Anyone Prefer a Sickle Haybine over a Discbine???

Bill VA

Well-known Member
Plotting down the road plans - very much interested in a discbine of some sort. Definately want a mower with a conditioner as my Hesston 1110 did a great job conditioning my timothy hay this past summer - amazing!

However for me - this haybine vs discbine is a two sided coin, each with their advantages and disadvantages.

Haybine advantages: Biggest IMHO is low hp requirement. We like to say we farm at 50 and under hp. Any tractor on our farm, even my brother's Ferguson TO-20 (IMHO) could run a sickle haybine if required. Along with that thought is - no need to upgrade to a higher hp tractor.

Haybine downside: Evening/early morning cutting before or after day job hours. It would be nice to mow (if necessary) after the dew and dark falls - just to finish up the job. My Hesston does a great job, but as our fields thicken, not sure it would work to well without plugging with dew/dark? The other is maintenance guards and sickle sections. Poking an eye out on the reel tines or cutting a finger on the knife! One broken section and my precious daylight begins to escape with a repair.

Discbine: Advantages - cut anytime. Unless going into a gearbox, simple to remove and replace the blades. Super simple maintenance IMHO.

Discbine disadvantages - higher hp requirements. MAYBE I could reasonably run a New Idea 5209 (aka MF 1359) or a JD 625 moco if I keep my ground speed down. Honestly, anything over 5 mph on our place might get you thrown off the seat. If minimum hp is based on 10 mph, maybe we've got a chance with 50 PTO hp at 5ish mph. So with higher hp, we likely need another tractor. Higher hp = more $$$'s too.

So I toss around in my mind - run the Hesston 1110, keep an eye out for a deal on a 9 ft sickle haybine and continue with the fleet I've got, plus some 50's era yesterday's tractor to be added later.

Or - bite the bullet and get a discbine and higher hp tractor.

Or maybe it doesn't matter.

Maybe these discbines are somewhat overrated and a haybine can deliver the mail - long term.

Anyone prefer a sickle haybine over a discbine? If so - why?

BTW - below is a link to a New Holland Workmaster 55 pulling a Kuhn mower conditioner. The mower conditioner cut width is 9ft-9in. The Workmaster PTO hp is 47-49. Don't know how long that tractor is going to last with that load (maybe it isn't a load) or the coolant needle pegging into the red, but impressive IMHO. Note the JD 625 is an 8ft-2in moco and might be work with my 50 PTO hp JD - will never know unless I give it a try - one of these days.
Workmaster 55 and Kuhn FC300 at work
 
Bill, I farm in the same neck of the woods as you do. And, I have gone from a 290 NI mowditioner to a 1219 JD. About 25 years ago I got a JD 1460, and have never looked back. I traded the 1460 on a 630 last year, and it's a real step up. Just about everyone I know prefer the discbines over the older thrashing machines. Keep your skids down and the rotors a bit high, and you'll push three cuttings, and avoid most stones. But, the disc machines will make a believer out of you.....
 
I have a 9' NH 461 haybine that I bought for $165 at an auction, and have put maybe $400 or so into parts in the past 6 years since I got it. I can pull it with my Farmall 300, used the H before that. Our hay crop is pretty low yield and any substantial expense would be hard to recoup, so I don't put much money into any of it. Selling hay is hard around here, $2 a bale out of the field or $2.50 out of the shed moves it but only very slowly and hay customers are very unreliable in my experience. Pound for pound it's a very low rate of return, and we are thinking of stopping selling hay and just cutting all of the fields and leaving it lie except the 150 bales we use ourselves. That way I would only be taking hay off a particular area about once every 7-10 years, on average, and the fields would still be maintained so they could be put into production in the future if we decide to do something with them.
Zach
 
My Hesston 1120 was a better machine than the New Holland 411 Discbine that I had briefly before it,but the Kuhn 2860 that I have now is so much better than the Hesston,it's literally a whole different ball game.
 
I've gotten along with the JD 1219 I have had for a few years now. I don't do very many acres and can not justify the investment in a comparable sized discbine that is not wore out. I paid 1,600 dollars for the 1219 and the previous owner replaced the rolls in it. The top needs a little paint in a few spots but the machine is generally clean. I wish it was not sitting outside but for right now there is no alternative.
 
I don't think you will run any discbine with 50 HP. I have a hesston 1320, which has a lower minimum HP than others. My 72 HP agco Allis 6680 runs it fine. I have run it with a farmall 560 about 65 HP, and it was a load. I tried it behind a Deere 3010 diesel (58 HP) and it would barely do it at 2 mph.
 
I use a 1207. Up until this year I've pulled it with a Ford 2000 with std PTO. Got it cheap but the rolls were about shot and got worse over 10 years. Last spring I found another for parts with good rolls. I'm set for life. I have short dips and hills on my fields and I don't have a door that I could get a 9 footer through.
 

Just get a 3pt disc mower minus conditioner. You have a tedder, it will make up for lack on conditioner.

You can run a 5 or 6 disk (7- 8 foot class) 3pt mower.

I did it for years on 42 PTO HP.

I have baled DRY hay that was mowed the day before it was baled with right weather and a tedder. Conditioner wouldn't speed that up any.
 
BTW - below is a link to a New Holland Workmaster 55 pulling a Kuhn mower conditioner. The mower conditioner cut width is 9ft-9in. The Workmaster PTO hp is 47-49. Don't know how long that tractor is going to last with that load (maybe it isn't a load) or the coolant needle pegging into the red, but impressive IMHO. Note the JD 625 is an 8ft-2in moco and might be work with my 50 PTO hp JD - will never know unless I give it a try - one of these days.
Workmaster 55 and Kuhn FC300 at work
 
BTW - below is a link to a New Holland Workmaster 55 pulling a Kuhn mower conditioner. The mower conditioner cut width is 9ft-9in. The Workmaster PTO hp is 47-49. Don't know how long that tractor is going to last with that load (maybe it isn't a load) or the coolant needle pegging into the red, but impressive IMHO. Note the JD 625 is an 8ft-2in moco and might be work with my 50 PTO hp JD - will never know unless I give it a try - one of these days.
Workmaster 55 and Kuhn FC300 at work

Tractor likely wouldn't "last" long doing that day in and day out, but mowing @ 3 MPH with that is better than not mowing at all.

Appears the Kuhn has flail conditioner, uses less HP than rollers.

There were some older Deere discmocos that were rated for 50-55 PTO and had flails.
 
I started with a NH 489 haybine and could pull it with any of my tractors from 40hp to 120hp. I wanted to upgrade and speed things up so I bought what I though was a good NH415 discbine. It was a complete piece of junk but that's another story. I could only really pull it with my 120hp or mayyyybe my 80hp which meant I was unhooking the discbine to hook up the round baler all the time. The 415 ended up going back and I traded for a NH 116 hydraswing mower. I can run the 116 with my 80hp which means I can leave the baler hooked to the bigger one. The 415 I think was 12feet and the 116 is 14 feet. I can cut the same amount of acres per hour with the hydraswing as I could with the discbine because I'm not wasting time on the headlands. So yes I prefer the haybine. Maybe if I had more money and could of afforded a new 9 foot discbine I would be happier but for now this works well for me.
 
Same here but mine is a 1209. Didn't pay a lot for it and have put a little into it. Mine has stub gaurds on it and can cut in any type hay. Have run it with a 656, 666 or 856.Run the 856 in 4th low TA ahead, I can cover enough ground to keep busy, so no need to go faster. Sure a discbine would be nice, but like NY986 would only be able to afford a worn out one so I will stick with what I have for now. Mine also sits out, but I try to cover it somewhat.
 
I grew up in the UK, my parents had a small place and we borrowed my mum's brothers mower and tractor to cut hay. In the late 70s he had a tarrup 10ft disc mower conditioner (flail conditioner), and he used an IH 574 tractor that is 50odd hp. That mower was still being used in the late 90s, but the tractor couldn't run the mower much over about 6mph...
You only need big hp if you want to go fast...
Big tractor handle the full swing mowers much better because of the weight of the mower while the machine turns and swings to the other side of the tractor. If you get a non swing mower that just makes to the right of the tractor then the need for weight is much less of an issue.
Just my 2 cents
 
That tractor will have an exceedingly short life....

Personally I would not ever want to use a haybine in place of a discbine. I do use a straight disc mower in place of a discbine.... and in your situation with limited power I'd do that before I went to a haybine... but that's me. If it's working for you, that's all good too. What I can tell you is that if you have a lot of rough ground or rocky ground... a discbine isn't going to excel in that either so perhaps a haybine is cheaper to repair...

Rod
 

Haybine advantage- Cost, HP requirements, repairs.

Discbine- speed, not so critical as far as moisture, etc.

It'd be great to go faster and not have to worry about wet grass or clogging, but run a discbine into a previously unknown rock or old fence post and things get expensive. I'm still leaning towards a drum mower as a compromise.
 
allways thoiught if i was only doing 50 acers or less iwould rather use a new holland haybine because i can find used ones cheeep and there cheeper to repair anda 45 0r 50hp will run it great and there cheeper aswell.
 
we use to have a 7' and 9' NH sickle mower/conditioners and the local NH dealer brought out an 11' discbine for use to demo in some real tall orchard grass that the other mower where struggling with, hooked it to the 4230 and away I went. We started in 3 gear and kept bumping up to 6th gear. The discbine did no go back to dealer but the other 2 did. No way I would ever go back!
 
I run a drum mower. I keep thinking of upgrading to a discbine with contitioning flails but they are just so expensive. The thing that keeps me using this is that I ran into a harrow that one of my hay clients left in the middle of a field. Tore up one drum pretty bad. The mower has a release and it popped allowing me to get everything stopped. It took me about 2 hours to bang the drum back into usable shape with a heating torch so I could continue to mow. Ordered a new drum for $250, and was back into good shape with no lasting issues. A discbine would have been torn to pieces on this sort of accident. A haybine would also have been significantly damaged.

my 2 cents.

John
 
Not me. Had enough sickles to last me a lifetime. I like drums over discs, too many parts to break including housings cracking as seen while shopping for an alternative to sickles. Settled on drums quite awhile ago and not sorry. Initially thought I had a problem in that no conditioner on the ones I've observed. But I bought a conditioner and that's no longer a problem, actually bought 2, an IH 404 and a Corsicana, TX. machine shop design.
 
you guys must not have any rocks ,.. a disc mower .. YES ,,. but no more discbines here ,.. rocks destroyed my 5209 discbine by playing badminton with every durn rock on the place ,..busted blades , and worse ,,crackt top hatspinners ,,. yes the spring float should a bounced over them , and yes tilting the head back helps ,.. but the rocks figureout a way to get in your pocket with expensive repairs ,
 
the specs on a 625 moco are 55-75 hp I think if you are at the bottom you mite not be happy,,,,what tractor do you have ? also to remember you going to need multiple hyd outlets for 625 on for up and down and another for swing. But if the 625is like my 630 it is a great machine I mow about 4 1/2 - 5mph and it works great . just be on the larger tractor end of the hp rating
 
I have a 1010 hesston hydroswing about a nine and a half foot cut and a old Deere 1327 discbine with flail conditioner which is about the same width.That discbine will run circles around the cycle machine.Does take more?hp tho.If you go with a discbine you will need more tractor.I use a 80 hp tractor on the discbine and in heavy hay it'll work the tractor pretty good.
Paul
 
"I'm still leaning towards a drum mower as a compromise."

I considered a straight disc mower. We got along very well with our 7ft MF32 sickle
mower. What I couldn't get around was the conditioning part of it - be it a sickle or
straight disc mower. I've used a tedder on sickle cut hay and still got some dust. I was
utterly AMAZED with the conditioning job the rubber on steel inter-meshing rollers on our
Hesston 1110 did. The dry down with these rollers - they are crimping vs crushing, is
fast and impressive. I think you bought a Hesston 1120 not to long ago? I'd be
interested in hearing how you like the conditioning of it's rollers vs your New Holland
472.

Thanks,
Bill
 
As I recall, the 5209 does not have any shear protection on the hubs like a New Holland or JD mower conditioner. Had you had shear hubs, do you think your mower conditioner would have survived?
 
"the specs on a 625 moco are 55-75 hp I think if you are at the bottom you mite not be happy,,,,what tractor do you have ? also to remember you going to need multiple hyd outlets for 625 on for up and down and another for swing. But if the 625is like my 630 it is a great machine I mow about 4 1/2 - 5mph and it works great . just be on the larger tractor end of the hp rating"

The minimum hp for the 625 is 55 hp. I've got 50 hp to work with - max. Multiple outlets is not a problem. The 625 is identical to the 630, except 8ft-2in cut width and the 630 is 9ft-9in cut. The 625 has 5 cutting discs and the 630 has 6 discs.

I have read a ton of info on the JD (and other discbines) and not saying the JD is any better than a New Holland, but these JD moco's IMHO are something Deere just got right, rugged, simple and a very clean cut.

The 600 series are now available with the V10 steel on steel inter-meshing rollers. However, for grass hay (based on what I've read), the impellers are very good. What does your 630 have - rollers or impellers? If impellers, what are you cutting and are you satisified?

I think if I were to get a 625, the saving grace would be the cut width - 8ft-2in vs a 9ft plus machine - AND reduced ground speed, i.e. 4/5 mph vs 8 or 10 mph. HOWEVER - I would need a demo before parting with the $$$$'s.

Thanks,
Bill
 
i still run a haybine only have about 10 acres now. thinking about getting a few beef cows so will have to put on some more hay ground. when my dad had dairy cows i mowed 150 acres 3 times a year. i had a 489 NH for 14 years and took good care of it.i traded it and the guy that bought it was going to use it to mow pastures but the dealer told me it was such good shape he was going to put new rolls in it and use it to mow hay. i can run a haybine on tractors as low as 30 HP if they are heavy enough and have hydraulics
 
i know about all the specs for these ,,,i work at a deere dealer putting these machines together and setting them up,,,you are righ you going to have to try and see,,the first field of thick hay you get in to wil let you know quick
 

Time was the deciding factor to me. As the number of acres grew and my available time did not, I needed to go faster. I had 70 HP initially but wanted to upgrade to new rat the time anyway, so I went up to 96 HP. In order to get the mowing done I did more in the evening than morning, which means that the first rays of sun are drying the hay. I agree that the NH in the video is being grossly overworked, but he could cut back on his fertilizer a little too.
 

Time was the deciding factor to me. As the number of acres grew and my available time did not, I needed to go faster. I had 70 HP initially but wanted to upgrade to new rat the time anyway, so I went up to 96 HP. In order to get the mowing done I did more in the evening than morning, which means that the first rays of sun are drying the hay. I agree that the NH in the video is being grossly overworked, but he could cut back on his fertilizer a little too.
 
I would rather have the disc machine, but I don't understand the not wanting a bigger tractor. As far as fuel consumption goes I have an 1105 Massey and I doubt it would burn more fuel then a gas 50 horse tractor, and you can get a disc mower with conditioners if that is something you are interested in. Massey, Krone and Claas are some that have them, I will put a link to a Enorossi disc mower conditioner working, granted they are heavy so should double their HP specs, at least put a lot of front weights on, mine is about 12' and I wouldn't want to put it on a 65 horse tractor like the spec says.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v tMGUOJHAwX4
 
(quoted from post at 19:45:51 11/16/16) "I'm still leaning towards a drum mower as a compromise."

I considered a straight disc mower. We got along very well with our 7ft MF32 sickle
mower. What I couldn't get around was the conditioning part of it - be it a sickle or
straight disc mower. I've used a tedder on sickle cut hay and still got some dust. I was
utterly AMAZED with the conditioning job the rubber on steel inter-meshing rollers on our
Hesston 1110 did. The dry down with these rollers - they are crimping vs crushing, is
fast and impressive. I think you bought a Hesston 1120 not to long ago? I'd be
interested in hearing how you like the conditioning of it's rollers vs your New Holland
472.

Thanks,
Bill

Bill, it was so dry here this summer, and we were cutting mature 1st cut, that conditioning wasn't an issue. Next spring will show any differences. I do like the more heavily built Hesston over the much lighter built NH design of my 472 and 488. ll need some fixing up right now.
 
I abandoned sickles for a DRUM mower Not going back. Approx 7 foot cut just about right for my MF 180. Can get a lot cut faster than sickle with no clogging. Maintenance is easy. Set of blades cost less than $10. Would need a bunch more tractor for haybind either sickle or disk.
 
I use a sickle haybine. I've looked at some used diskbines. They were all beat to death. I assume from the higher speeds you can run. If your ground is rough and can't drive fast, I don't see any advantage to a diskbine. I'm usually busy, so I mow hay at all times/moisture. I've never had troubles with plugging due to wet hay.
 
I have tons of rocks and a flail discbine. I won't be going back to the old 489 haybine. Yes it will fire rock out at 100 mph if you don't keep a good cover on it or if you have junk in the field. The big plus instead of replacing broken teeth, guards, knives, bushings etc all summer, I stick a lever in and change a blade in 5 seconds a few times a summer after hitting something.
 
I know what a bush hog type of mower will due in grass and to me both the disk and drum mowers are like the bush hog type, just each set of blades narrower so I would NEVER even consider a disk or drum mower. I don't know if it was a drum or disk but the job it had done I would be ashamed to leave a field like that. And if you have to be conserned about moisture on the crop you should not be trying to mow, nothing will work good with wet crops. And at 4.5 MPH a 7' disk will not cut any more than a 7' haybine type and that 4.5MPH is top speed for any safe mowing with 3.5 being better.
 
I think you're sadly misinformed about what disc and drum mowers do if you think they're the same as a bush hog... A properly maintained discbine will run circles around any haybine, any day, even at the same speed... for the simple reason you're not backing up unplugging it all the time. Never mind that most times you cut at 6-10 mph depending on conditions...

Rod
 
(quoted from post at 08:07:55 11/18/16) I know what a bush hog type of mower will due in grass and to me both the disk and drum mowers are like the bush hog type, just each set of blades narrower so I would NEVER even consider a disk or drum mower. I don't know if it was a drum or disk but the job it had done I would be ashamed to leave a field like that. And if you have to be conserned about moisture on the crop you should not be trying to mow, nothing will work good with wet crops. And at 4.5 MPH a 7' disk will not cut any more than a 7' haybine type and that 4.5MPH is top speed for any safe mowing with 3.5 being better.

When I mow with a discmower the is clean and nothing missed.

Sickle bar is a plugging POS

A bush hog is nothing like a disc or drum mower. bush hog is closer to a lawn mower. You get same result trying to cut heavy grass with a lawn mower as you do a bushhog

I bet I could mow more with a 7' disc mower than a 7' haybine, and do it when it's wet...and still cut everything clean.

Don't tell the 12 MPH guys they can't mow that fast :)
 
Your speeds are faster than my tractors ever could travel in the field, only road gear that fast ad no way would I ever try to travel that fast in a field, you are nuts to drive that fast in a field. And I NEVER had pluging problems with my Case 555 Mower conditioner, perhaps because I did not try to drive like a bat out of Lwl. I know what I see and they are not for me.
 
(quoted from post at 14:14:17 11/18/16) Your speeds are faster than my tractors ever could travel in the field, only road gear that fast ad no way would I ever try to travel that fast in a field, you are nuts to drive that fast in a field. And I NEVER had pluging problems with my Case 555 Mower conditioner, perhaps because I did not try to drive like a bat out of Lwl. I know what I see and they are not for me.

Yes I know that I am nuts. I found that 6.5 MPH worked well for me, and that the disc mower conditioner cuts not only faster but also cleaner, and yes they do a nice job of picking up and cutting grass during a heavy rain. Sometimes, though we may not like it we have to admit that times are changing.
 
I second that Rod,sickle bar mower conditioners were a big advancement in their day over the sickle mowers before them,the disk mowers are a huge mechanical advancement over them again.
 
Well, 6-10 mph is only the OEM's recommendation lol. You'd really be out of sorts watching me at 15 mph... THat's why we try to rock rake all of our fields. They're smoother than most of the roads around here. But even a rough field I never drop below 4.5 mph.

Rod
 
I agree, I have a nh 489 haybine, neighbor has a nh discbine, can't remember the model, I can't believe how fast he can knock down a field. Probably twice as fast as I can do the same size field! Not only faster but a great cut..
 
I will state that I do prefer the sickle based haybine for my piddle patch operation cause I can buy cheap, repair cheap, and run one with my ole dinosaur vintage tractors which are all low hp tractors.

No way would I personally use a drum mower, disc mower, or discbine on a tractor without a cab or at minimum a thick Lexan operator protector shield. Not concerns with a haybine on an open station tractor.

It boils down that the discbine is not gonna help you make better hay than you are now. It will just do it faster and more conveniently. If I was covering bigtime acres I would consider a discbine no question.
 
(quoted from post at 20:46:12 11/18/16) I will state that I do prefer the sickle based haybine for my piddle patch operation cause I can buy cheap, repair cheap, and run one with my ole dinosaur vintage tractors which are all low hp tractors.

No way would I personally use a drum mower, disc mower, or discbine on a tractor without a cab or at minimum a thick Lexan operator protector shield. Not concerns with a haybine on an open station tractor.

It boils down that the discbine is not gonna help you make better hay than you are now. It will just do it faster and more conveniently. If I was covering bigtime acres I would consider a discbine no question.

Here in the Northeast making good hay is nearly always a race against both the calendar and the rain. Speed is very, very important.
 
I do not know if anyone that has ever went from a sickle to a disc back to a sickle. My father in law was one of the last in the area with a sickle style. I talked him into trying one out, he bought it.

Only negatives I've found for a disc are: they don't seem to pick up a downed crop quite as well. Nothing will pick it up good, but just slightly worse.

And hp requirements just as you state. I have a deere 920 and it will make a deere 4320 know it's back there in heavy alfalfa or clover. Doesn't over work it by any means, but anything less than 90ish hp in those conditions would be a struggle. It does seem like the Massey/Heston line you speak of takes less ponies. 50hp still seems like a stretch though.

Also, if I had to do it again, I'd get a machine with rolls next time. I have flail conditioners. Work fine in grass, but +1 day for alfalfa dry time compared to the neighbors roll machine. In grass, the flails might even dry a touch faster.
 
(quoted from post at 13:27:38 11/19/16)
(quoted from post at 20:46:12 11/18/16) I will state that I do prefer the sickle based haybine for my piddle patch operation cause I can buy cheap, repair cheap, and run one with my ole dinosaur vintage tractors which are all low hp tractors.

No way would I personally use a drum mower, disc mower, or discbine on a tractor without a cab or at minimum a thick Lexan operator protector shield. Not concerns with a haybine on an open station tractor.

It boils down that the discbine is not gonna help you make better hay than you are now. It will just do it faster and more conveniently. If I was covering bigtime acres I would consider a discbine no question.

Here in the Northeast making good hay is nearly always a race against both the calendar and the rain. Speed is very, very important.

The high humidity of the Midwest is not any picnic at times either with haymaking. Speed is important if the acres you are covering is large enough and I even stated I would go discbine if was covering large acres. However on a small piddle patch operation like mine a switch to a discbine would save me maybe 35-40 minutes worth of cutting time if that per haying event. If that measly time savings is going to be a difference maker for me then I picked a bad haying window.

As I did state stated the discbine is not going to make any better quality hay than the hyaline...only do it faster.

There are some picky people and websites out there that even argue or publish that the discbine makes worse quality hay. Claim by the picky is that the high spinning blades on disc cutters or drum mowers stir up dirt and dust that covers the crop. I do not necessarily subscribe to this belief myself, but I have seen enough videos of dry cutting creating a dust/dirt cloud and I am sure that some of that dirt does end up on the crop.

Many college studies have scientific proof that has been published that crop regrowth is faster on a crop being cut with a sickle cutter compared to a disc cutter. Course it depends on the crop type on the amount of stunting but the sickle always wins here in every study I have read.

At its best the discbine can only equal the sickle based haybine on crop quality in my opinion but never exceed a haybine from a quality perspective. That said the discbine can do it faster and with less hassle no question. if I was a large enough operation it would be the way to go and I would go that way.
 
(quoted from post at 09:40:30 11/19/16)
(quoted from post at 13:27:38 11/19/16)
(quoted from post at 20:46:12 11/18/16) I will state that I do prefer the sickle based haybine for my piddle patch operation cause I can buy cheap, repair cheap, and run one with my ole dinosaur vintage tractors which are all low hp tractors.

No way would I personally use a drum mower, disc mower, or discbine on a tractor without a cab or at minimum a thick Lexan operator protector shield. Not concerns with a haybine on an open station tractor.

It boils down that the discbine is not gonna help you make better hay than you are now. It will just do it faster and more conveniently. If I was covering bigtime acres I would consider a discbine no question.

Here in the Northeast making good hay is nearly always a race against both the calendar and the rain. Speed is very, very important.

The high humidity of the Midwest is not any picnic at times either with haymaking. Speed is important if the acres you are covering is large enough and I even stated I would go discbine if was covering large acres. However on a small piddle patch operation like mine a switch to a discbine would save me maybe 35-40 minutes worth of cutting time if that per haying event. If that measly time savings is going to be a difference maker for me then I picked a bad haying window.

As I did state stated the discbine is not going to make any better quality hay than the hyaline...only do it faster.

There are some picky people and websites out there that even argue or publish that the discbine makes worse quality hay. Claim by the picky is that the high spinning blades on disc cutters or drum mowers stir up dirt and dust that covers the crop. I do not necessarily subscribe to this belief myself, but I have seen enough videos of dry cutting creating a dust/dirt cloud and I am sure that some of that dirt does end up on the crop.

Many college studies have scientific proof that has been published that crop regrowth is faster on a crop being cut with a sickle cutter compared to a disc cutter. Course it depends on the crop type on the amount of stunting but the sickle always wins here in every study I have read.

At its best the discbine can only equal the sickle based haybine on crop quality in my opinion but never exceed a haybine from a quality perspective. That said the discbine can do it faster and with less hassle no question. if I was a large enough operation it would be the way to go and I would go that way.

My point about the calendar is that the calendar is one of the greatest factors in quality of the hay. For hay to be considered high quality it has to be cut before it is mature. When you can cover your ground twice as fast, a much greater part of your hay will be cut before it matures. Provided that the rest of your equipment is up to the same capacity, you will be producing and able to sell far better hay when cutting with a disc mower conditioner.
 

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