How to cut corn stalks?

cc4digital · Apr 6, 2009

A couple of years ago I planted corn and it was a mess to get rid of the stalks. The postive side is I only did a small area, so it wasn't to bad. This year I am doing a much larger area and I will be facing the problem 10 X's.
I have looked at sickle bars, but I don't know if they would cut the stalks. Also they seem pretty pricy.

Any idea?

Thanks

Chuck

banjo · Apr 6, 2009

i used my sickle bar last year to cut the stalks then fed them to my cows. year before i used a brush hog and then tilled them in.

cc4digital · Apr 6, 2009

The sickle sounds interesting because I think I would then pick them up as one piece.

I have a large rake I can put in back of the tractor that might also work.

So it sounds to me as if a sickle bar would cut the stalk. Hmmm Wonder if I can find a cheap used one. I only need to use it a couple of time a year.

Any other ideas out there??

P.S. When I used the brush hog it chopped them up, but when I went to rake the piece it went thru the rake. I figured at that time it wouldn't be a problem, BUT when I went to do make the rows for my winter garden it caused all kinds of problems.

Anonymous-0 · Apr 6, 2009

I ran out of sawdust (sawmill took a break) and straw once couple years ago and was glad to have the cornstalks a guy let me pick up before he plowed them under. Used a garden chopper and they made the best stall bedding I ever used and composted real good afterwards. I remember helping my buddy do several acres with a machette as a kid.

Dave

Anonymous-0 · Apr 6, 2009

Lawnmower then rototiller.

bradk · Apr 6, 2009

Stalk chopper or flail shredder.

Leroy · Apr 6, 2009

Green sweet corn or dry field corn stalks and what do you want to do with them? Just get rid of them or feed or use as bedding? makes a big difference as to what to use. A mower blade is not heavy enough to cut larger stalks and will break. And the stalks are shreaded all the time and raked to bale so why would your rake not rake them?

Jim in Ma. · Apr 6, 2009

My dad used on old hoe - he cut the handle down to about 18" and sharpened the blade. He would cut small amounts of corn stalks to feed, using it like a matrix or grub hoe with one hand and gather an armful of stalks with the other.

Anonymous-0 · Apr 6, 2009

Sweet corn stalks I'll brush hog in the fall after they are dried down, they are left in the field and plowed under in the spring. Field corn after we pick, we'll brush hog or flail mow and round bale and use for bedding. I have hogs and they love to chew on the stalks and roll in the bedding when I first put in in the pens, it fork out easy and they break it down to small enough pieces that it spread well back into the field.

jack harmon · Apr 6, 2009

best way i've found brush hog them soon as you get corn off and turn them under,adds LOTS of organic matter to field and will be rotted away shortly.dont just leave them to dry you lose most of the benifits and they harbor corn borers for next years crop.brush hog,disc, plow,or rototill under and plant fall crop of beans is what i do if i plant early corn.

Ken-Pa · Apr 6, 2009

As a teenager I remember the acreas of sweet corn Dad would plant . After we picked the corn & Mom got it all canned ; we"d just take the ole Ford with 2 bottom plows & plow the whole area under . We never cut the stalks ahead of time . As I said we plowed it all under & then run the disc over it from various angles so the stocks were pretty well chopped up . Then in the spring , we"d go back out to plow the field again & disc it . Not once did I see any large chunks of corn stalk not rotted . That"s my story & I"m sticking with it (humor) . God bless any tractor seat time . Ken

TomCNY · Apr 6, 2009

Sounds like you are looking for an approach that doesn"t rely solely on hand work. So, I"m adding this reply largely for it"s "historical" perspective, rather than as a viable solution. When I was a much younger man, we grew and cut corn for our dairy herd. When opening a field ahead of the harvester, we used a hand tool, appropriately called a "corn knife," to cut the stalks. It looked like a small scythe with a curved cutting blade about 12 inches long and it had a straight handle perhaps 18 or 20 inches long. We would grab a stalk, or a small number of stalks; and hook the blade behind the stalk close to the ground; then give a quick, short, upward yank. It worked great and we could drop the stalks into piles to be picked up and put on the wagon or, in later years, fed into the field chopper --- very carefully. Kinda miss those days. Tom

JDemaris · Apr 6, 2009

I brush-hog many acres of corn stalks every spring. Works fine, but it'd be better if I did it in the fall. I like leaving it for the deer.

J.C.in AZ. · Apr 6, 2009

Google "Lehmans Hardware" in Kidron Ohio.They are hardware source for a large Amish Area. They sell a corn cutter that straps to your leg with a blade that sticks out to the side of your foot. grab a stalk,kick the blade against it and bingo it is cut off at ground level when you get the hang of it.Stalks can be wagon loaded or Shocked. Mostly used to cut green fodder and also for corn silage which is returned to the field in the manure form.A way to preserve the old days or an answer to a small patch of corn.Very labor intensive.

Dave F. · Apr 6, 2009

Pick up an old farmall cub with a sickle bar mower on it. use it as a dedacated (sp) tractor for mowing probably could get a cub tractor for less money than a sears riding mower. Dave F.

cc4digital · Apr 6, 2009

(quoted from post at 17:44:12 04/06/09) Google "Lehmans Hardware" in Kidron Ohio.They are hardware source for a large Amish Area. They sell a corn cutter that straps to your leg with a blade that sticks out to the side of your foot. grab a stalk,kick the blade against it and bingo it is cut off at ground level when you get the hang of it.Stalks can be wagon loaded or Shocked. Mostly used to cut green fodder and also for corn silage which is returned to the field in the manure form.A way to preserve the old days or an answer to a small patch of corn.Very labor intensive.

A What??? :?: That sound interesting. Any experiences?

I find it hard to believe that you can just cut the stalks with a blade. They seem pretty tough to me, but maybe if I don't let them dry out it will make them easier. :roll:

If you can get a link or name, I would be interested in seeing what you are talking about. I went to their website, but didn't find the tool you spoke of.

El Toro · Apr 7, 2009

I saw the Amish using a big rotary mower with a mounted engine pulled by 3 mules to chop up the corn stalks. You could use a bush hog. Hal

GordoSD · Apr 7, 2009

There is a small drainage creek that runs 1/2 mile through my land, W-E. Also 1 mile neighbors east and west of me. Lots of deer in the cedars and olive trees therein.
Last growing season west neighbor planted and then combined 40 acres of corn adjacent to the drainage. I planted and left 4 acres of standing corn.
By early Jan the deer and pheasnts had eaten every single ear in my plot.
Two days ago,at sunset, there were 45 deer in neighbors field scrounging for corn. Zero in my field.
I'll be bush hogging my plot next fall with a 7 foot Brush Bull and the 966.Probably half in Dec and half in Jan.
Oh yeah, the wood ducks also are over there and not here.

Gordo

RayP(MI) · Apr 7, 2009

I have two of them, won't part with either! Handy for a lot of work, cutting weeds under fences, etc. Yes, I do cut corn with mine - cut half an acre or so of sweetcorn stalks to feed to sheep over a several week period, after corn is out of season. for larger field work, I have a flail chopper I removed the auger and back pan from. Makes short work of much field type cleanup.

jeffcat · Apr 10, 2009

Yup I used a corn knife and if you had it nice and sharp it cuts great! I had to open the field every year and it is a real handy tool. It now hangs in my kitchen up on the wall next to the door way. I have a few other farm tool items along the wall too. Did you know they are a right handed tool? if you are left handed you reverse grind the kirf on the blade so it will cut for you. It has a very nasty edge on it and is a memory of my farm days. Go to Agway and look in their books. It may still be listed. Jeffcat

How to cut corn stalks?

New User

Member

New User

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Member

New User

Well-known Member

Member

Member

New User

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Similar threads