Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
I see some farmers mow perhaps 6 to 8 passes around the oerimeter of a field, and then back snd forth to finish it off. A few others seem to continue the perimeter cut around and around until the field is done. What method is best?
 
I prefer making 8 rounds around the field first. Then laying it off in lands. Baling those first 8, then raking the rest and baling it. Reason is, so I don't have to turn the short corners with the baler.
 
I've usually done it according to the field. If it's a large, fairly square or rectaungular tract, I'll usually cut six or eight ends, and then cut lands of about one hundred feet. On some oddball pieces, I'll just cut around until I finish. But those pieces are generally rather small and do not lend themselves to making lands, and are rather long, narrow strips.
 
Almost what Kerry50 said:

I prefer making 8 rounds around the field first. Rake and baling those first 8. Then laying it off in lands, raking the rest and baling it. Reason is, so I don't have to run on the mowed headlands to mow/bale the rest.
 
The mowing pattern depends on what style of machine you are using. A "center-pivot" mower allows cutting on either side of the tractor and is therefore the only style that you can go back and forth with. A "side pull" mower cuts only on the right side and is used to cut going around the field or in lands. Of course the center-pivot could also be used in this manner if desired.
 

Which takes longer to complete a 90 degree turn or a 180 degree turn??? 180 degree although I'm sure some people will state a 90 degree takes longer.

People that cut/bale/plow or sow fields back and forth or in several lands never cease to amaze me. IMHO every turn made in a field causes the time to increase to complete the field.
 
Being a small operation, I usually mow 8 laps around the bigger fields and get that baled and out of the way. This usually results in about 6 to 8 acres of hay to put up. I then continue to break the field in the 7 to 10 acre chunks. This allows me to make sure I don't have so much hay on the ground that I can't get it all in before the rain gets here.

On the smaller fields (5 or 6 acres), I'll mow 6 laps for the headlands and then finish the rest by just going back and forth. By the time you get the headlands done on these fields there isn't much difference in making 90 or 180 degree turns. The headlands are usually short enough that you can just mow from the outside toward the center and drive the width between.

Now that I use a NH stacker wagon, I might up the number of acres. Although it is kind of nice to do easily do 600 to 800 bales in a day and be sitting on the front porch with a cold drink by 5:30 or so!

One other thing to keep in mind about turning is what type of pto shaft setup you have. If you don't have a CV style drive line, tight turns can be difficult.
 
I is possible to mow back an forth with a haybine without hydraswing. I use a 488 and a 489 NH and mow back an forth on smaller fields.
 
(quoted from post at 09:58:58 11/07/12)

One other thing to keep in mind about turning is what type of pto shaft setup you have. If you don't have a CV style drive line, tight turns can be difficult.

Josh
If you do some research you''l find out CV joints weren't designed to make 180 degree turns either.
 
We always started at the perimeter, & made 1 continuous path with 90 deg turns. Once completed we drove out from the top, or bottom center where the least amount of hay would be dropped on a line of angled turns heading to a corner of the field. Then we ran the haybine in the opposite direction to cut the area the tractor had to run over on the field edge to finish. Easier to put on paper than said!
 
Many farmers only have conventional Haybines. and have to mow from the perimiter, in. With Hydroswings, and SPs, there is no time spent making loops at the corners, (conventional way). Also when chopping into trucks making haylage, It is much easier to run back and forth.When round baling I guess it is a toss up. The big diff is the size and technology of the harvesting equip.
Loren, the Acg.
 
Your right, Jim. But the CV are a lot nicer. My CaseIH 3309 discbine has one and I'll put the rear tires of the tractor into the side of the hitch before the pto starts to chatter. I generally try not to turn that sharp anyway, but it's nice to know I won't bust up the driveline. My only complant about the CV-joint style is that they are big $$$ to fix.
 
12046.jpg

My sil sent me this just today of me mowing a neighbors field. He tells me it is from google earth back in June! That's my H and a IH 120 7' balanced mower working the field round and round under the umbrella.
 
You are right, but it does depend on what mower and tractor we are using here.

If its a power quad then mow around and round..

But like me running back and forth so I don't have to shift down from 6th to 5th low to make a 90 corner, its just easier and as fast to stay in 6th gear and make 180 turns.
 

I mow with a 3pt disc mower.

I make 4 to 5 rounds around the field enough to make enough room to turn on the ends with out downshifting or letting off on the RPM. I mow in "lands" after that to reduce travel time on headland. I find it "easier" on the tractor to mow lands rather than having to make 90 degree turns using the brakes each time I hit a corner, plus the fields are smoother if you follow the way they were last plowed.
 
To each their own. If cutting with our NI 290 side pull, we do 5 or 6 rounds on the headlands, normally 5, and then break it up and do lands that are around 60-100 ft. or so.

With our hydra-swing, we do 4 rounds on the head lands and then back & forth from one side to the other. I've baled for a cousin who would normally cut in lands, but once in a while he would go round & round. Making the corners is a PITA when constantly doing 90's and keeping in the cut/windrow.

You'll never see a big operator going round & round, just don't work with big equipment. We're not big, but still works better for us.

Donovan from Wisconsin
 
I am about as small potatoes as it gets. I now mow with a side pull 9' moco ( aka haybine). However I tractor with antiques and do not use hydraulics and instead use a manual ratchet crank to raise and lower moco. Since I have no easey way to raise and lower moco then only mowing pattern I can use is round and round the field towards center just as outlined in any old sickle mower operators manual. Antique tractors typically have few gear choices, not live PTO, and marginal hp in my case. Simply pick gear that works for both going straight and turning as no powershift tranny either and clutching is not an option. Even handicapped with less than optimum equipment choices I can cut blazing fast compared to how I used to cut and typically mow 4 to 4.5 mph. My limited hp is the only thing that prevents me from mowing any faster.

I do not worry about banannaing the corners a bit or in other words I cut all the hay but do not go for that perfect 90 turn as l never use turning brakes although NF turns sharper than WF so maybe my trike tractor helps here. I never plug sickle with already been cut hay doing it my way on my machine so it works for me.

I will organize the field how I want to bale it via the rake or in other words I may rake it into lands even though I went roundy round to cut. I always wide swath from moco for faster drying and never windrow from moco so I will rake it however best fits field shape.
 
(quoted from post at 00:11:10 11/09/12)
You'll never see a big operator going round & round, just don't work with big equipment. We're not big, but still works better for us.

Donovan from Wisconsin

I wouldn't classify a 9'-12' equipment as BIG. I still think it takes longer to turn 180 degrees than it does 90 degrees and the sharper one turns the harder it is on drive shaft u-joints.
 
(quoted from post at 16:38:28 11/08/12)
I find it "easier" on the tractor to mow lands rather than having to make 90 degree turns using the brakes each time I hit a corner,.

I'm curious as to what degree turn your "lands" have if they're not 90 degree??
 
Never said we used big equipment. Our hydra-swing uses a pump on the pto, so no u joints at all. when doing lands with our smaller machine its a more gentle turn as opposed to sharp turns at every corner. For sure smoother to follow how it was worked last.

Donovan from Wisconsin
 
(quoted from post at 11:53:00 11/09/12) Never said we used big equipment. Our hydra-swing uses a pump on the pto, so no u joints at all. when doing lands with our smaller machine its a more gentle turn as opposed to sharp turns at every corner. For sure smoother to follow how it was worked last.

Donovan from Wisconsin

I quoted you which you stated "big farmers" who I'll state normally use "big equipment"!!!!! BTW the hay baler if you bale with that follows the hydra-swing does utilize U-JOINTS.
 
It does, but you don't make sharp turns with them. Like I said, to each their own. Big guys around here mostly use large sp units, others use a 30 ft. set up with 1 out front and then another to each side on the back. When making a 90 they have to go all the way past, then back up and turn, then go again. Much faster to do a 180 and not have to shift gears.

With our hydra-swing, (and our conventional haybine)I can stay in the speed i'm at or I can up shift the over/under or multi-power. When turning a 90, you have to slow down, unless you're already going slow because of poor gear selection or because of the constant turns. The key with lands is to make them small enough to not be out of the cut for too long. 6 swaths wide works good for me.

Donovan from Wisconsin
 
(quoted from post at 14:50:38 11/09/12) When making a 90 they have to go all the way past, then back up and turn, then go again. Much faster to do a 180 and not have to shift gears.
t be out of the cut for too long. 6 swaths wide works good for me.
Donovan from Wisconsin

Geez some people try to make it so difficult. No need to slow down to make a 90 degree turn nor is there a need to back up & move forward. What little crop that's left uncut on the corners is mowed out in 2 passes(up then back) on each corner. No matter how you try to accomplish it lands even 6 swaths wide takes more time than going round-n-round.
 
....No need to slow down to make a 90 degree turn ...

I have already posted my method, but I agree and disagree with this statement. I agree that no need to slow down with a sickle type cutter moco cause you are pretty much limited to about 6 mph maximum travel speed anyhow or it will not cut. I could safely make a 90 turn at 6 mph without issue even with my antique trikes.

However with a disc mower type cutter it is possible to go much faster 12-14 mph is not uncommon. No way I would feel comfortable making a 90 turn at that speed on even a modern tractor let alone my antique trikes. Powershift, over under, multipower, etc would be nice allowing you to safely slow down for the turn then speed back up again after the turn. If I did not have a way to slow down for turns or did not want to fool with slowing down then I would mow in lands or back and forth if my mower was of that design and i could safely make the required maneuver at the fast speed.

Regardless stopping and backing up would never be a normal maneuver that I would choose to do often.
 

By 90 degree I mean cutting the next swath at a 90 degree angle to the one you are turning from, i.e. making a corner.

I simply cut a ring to open the field, then break the field into lands by turning on the headlands and mowing all parallel passes. With a 3pt disc mower you don't even need pick up the mower to go through mowed crop so pretty can mow just by steering the tractor.
 

Agreed, no need to slow down or stop and back up to make a 90 degree turn while cutting if technique is right.

I do that on outside rounds easy, but at least with my mower/tractor combo do a 90 degree turn at normal speed in heavy crop puts more strain on the tractor i.e. lugs the engine down when using the wheel brake. My tractor is the minimum HP size for the mower.

Field size and shape play a factor as well. The fields I cut are small (1 acre to 16 acres) and mostly irregular shape so there is a lot of turning compared to cutting a perfectly square 40 acre field.
 

I would not want to make a full power brake locked turn at speed with anything other than a small utility tractor than can pivot on the rear tire, and even then only at slower speed.

I had a chance to run our disc mower on an 80 PTO HP tractor, despite the extra power, I could not use the speed or turn it safely even at speeds the smaller utility tractor had no issue with.

I ran a 12 ft cut discbine on 80 PTO HP years ago, I would not make 90 degree cuts with it at 10 MPH....I'd cut lands and carry my speed on the headland and strip mow as well.
 
(quoted from post at 15:47:28 11/09/12)
However with a disc mower type cutter it is possible to go much faster 12-14 mph is not uncommon. No way I would feel comfortable making a 90 turn at that speed on even a modern tractor let alone my antique trikes..

Down here in the land of Gophers and Fire ant mounds there is no way that one can stay in the tractor seat in a hay meadow @ 12-14 mph
 
I do 4 rounds around the out side then back and forth across the field. I have a IH 5000 self propelled windrower with a 14" header and most all my fields are irregular shaped. I use a 10 whee V-rake to double windrows and when baling skip 2 rows so turns are wide and at baling speed. What I've found is I just don't tear up u-joints on my balers with minimal 90* turns. BTW, if you get rained on turning wet hay is a lot easier. PK
 

Kelly MT
SP & center pivot hay cuttinng units are a totally different program than a 7,9 or 12 ft cutter that only cuts on one side of the tractor which is normally the RH side. All these lands that all these posters are referring are most difficult to make the "very last cut" a full swath therefore some of this precious cutting time is lost on each & every last cut of each and every last land. :wink:
 

Which is true...unless you are quite familiar with the machine. Mowing with a sickle bar mower tends to make you good at laying lands out and having the right amount left lest you plug in mowed crop. Using disk mower now makes that skill simpler since it was previously learned out of necessity.

If I did round and round I'd be bouncing over dead. furrows and wheel tracks from years past.

If I have smooth terrain and a very large field with lots or irregular multiple sides, I'll go round and round until lands are easier to make.

The subsequent passes are really main reason the "land" or "strip mow" Our tedder grabs two mower swaths quite neatly, however, can not turn with it down, easier to follow swathes that are parallel.

Use what ever technique works best for you.
 
(quoted from post at 21:59:04 11/10/12) ...Use what ever technique works best for you....

Well said - whatever works best for the tractor, mower type, and field shape that you are mowing.

Lots of us it does not matter what technique we use because it is not really significant in time wasted or fuel wasted if we choose to use a technique that is less than optimized since it makes so little difference on small acreage with smaller tractors that do not burn much fuel.

That said, it does make a difference for big time operators who are using tractors that are of big hp and burning 9-10 gallon of fuel per hour and have lots of acres to cover. Inefficient patterns make for wasted time and wasted fuel that really adds up.

Not my video, but shows a moco doing 6 mph and a 90 degree turn as well as a loop around turn. Also shows their upgrade to discbine doing 12 mph.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6YYNA9R4VM
 
Once in a while I have an off day, but when doing lands I can ussually make it just the right size and not have a wedge in the middle. Using the hydra-swing has me a little out of practice, but after an hour or so in the seat I've pretty well got it back again. I can actually travel faster with our smaller 9 ft. machine than with our wider 14' hydra-swing, and yes, have to slow down considerably on a 90 degree corner with both machines.

Donovan from Wisconsin
 

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