower.