Drum mower question

[Idaho cowboy]

I am looking at replacing my older and getting tired New Holland swather with a Reese model 2070 HL drum mower, (NOT A DISC MOWER). I am curious as to how they work in Timathy and grass mix hay. Most of my ground consists of smaller fields that are fairly flat, but a couple fields are on sloping ground however not real steep. The manufacture recommends at least 45 hp. My tractor is a Ford 4610 with 53 hp. I was told that if the hay is laid down that the drum mower will pass over it without cutting it. I usually don't have an issue with down hay, so this doesn't really concern me. What experience have you fellas had with drum mowers, and do you think the Reese 2070 HL would be worth serious consideration? Thanks, Steve

 

[showcrop]

I am looking at replacing my older and getting tired New Holland swather with a Reese model 2070 HL drum mower, (NOT A DISC MOWER). I am curious as to how they work in Timathy and grass mix hay. Most of my ground consists of smaller fields that are fairly flat, but a couple fields are on sloping ground however not real steep. The manufacture recommends at least 45 hp. My tractor is a Ford 4610 with 53 hp. I was told that if the hay is laid down that the drum mower will pass over it without cutting it. I usually don't have an issue with down hay, so this doesn't really concern me. What experience have you fellas had with drum mowers, and do you think the Reese 2070 HL would be worth serious consideration? Thanks, Steve

I used a Fahr drum mower for a few years. It was a two drum. It worked well and always cut clean. The only drawback was the weight. Transport position was to the rear and it made the front of my 43 HP DB Case too light. Later I had a Zetor three drum. It was too heavy on my 71 HP DB Case

 

[charlie n]

I am looking at replacing my older and getting tired New Holland swather with a Reese model 2070 HL drum mower, (NOT A DISC MOWER). I am curious as to how they work in Timathy and grass mix hay. Most of my ground consists of smaller fields that are fairly flat, but a couple fields are on sloping ground however not real steep. The manufacture recommends at least 45 hp. My tractor is a Ford 4610 with 53 hp. I was told that if the hay is laid down that the drum mower will pass over it without cutting it. I usually don't have an issue with down hay, so this doesn't really concern me. What experience have you fellas had with drum mowers, and do you think the Reese 2070 HL would be worth serious consideration? Thanks, Steve

I bought a Tar River a few years ago. 5'6 cut on a 60 hp Kubota. 5'6 works perfect for a 2 basket tedder. It 'll cut as fast as you can run. 20 acres in 6 hrs. Only draw back is they cut close. Good Luck.

 

[MJMJ]

I’ve yet to find grass my drum mower won’t cut well. I mow a good bit of wind flattened grass (mix of fescue, timothy, canary grass, etc…) and it does wayyyyy better than my old haybine. I would assume whoever told you that has never actually used one.

 

[Destroked 450]

Drum mower will cut or leave the same downed hay any other mower will cut or leave
Don’t know anything about the Reece but cut with a 8 ft Claas trailed drum mower for several years, would purchase a new one today if they still made them

 

[Texasmark]

I bought a Tar River a few years ago. 5'6 cut on a 60 hp Kubota. 5'6 works perfect for a 2 basket tedder. It 'll cut as fast as you can run. 20 acres in 6 hrs. Only draw back is they cut close. Good Luck.

Ditto. I primarily use mine, same size and brand, to cut neglected fields and does a super job with no problems pulled with a Ford 3910. You need extra weights to keep the left front tire on the ground on the smaller/lighter tractors. The discs run at a very high RPM and I have yet to plug one up with high, thick, grass. They leave a 70% wide windrow in the center but I like that as my tractor tires run on cut stubble, not on crop lying down. I thought I would use mine in my haying tasks but the close cutting and lack of a crimper caused me to go back to a MOCO sickle bar for that task.

 

[Destroked 450]

Ditto. I primarily use mine, same size and brand, to cut neglected fields and does a super job with no problems pulled with a Ford 3910. You need extra weights to keep the left front tire on the ground on the smaller/lighter tractors. The discs run at a very high RPM and I have yet to plug one up with high, thick, grass. They leave a 70% wide windrow in the center but I like that as my tractor tires run on cut stubble, not on crop lying down. I thought I would use mine in my haying tasks but the close cutting and lack of a crimper caused me to go back to a MOCO sickle bar for that task.

I see these mowers swing back for transport so there are limits one could tilt the machine, but lengthening the top link to tilt the mower back some would lift the front of the drum for a higher cut
1 1/2” cut height is crazy low, I had my drum mower and present disc mower set for 2 1/2-3” cut height

 

[showcrop]

I am looking at replacing my older and getting tired New Holland swather with a Reese model 2070 HL drum mower, (NOT A DISC MOWER). I am curious as to how they work in Timathy and grass mix hay. Most of my ground consists of smaller fields that are fairly flat, but a couple fields are on sloping ground however not real steep. The manufacture recommends at least 45 hp. My tractor is a Ford 4610 with 53 hp. I was told that if the hay is laid down that the drum mower will pass over it without cutting it. I usually don't have an issue with down hay, so this doesn't really concern me. What experience have you fellas had with drum mowers, and do you think the Reese 2070 HL would be worth serious consideration? Thanks, Steve

A huge difference between these and earlier disc mowers is that drum mowers don't have their gear boxes running on the ground. Modern disc mowers are better protected but they are susceptible to rock damage either direct to the gear case or indirectly through a twist. You can slam rocks all day with a drum mower and you will dent the bottom plate that rides on the ground but you won't hurt gears.

 

[MJMJ]

I see these mowers swing back for transport so there are limits one could tilt the machine, but lengthening the top link to tilt the mower back some would lift the front of the drum for a higher cut
1 1/2” cut height is crazy low, I had my drum mower and present disc mower set for 2 1/2-3” cut height

This is exactly right, the cut height is easily adjustable with the top link. I don’t think many people realize how much it can be adjusted. I don’t cut any lower with my drum mower than I did with the haybine.

 

[Texasmark]

A huge difference between these and earlier disc mowers is that drum mowers don't have their gear boxes running on the ground. Modern disc mowers are better protected but they are susceptible to rock damage either direct to the gear case or indirectly through a twist. You can slam rocks all day with a drum mower and you will dent the bottom plate that rides on the ground but you won't hurt gears.

I shopped used discs prior to going to a drum and every one I looked at had casting braze work done on more than one cutter gearbox . My first drum offered a 1" extension which I installed; not a Tar River the other cheap popular mower. That extension didn't hold up well in rough terrain and wound up tearing up one of the drums and scrapping the mower.

I realize that you can tilt the top link causing the front of the mower to raise and increase the height of cut somewhat........but yon aren't going to get to the 4" recommended for haying sorghum-sudan haygrazer type crops where you are expecting follow on cuttings as the season progresses.....and I have proven that this recommendation is accurate. The regrowth starts with the contents of the stubble stem....no stem, retarded or no regrowth. Also you need to be moving when you start the PTO and keep moving forward, otherwise the rear of the drum's 3 blades will shave the grass at ground level.

Another beef I have with discs is the parts count. The drum has an oil partially submerged gear shaft that runs across the top of the mower, supported by oil immersed ball bearings at each end of the shaft, providing PTO power to each geared drum shaft....2 right angle gear interfaces, one per drum. The drum shafts have sealed ball bearing (2 per) shaft supports. The bottom drum floats (spins freely) and is not connected to the shaft like the top drum disc housing the 3 reversible, low cost blades. Very robust.

The drum has a hydraulic lift kit, rear hydraulic remote operated (I made my own with parts I had on hand), that you can install that allows you to raise the tip of the mower so that you don't have to get off your tractor and move the mower from the mow position out at the side, to the transport position straight out the back which takes some getting used to if working alone as I do. It lifts the tip some 45* which is adequate for road transport and most farm gates.

 

[Destroked 450]

I’m only familiar with the older drum mowers
I could till my Claas trailed drum back to about a 3” cut before the blades started cutting on the back side
A friend has an old Unifarm 3 drum 8 ft 3 point mower he no longer uses, you could till it back about the same without issues
My present Kuhn trailed disc mower will only adjust for up to 3 inch cut, they make a lift kit for 3-6 inch cut but cost around $450 per module to add on, one would want to spec that option on a new machine to save on the cost
I don’t do sorghums but even common hay grass’s will have quicker regrowth when cut above 3”, I pretty much lost a stand of Orchard grass/ Timothy before realizing my new mower was cutting to low

 

[Keith Molden]

This is exactly right, the cut height is easily adjustable with the top link. I don’t think many people realize how much it can be adjusted. I don’t cut any lower with my drum mower than I did with the haybine.

I agree, I've used drum mowers for several years. The key to mowing height is to set the mower level front to back and side to side. I have never had any problem mowing any type of hay .

 

[Jerry/MT]

I shopped used discs prior to going to a drum and every one I looked at had casting braze work done on more than one cutter gearbox . My first drum offered a 1" extension which I installed; not a Tar River the other cheap popular mower. That extension didn't hold up well in rough terrain and wound up tearing up one of the drums and scrapping the mower.

I realize that you can tilt the top link causing the front of the mower to raise and increase the height of cut somewhat........but yon aren't going to get to the 4" recommended for haying sorghum-sudan haygrazer type crops where you are expecting follow on cuttings as the season progresses.....and I have proven that this recommendation is accurate. The regrowth starts with the contents of the stubble stem....no stem, retarded or no regrowth. Also you need to be moving when you start the PTO and keep moving forward, otherwise the rear of the drum's 3 blades will shave the grass at ground level.

Another beef I have with discs is the parts count. The drum has an oil partially submerged gear shaft that runs across the top of the mower, supported by oil immersed ball bearings at each end of the shaft, providing PTO power to each geared drum shaft....2 right angle gear interfaces, one per drum. The drum shafts have sealed ball bearing (2 per) shaft supports. The bottom drum floats (spins freely) and is not connected to the shaft like the top drum disc housing the 3 reversible, low cost blades. Very robust.

The drum has a hydraulic lift kit, rear hydraulic remote operated (I made my own with parts I had on hand), that you can install that allows you to raise the tip of the mower so that you don't have to get off your tractor and move the mower from the mow position out at the side, to the transport position straight out the back which takes some getting used to if working alone as I do. It lifts the tip some 45* which is adequate for road transport and most farm gates.

I have a Galfre 190 and I ordered it with additional spacers that allow it to leave 3 inches of stubble with the spacers flat on the ground. Adjusting the three point can get you more. It has a "black hole" set of blades on the drums that don't leave a windrow.

 

[SPullman]

I shopped used discs prior to going to a drum and every one I looked at had casting braze work done on more than one cutter gearbox . My first drum offered a 1" extension which I installed; not a Tar River the other cheap popular mower. That extension didn't hold up well in rough terrain and wound up tearing up one of the drums and scrapping the mower.

I realize that you can tilt the top link causing the front of the mower to raise and increase the height of cut somewhat........but yon aren't going to get to the 4" recommended for haying sorghum-sudan haygrazer type crops where you are expecting follow on cuttings as the season progresses.....and I have proven that this recommendation is accurate. The regrowth starts with the contents of the stubble stem....no stem, retarded or no regrowth. Also you need to be moving when you start the PTO and keep moving forward, otherwise the rear of the drum's 3 blades will shave the grass at ground level.

Another beef I have with discs is the parts count. The drum has an oil partially submerged gear shaft that runs across the top of the mower, supported by oil immersed ball bearings at each end of the shaft, providing PTO power to each geared drum shaft....2 right angle gear interfaces, one per drum. The drum shafts have sealed ball bearing (2 per) shaft supports. The bottom drum floats (spins freely) and is not connected to the shaft like the top drum disc housing the 3 reversible, low cost blades. Very robust.

The drum has a hydraulic lift kit, rear hydraulic remote operated (I made my own with parts I had on hand), that you can install that allows you to raise the tip of the mower so that you don't have to get off your tractor and move the mower from the mow position out at the side, to the transport position straight out the back which takes some getting used to if working alone as I do. It lifts the tip some 45* which is adequate for road transport and most farm gates.

I'm a bit late to this discussion, but I'm just now doing some research to improve the cutting height of my drum mower for next summer. It's currently set to cut at only 1.5". The manual describes how to raise it by moving a spacer inside the saucers. When you talk about adding a 1" extension to your 1st drum mower, was that an internal (to the saucers) spacer, or did you add an additional plate to the bottom of the saucer (stump jumper)? I've seen both types of lift kits.

How did the drum get torn up? Did the extension add too much torque or twist to the drum? I can't afford to be without a mower if I break it during hay season. I can buy a lift kit which consists of an additional bottom plate that gets bolted on through the same holes as the current bottom saucer. It will give my drum mower another 1.5".

I'm growing a timothy mix and would ideally like to get a 4" cut. What cut height are you getting by tilting the top link back?

 

[Texasmark]

Duplicate

 

[Jerry/MT]

I am looking at replacing my older and getting tired New Holland swather with a Reese model 2070 HL drum mower, (NOT A DISC MOWER). I am curious as to how they work in Timathy and grass mix hay. Most of my ground consists of smaller fields that are fairly flat, but a couple fields are on sloping ground however not real steep. The manufacture recommends at least 45 hp. My tractor is a Ford 4610 with 53 hp. I was told that if the hay is laid down that the drum mower will pass over it without cutting it. I usually don't have an issue with down hay, so this doesn't really concern me. What experience have you fellas had with drum mowers, and do you think the Reese 2070 HL would be worth serious consideration? Thanks, Steve

I have a Galfre190 drum mower that I use on my Ford 4610 to mow. It has a conditioner that consists of some blades attached to the side of the drum. It does not leave windrows behind the mower. It is heavy but my tractor has loaded rear tires and handles it without any additional ballast. It folds back hydraulically behind the tractor for transport. Cuts as fast as you can go and still stay in the seat. ballast.
I have the lift kit which is a set of disc that mount under the drums and IIRC, it lifts the cutter up 1.5 inches.

 

[m16ty]

My neighbor has a Kuhn drum mower and I’ve helped him cut hay with it. That thing will make a good cut on anything you can run over. Only down side I see is they don’t offer them in very wide widths, depending on how much ground you are running over that may not matter.

 

[Texasmark]

I'm a bit late to this discussion, but I'm just now doing some research to improve the cutting height of my drum mower for next summer. It's currently set to cut at only 1.5". The manual describes how to raise it by moving a spacer inside the saucers. When you talk about adding a 1" extension to your 1st drum mower, was that an internal (to the saucers) spacer, or did you add an additional plate to the bottom of the saucer (stump jumper)? I've seen both types of lift kits.

How did the drum get torn up? Did the extension add too much torque or twist to the drum? I can't afford to be without a mower if I break it during hay season. I can buy a lift kit which consists of an additional bottom plate that gets bolted on through the same holes as the current bottom saucer. It will give my drum mower another 1.5".

I'm growing a timothy mix and would ideally like to get a 4" cut. What cut height are you getting by tilting the top link back?

The spacer were on top of the bottom drum. You removed the 3 bolts holding the lower disc to the rest of the shaft. You inserted the spacer between the lower disc and the rest of it and using the longer bolt that comes with the spacer, reinstalled the lower drum.

How did I tear it up? Doing a mowing job for a neighbor and was unfamiliar with the field...lots of uneven areas. I was going a pretty good speed to get the job done. I had no idea as to what would and did happen. Had I known that I would have either rejected the job or made up my mind to go at a much slower pace.....but that really was unrealistic as the job was pretty big for my 6' mower.

The odd thing about the whole encounter was that the dealer said you could mow as fast as you could stay in the tractor seat. Well I disproved that theory.

 

[Texasmark]

I'm a low budget STO and it would be nice to be able to afford premium equipment like a Kuhn but I have to settle for the low end that I can afford. No doubt that on my sorghum-sudan summer hay crops, even the original one with the 1" spacer and correct tilt didn't give me the second growth I needed and expected due to the stubble being too short and not enough sugar in the stems to get the plant going again to any usable degree.

There is an up side to this however: The 9' Ford 530 I think it is, swather, has a crimper which as you all know really knocks down the drying time. With the drum I had to make a second trip with an old IH 404 I think it was, crimper. That was a joke because the first time I tried it my hay was late maturing SS (Gotcha Plus) and was over the top of the cab of my 65 HP tractor.....small stems (50#/Ac.) and hadn't headed out.....the benefit of a late maturing SS and dense planting. The stems were so long that when the crimper would grab a stem, the leaves would grab some more stems and I had a problem with it continually jamming. The swather didn't care.

 

[SPullman]

The spacer were on top of the bottom drum. You removed the 3 bolts holding the lower disc to the rest of the shaft. You inserted the spacer between the lower disc and the rest of it and using the longer bolt that comes with the spacer, reinstalled the lower drum.

How did I tear it up? Doing a mowing job for a neighbor and was unfamiliar with the field...lots of uneven areas. I was going a pretty good speed to get the job done. I had no idea as to what would and did happen. Had I known that I would have either rejected the job or made up my mind to go at a much slower pace.....but that really was unrealistic as the job was pretty big for my 6' mower.

The odd thing about the whole encounter was that the dealer said you could mow as fast as you could stay in the tractor seat. Well I disproved that theory.

Thanks Texasmark, Your information really helps. Maybe I'll try the type of lift kit that bolts an additional 1.5" high plate to the bottom of the lower disc and drive carefully until I get a feel for how it works. I'm hoping that since the lift plate has the same surface area as the current bottom disc the pressure and balance on the drum will remain the same. With the lift, the blades should be at 3.25". From there I can play with the top link tilt.