Drum mower question

[Texasmark]

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.

That sounds like a great idea. Let us know how it goes.

 

[John in Ct]

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.

What does a 6' mower have to do with how fast you go?

 

[Texasmark]

What does a 6' mower have to do with how fast you go?

I don't think width has anything to do with it other than the discs are large and weigh more than narrow cutters and if the narrow cutters use the same 3 bolts as the 6' then there is your difference on how the machine can tolerate impacts from high speed and uneven ground.

 

[showcrop]

What does a 6' mower have to do with how fast you go?

I think that we all know that we shouldn't be going faster because the job is taking a long time, but I think that most of us will. My cousin was showing me where one of his workers had hit something with the front cover of his new 13 ft. Khun moco because of it rising up then coming back down and hitting a hump in the ground. He stated that he tries telling them that with a wider mower they don't need to go so fast but of course they still do.

 

[Wdj]

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.

My fields are rough and steep and I farm with old equipment. Learned that running slow is faster.

 

[Texasmark]

I think that we all know that we shouldn't be going faster because the job is taking a long time, but I think that most of us will. My cousin was showing me where one of his workers had hit something with the front cover of his new 13 ft. Khun moco because of it rising up then coming back down and hitting a hump in the ground. He stated that he tries telling them that with a wider mower they don't need to go so fast but of course they still do.

The first drum I bought, which is the one that failed, was advertised to cut as fast as you can stay in the tractors seat......well maybe that applied to doing manicured lawns, not dry Houston Black Clay pastures full of sink holes where water has pooled and settled into a dry pit.

On the manicured lawn thing, notice that all the lawn mower commercials depict just that. Well that doesn't get in on my farm and I go to great lengths to get a "reasonably" soft ride.

 

[Destroked 450]

The first drum I bought, which is the one that failed, was advertised to cut as fast as you can stay in the tractors seat......well maybe that applied to doing manicured lawns, not dry Houston Black Clay pastures full of sink holes where water has pooled and settled into a dry pit.

On the manicured lawn thing, notice that all the lawn mower commercials depict just that. Well that doesn't get in on my farm and I go to great lengths to get a "reasonably" soft ride.

That saying has a good amount of truth to it
Drum and disc mowers are designed to mow hay a 8-10 mph OR as fast has one can stay in the seat at speeds below that depending on grind conditions
With my Ford tractors I mow in 6th gear at 6-6.5 mph on my better fields, 7th gear is to fast at 12 mph, but I do have a couple small rough fields that shake me up enough at 4.5-5 mph, a neighbor has several sink holes and he’ll mow at 3-4 mph just to be safe

In a rough field mowing slower will get the job done faster than mowing faster and having to stop to make repairs

 

[Texasmark]

What does a 6' mower have to do with how fast you go?

I think the idea is that with the drum spinning at 3200 RPM, anything you introduce to it will get hacked at least 3 times before the mower has had time to move past it.

 

[trackrat]

i use a kuhn disc mower on bermuda and a new holland 488 haybine on sudan or big johnson grass they both work well

 

[Texasmark]

i use a kuhn disc mower on bermuda and a new holland 488 haybine on sudan or big johnson grass they both work well

On any stemmy crops I use a sickle bar, crimp roller swather. For fine grasses I use the drum. Both get the Tedder treatment almost immediately after cutting. The Tedder has saved me time and time again on sort windows of dry weather.....now that I have learned of them and used, no way would I be without one in my haying process.