Stubble and Regrowth

[Texasmark]

I wasn't happy with my Drum mower cutting my hay close to the ground....worked fine on mowing grass but for hay..... way too short. Bit my lip as I swore I'd never do it again but I bought a sicklebar MOCO...mid '80's Ford 538.

PO had adjusted the skid plates for about 4" or so of stubble after the cut. I got the field cut but couldn't get but half it off with the first baling. Wound up at 5-6 days on getting the remainder raked and baled and the SS part of the crop (had drilled SS into a growing Rye and native pasture) was up over 8". Impressive.

MOCO performed flawlessly and I remembered how to make a square corner from years ago.....got the drawbar extension and Operator and Parts manuals with the unit....seldom that happens. Had Deere, NH and IH and I like this Ford much better.....course the others were like the vintage of the JD 1209s...don't remember the others model numbers. Things DO sometimes improve with time.

 

[Redgully]

I'd love to see a video of that working.

 

[Texasmark]

Forget the video. The extender that comes with the MOCO sets the drive angle of the PTO to equal lengths so that in turns you don't have lead-lag differences (constant velocity...like in CV joint) due to differences in shaft lengths.

On the turn, I run up to where I see the rear axle of the tractor pass the uncut-cut interface and immediately do a quick, full 360* turn plus a little (which varies somewhat on each corner I make) of the steering wheel of my Ford 3910. This produces a slow arc (rather than something like a 150* immediate change in direction) where the tractor is heading back towards the uncut material. In assuming about the length of the tractor movement of the rear axle in this arc, I straighten back up with the Rrear tire aligned back alongside the cut-uncut interface. On turns exceeding 90*, I cut the corner, leaving about 18" to 2' that I have to come back and pickup, usually as I exit the field...idea here is to not to leave more width than can be picked up with one pass from the center of the patch to the edge on exiting.

 

[ERNIBIGB]

I have 4" skids on my disc mower so it leaves higher stubble and gets quicker regrowth. Cutting too close will kill a lot of grasses.

 

[VaCowman]

I have 4" skids on my disc mower so it leaves higher stubble and gets quicker regrowth. Cutting too close will kill a lot of grasses.

Agree! Plus, it helps with air flow in drying process.

 

[Texasmark]

I have 4" skids on my disc mower so it leaves higher stubble and gets quicker regrowth. Cutting too close will kill a lot of grasses.

I agree, especially when it's hot and dry. I raise my lawn mower up to 2 ½ to 3" height range. Which brings me to the design of both cutters. I never had a disc. But I have looked at them and both types of machines "apparently" run with the drums/support beam riding on the ground. The Turkish made drum, my first, has a 1" spacer that gets you up to about 3" of stubble on soft stems whereas the current one only goes up to 1 ½ with the spacer. I don't know about the new one as I don't have a spacer installed but the earlier one was a reliability problem with the spacer installed. I attributed my problem to the mounting design of the stump jumper to the drive shaft and the effect the spacer has on it which caused me to have to buy another cutter as I couldn't fix the thing myself (working alone) due to the weight and awkwardness of having to be 2 places simultaneously.