Welcome! Please use the navigational links to explore our website.
PartsASAP LogoCompany Logo (800) 853-2651

Shop Now

   Allis Chalmers Case Farmall IH Ford 8N,9N,2N Ford
   Ferguson John Deere Massey Ferguson Minn. Moline Oliver

Attention Forum Users: On the 28th of December 2023 at 9:00am Central Time, we will be taking the forums down for maintenance while we prepare the new forums for your use. Please click here for more information.

Implement Alley Discussion Forum

3pt disc mower or mo/co?

Welcome Guest, Log in or Register
Author 
Scott in NNY

03-14-2006 11:13:56




Report to Moderator

Could a 3pt disc mower replace a mower / conditioner? We mow HEAVY orchardgrass and clover and our 1209 has to slow right down in the tangled mess that 2nd and 3rd cut is.Could we use a disc mower and not worry about the conditioning? Have to go out and ted right after mowing for hay to dry right anyway and we always put the hay for baleage on the ground and rake, dries faster and bales better.Just wondering,as discbines rule around here but I just can't see using 100hp to mow hay.

[Log in to Reply]   [No Email]
Hay DR

03-15-2006 05:58:52




Report to Moderator
 Re: 3pt disc mower or mo/co? in reply to Scott in NNY, 03-14-2006 11:13:56  
third party image

A 3 point disc mower and a tedder will put up grass hay up as fast any thing out there. The only place a conditioner helps in would be in sudan grass & alfalfa. We harvest over 500 acres of grass hay every year and we use 3 point disc mowers and tedders. If it's pull type you want then look at the Disc mower caddy or the pull-type non-conditioner mower like the Vermeer trail mowers.

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Hay DR

03-15-2006 05:57:56




Report to Moderator
 Re: 3pt disc mower or mo/co? in reply to Scott in NNY, 03-14-2006 11:13:56  
third party image

A 3 point disc mower and a tedder will put up grass hay up as fast any thing out there. The only place a conditioner helps in would be in sudan grass & alfalfa. We harvest over 500 acres of grass hay every year and we use 3 point disc mowers and tedders. If it's pull type you want then look at the Disc mower caddy or the pull-type non-conditioner mower like the Vermeer trail mowers.

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
barnrat

03-14-2006 19:36:58




Report to Moderator
 Re: 3pt disc mower or mo/co? in reply to Scott in NNY, 03-14-2006 11:13:56  
I use a Reese 3100 trailed drum mower(no conditioner) to mow my heavy ryegrass and orchard grass on my western NY dairy. Mow around 10am then use tedder, chop or make baleage around 4pm at around 65% moisture. If I could change one thing I'd have a disc or drum mower that put hay in a wide swath and eliminate the tedder. Conditioning is good for dry hay, but new evidence shows that it drops feed value on wet crops.

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
RodInNS

03-14-2006 19:36:37




Report to Moderator
 Re: 3pt disc mower or mo/co? in reply to Scott in NNY, 03-14-2006 11:13:56  
Yes, for what you're asking, you can make do quite well with a mounted disc mower. However, if you want to chop or make hay, it gets to be a genuine pain. I run a NH 465 (Kuhn GMD77HD), sometimes on a 70HP, sometimes on an 86++ HP, and it's a breeze on the 70. The other takes the drive belts out. About 50 is all you would need, but it would be hard work. I would look for a newer model with an open ended cutterbar, as they do not tend to wrap and ball in a heavy tangled crop like the older models (like I have). Otherwise, a small discbine will take 65-70 hp minimum.

Rod

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
kyhayman

03-14-2006 19:29:31




Report to Moderator
 Re: 3pt disc mower or mo/co? in reply to Scott in NNY, 03-14-2006 11:13:56  
Can it replace? In 1988 we did replace a NH 474 with a NI disc mower. Except on alfalfa never saw any real change in curing time, KY climate (warm and humid) and at most added a day to pure alfalfa. Adding one or two teddings sped it up like I never dreamed with the conditioner. Replaced several of the disc mowers over the years and kept the old haybine. Speed, replacement parts cost, and faster servicing make the disc mower no comparison. Heavy hay is an understatement...timothy hay, 300 pounds of ammonium nitrate per acre and 50 inches of annual rainfall/ I went over it this past winter, used it 6 hrs in the last 4 years. The one and only thing the haybine does that the disc mower refuses to cut is soybeans. Also, making round baled silage I have needed to slow down my curing, thats why I went over the haybine.

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Cliff Nebauer

03-14-2006 16:20:35




Report to Moderator
 Re: 3pt disc mower or mo/co? in reply to Scott in NNY, 03-14-2006 11:13:56  
Four years ago we went from an IH 1190 sickle mower conditioner to a New Idea 5409 disk mower and we really didn't see much difference in drying time. For us at least grasses will dry just as fast if not faster behind the disk mower (laid out in a wide swath) but legumes (we raise alot of alfalfa) will dry just slightly slower without the conditioner. Any drying time we lost by not having a conditioner was more than made up for by the increase in mowing capacity. By going to a disk mower we cut our mowing time in at least half and we've probably saved enough on maintance and repair costs to cover what we paid for our used disk mower. I'd like to go back to a conditioner but it will be a 12' center pivot disk machine to speed up mowing even more.

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
JMS/MN

03-14-2006 12:11:47




Report to Moderator
 Re: 3pt disc mower or mo/co? in reply to Scott in NNY, 03-14-2006 11:13:56  
First of all, it does not take 100hp to pull a discbine. My son bought our 1990 5209 New Idea, and pulls it with his 3020. We pulled it with the 4430 and 4240. Clover is a B..... to dry, and you're going to lose more time by cutting it with a mower. That's why mocos, Haybines, and discbines were developed. The crop starts to dry right after it is cut. If your 2nd and 3rd cut is a tangled mess, aren't you waiting too long to cut it? Even so, a discbine should cut right through it- better than any mower or moco. Our 16 year old 5209 has never been plugged- ditch hay, alfalfa, reed canary, meadow grass, 12 foot giant ragweed.

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Scott in NNY

03-14-2006 12:47:02




Report to Moderator
 Re: 3pt disc mower or mo/co? in reply to JMS/MN, 03-14-2006 12:11:47  
My experience with a discbine is limited to a 411 pulled with a 4020 in heavy,2t/a dm, first cut orchargrass, Wasn't that impressed and the tractor had to work, and a 10 ft Kuhn with a MX 100 in pure alfalfa. Now that was fast and easy.The clover is ladino in the orchardgrass at 1lb an acre and I don't think we ever wait more than 30 days,We flail chop 4 or 5 times in addition to 3 hay, baleage, cuts.If we ever cut just hay its 5 cuts minimum.Maybe the nieghbors all use 100 hp or more because thats the most comfortable cab on the farm but we don't grow corn so we don't run anything over 75 hp anymore and no comfortable cabs either anymore.

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
KEH

03-14-2006 12:08:45




Report to Moderator
 Re: 3pt disc mower or mo/co? in reply to Scott in NNY, 03-14-2006 11:13:56  

Disc mower will cut that hay without slowing down but as Ken said drying time will be longer without conditioning. Tedding will help drying orchard grass and clover more than conditioning IMO.

KEH



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Ken Macfarlane

03-14-2006 11:37:37




Report to Moderator
 Re: 3pt disc mower or mo/co? in reply to Scott in NNY, 03-14-2006 11:13:56  
If you want to add a day or two to your dry down go ahead.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Ken macfarlane

03-15-2006 08:27:33




Report to Moderator
 Re: 3pt disc mower or mo/co? in reply to Ken Macfarlane, 03-14-2006 11:37:37  
I'm a bit biased because we have high humidity and high yeilds per cut. With conditioner, spread wide swath, ted once or twice, good weather, ground being quite dry before hand, we can get hay in in two good long days of drying time.

If no wind or slightly overcast one of those days we're at 3 days with 2 teddings.

If we just conditioned and raked it would mould before it dryed. We did some cutting without any pressure on the conditioning roll when the rubber was off half them and the unconditioned hay took a full good day longer to dry.

Our fields are mixed timothy, orchard, fescue.

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
[Options]  [Printer Friendly]  [Posting Help]  [Return to Forum]   [Log in to Reply]

Hop to:


TRACTOR PARTS TRACTOR MANUALS
We sell tractor parts!  We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]

Home  |  Forums


Copyright © 1997-2023 Yesterday's Tractor Co.

All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy

TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.

Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters

Website Accessibility Policy