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To keep the most leaves on, you _need_ the Haybine or Mower/Conditioner (same machine, different copyrights :). It cuts the clover, crimps (breaks) the stems, and throws it into a fluffy windrow. This gives your clover the best chance of drying out without being handled more than needed. Where I live, clover is really miserable to dry out with just a sickle mower. The leaves dry up & get brittle, but the stems stay green & juicy. By the time you rake it enough times to dry it, the leaves are all gone. Mo/Co it, let it fall into a very wide windrow. Rake it the next day. Hope for some breezes & sun, rake it again in the morning dew, and bale that afternoon. That's the best hope for clover _here_. In the arid west things are _way_ different, and in the humid south or east tedders are more popular. Here our best hay is alfalfa, and to make quality stuff & keep the leaves, you need to use a mo/co-haybine, or cut & immeadiatly crimp it. Then problably rake it once. For actual grass hay, a sickle mower works fine, the grass dries out pretty good without the crimping step, altho it does help. --->Paul
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