Swather Question

[Bobl1958]

I have posted on here that I have a new Brome Field that was planted late last year. Got a very good stand but then we had no moisture over the winter, and none this spring until the last 3 weeks. Brome came on fairly good for as dry as it was , but the field now has a lot of Cheat Grass in it.

It's been too wet until now to get in and cut it. Probably should have been cut a couple of weeks ago, but the ground was just too wet.

In anticipation of all the Cheat, I installed a new cycle and sections, and the guards were new late last year with probably less than 50 acres on them. The sections are over-serrated which I realize aren't the best for grass, but they do a great job in normal brome.

Last evening I started in and made the first round fine. The second round I plugged the swather. The third round I plugged the swather 3 times. Just about whipped me in the 90+ degrees temps. What was happening was the cheat would start just tearing off and not really cutting, and then start pushing dirt and finally plug the swather. The trouble was, you couldn't see it happening until it as too late. The brome was cutting fine, but the cheat just would not cut.

Now I started cutting about 6:00 - 6:30 in the evening, and I was having most of my trouble by 7:30. I am wondering if the cheat just got too tough by that point.

I gave up by 7:30 or so and went to a different field of established brome and worked until dark with no problems. What I am thinking about is seeing if a rotary disc swather might be better for this type of application? What are the thoughts of the people who have them? Short of rotary mowing the field to clean it off, I don't think I can get it cut with what I have. The picture is of the swather, but not in the field I was having the troubles in. Thanks for any info in advance - Bob

 

[caterpillar guy]

You need the knife to run semi tight to the guards, on the bottom of the sections. Not so it gets hot, or will not move but tight down to the guards. Then you will have to go slower than you are in the other field. Watch for the flow to keep moving through the rolls. If it stops or looks like it has stopped flowing through slowly back up some with it down this will help hold the material from just sucking into the rolls and plugging them. Mowing during the day when it is drier will help also.

 

[Hayfarmer]

I use the non clog guards on my JD1209 swather on my Timothy grass mix hay. Second cutting is sometimes rough as the short grasses grow thicker and often lay down. I can cut it but it is a long job. Most of the bigger hay guys here use the rotary cutters. They will cut most anything I have seen but don't do well with rocks, they are also fast. They do take more power to run than a sickle mower.

 

[Nebraska Cowman]

Yeah, tell me all about it. I just finished 75 acres that was full of cheat. You will learn to catch the plugs sooner. Use your ears as much as your eyes.

 

[lugnut123]

[I was fighting the same kind of grass / cheat grass mix and the swather kept plugging. I started to carry a cordless sawzall. It made things better. noel in nw nm

quote="Nebraska Cowman"](quoted from post at 16:56:23 06/25/15) Yeah, tell me all about it. I just finished 75 acres that was full of cheat. You will learn to catch the plugs sooner. Use your ears as much as your eyes.[/quote]

 

[Bobl1958]

Well, I decided to just call my neighbor who has a new Hesston Disc Sather and pay him to do it this time. The field is only 8 acres and I just want to get the brome and cheat off of it. I have plenty of other established hay to cut yet.

However, I like the battery powered Sawzall idea. Thanks for the replies - Bob

 

[Allan in NE]

My neighbor told me the other day that he was cutting at 2mph to get thru it. And he has a brand new machine.

Allan