wbvs58 said:
Texasmark said:
No doubt the higher the better. I had the 1" extension that could be added to to raise the disc higher. SFI in Caldwell, Tx. sold it to me and installed the spacer. You could do it but you need some lifting equipment and really a second person.
In cutting, with the spacer and normal action of the front bar laying the crop down before the blade could cut it, I had a 4" stubble, 3 inch without the spacer. That was enough for good comeback. Gotta have some sugar stored in the stem to feed the plant till it has enough leaf to feed itself.
What you are asking about was the one thing I liked about my JD 1209s and that was I had a hydraulic lift cylinder and could set my cutting height as desired...although I did have a few accidents, bumpy ground and cut was like an inch and regrowth was very sluggish but happened. Small consolation for having to put up with the rest of the thing.....all sickle bar related.
I have a UFO drum mower, NZ brand but looks similar to most. Well used when I got it but works well. I cut the sorghum today, the ground was a bit soft and powdery so the skids got into it a bit but overall not too bad. Here are a couple of photos of the modification. There was a bit more adjustment in it but I have found when you put it in the last holes it does not have much support and there is a lot of leverage on where connected hence the extension. I made it so I can quickly cut the welds with the grinder to remove it if I don't want it on but seemed to work OK. I put some leaf spring on the bottom and curved up a bit for wear.
This is Bounty Forage Sorghum, the seed distributor says that it needs a fully prepared seed bed which i did but with our dry conditions it fluffed the soil up and made it very soft. I normally just spray it out and drill the forage in, works well with millet but they said the forage sorghum was better in the dry conditions. We had zero moisture in the soil profile a few months ago but I hit it with my subsoiler, about 10-12" and got a couple of storms on it, one of 61mm (31/2") and planted after but a bit of delay getting seed and the surface dried out. I found where the tractor tires compressed the soil the seed went shallower and did not germinate initially but what did went well, seemed to find the moisture. More has germinated with subsequent rain so am hoping it will even up with this cutting.
Do you do a full preparation for forage sorghum? I would like to just spray and drill if I do it again or change back to millet. I don't think our light soil is suited to working up on a regular basis.
Ken
1. If I see the side of a disc just above your modification, that seems to tell me you made some skids for it, liken unto skids on a 3 pt rototiller. That's an idea but with the weight of the thing in the 900# arena, how much surface area do you have to support it on the soil? I think I have seen pictures of high priced drims that have the ability to raise the drums. That would be nice. Might look into your idea and see what I have for support points. The oil tank is a good candidate, just use longer bolts holding the top on and bolt the mod to the cutter there.
Your stubble is perfect. No problem getting fast regrowth with that. Nice job.
I/m in Houston Black Clay and it's hard as a rock at the end of the season. I usually clip stubble if needed and then work the field up with the Hay King brand, pasture renovator, running about the same depth as you do, then come over it with a very heavy disc harrow using it as a plow to bury the surface material and loosen the top soil. Then a chain spike toothed harrow inverted so that it catches minimum surface material to smooth it out. I drill the seed and follow with a water filled steel roller.
This year I may try to overseed another, existing, mature pasture of Fescue, Coastal, and Rye just to see what happens.....without using a dedicated "No Till" drill. Doing it in probably March soil will be soft enough....will set the spring tension to max since you can plant SS deep. This depends on the going price for the bulk SS sellers in the area. In years past they have been in the $30/50# area, and I usually plant 50#/Ac for stem control, but this year, who knows. Seed is out of sight!!!!
I was reading up on it today and the generic SS plant responds very well to the first cutting if made in the 4' give or take height.....why that number I don't know but the article explains that doing that causes the roots to go deeper looking for water (course it's usually July-August time line), rather than remain bunched up near the surface like some other forage crops, (Bermuda obviously excepted) and coupling that with the fact that 4-5 sprouts come out of each stub, you have a better second cutting than the first.............as long as you can keep Sugar Cane Aphids at bay....my added comment which is my SS problem currently, but I'm working it!
What are you using for a crimper? I have a NH 404 and it works ok as long as I keep it in the 4-5' height range. That picture I posted was a horrible mess for me to get cleaned up, but I did and it made fabulous hay. Do not want to grow any that tall any longer.
