farmersamm
Member
I'm a sickle mower guy. Never thought much of disc mowers, but I have a hay meadow to renovate. Blackberries, and small saplings, taking over due to equipment breakdowns in the last couple of years..............which resulted in the meadow laying fallow, and getting overgrown.
A sickle mower won't handle trash........PERIOD. Unless you want to spend your life under the thing, replacing sickle sections.
So..............I need a hybrid. Half Bush Hog, half mower.
I won't even consider, after looking at all the machines out there, anything but a Krone. Built beefier, with a 100% square cut, spur gear, geartrain.
The one thing I've always hated about disc mowers, is the way they scalp your hay stand. They cut too damn low. I've never left less than 4-6" of stubble on a field/meadow. Consequently, I never have to spray for weeds, and never see decreasing yields due to killing off the crowns of the plants. We farm in OK, and either cut Native Bluestem, or Haygrazer. Both of which need to be harvested with a healthy amount of stubble left over.
I normally cut with a 1014 Hesston Hydroswing
]
Production wise, I can outrun any disc mower on the planet. Wider cut, windrow made in one pass. Cut, leave it to dry for 2 days, then bale it.
I had a beautiful place.............until we had equipment problems, and a wildfire.
The wildfire allowed invasive species to gain a foothold, and 2yrs of equipment breakdowns made for a real disaster on top of it. We're lookin' at a mess.
I almost had the meadow return to normal, when the equipment problems took place.
Gonna take a few posts.................
A sickle mower won't handle trash........PERIOD. Unless you want to spend your life under the thing, replacing sickle sections.
So..............I need a hybrid. Half Bush Hog, half mower.
I won't even consider, after looking at all the machines out there, anything but a Krone. Built beefier, with a 100% square cut, spur gear, geartrain.
The one thing I've always hated about disc mowers, is the way they scalp your hay stand. They cut too damn low. I've never left less than 4-6" of stubble on a field/meadow. Consequently, I never have to spray for weeds, and never see decreasing yields due to killing off the crowns of the plants. We farm in OK, and either cut Native Bluestem, or Haygrazer. Both of which need to be harvested with a healthy amount of stubble left over.
I normally cut with a 1014 Hesston Hydroswing
]
Production wise, I can outrun any disc mower on the planet. Wider cut, windrow made in one pass. Cut, leave it to dry for 2 days, then bale it.
I had a beautiful place.............until we had equipment problems, and a wildfire.
The wildfire allowed invasive species to gain a foothold, and 2yrs of equipment breakdowns made for a real disaster on top of it. We're lookin' at a mess.
I almost had the meadow return to normal, when the equipment problems took place.
Gonna take a few posts.................