Toppers - educate me please !

Cowabunga · Aug 1, 2023

Haven’t read it all but up to that it is to be run by a 240hp tractor. General cheap, mostly Irish, rear and side mounted 8ft to 9ft toppers with one or two rotors are meant for 65 to 100 hp tractors and actually light topping of pasture, not thick scrub and trash clearing. They will not last two minutes if used in heavy growth on a 200 hp tractors unless travelling at a slug-like pace.

Much heavier duty ones are made at a heavier duty price. Batwings are fine for whole field clearing and are mostly quite heavy duty. Not sure how people get on with part width cutting of 10ft margins with them.

I have a cheap Abbey side mounted topper that has worked quite a few acres over the last 25 years. It has been extensively patched up over the years but is used on grazing that has got away from the cows and cutting docks down behind, over the last 13 years, a 100hp tractor with PTO running at the 1000rpm ratio but with engine revs kept down so it never runs faster than 600rpm at the shaft.

nick... · Aug 1, 2023

I’ve got a new spearhead 460 rotary batwing with 6 blades per rotor and been using it today to cut down some legume mix that has a lot of fat hen in it.was doing some this morning on meadow land that was full of willow weed,fat hen and wild oats and that was higher than front wheel on my 6620.all been chopped up a treat.did wonder if I wanted my big tractor on it but 130 hp coped fine.bought new as second hand ones are normally knackered.will post some pics in today at work and may add on here when my phone synches with my iPad.
nick...

Green oak · Aug 1, 2023

Spaildings import these from Spain. Very good.

BigBarl · Aug 1, 2023

We have a lot of AB15 and margin options. 3m machine works best as in a lot of the margin options you’re only allowed to cut the 3m next to the crop making a machine any wider fairly useless. We’ve gone from rear mounted flail to a shelbourne front mounted flail this year and it is much better not running on the stewardship first with the front mount. I get your point @Clive about not wanting PTO equipment on the farm but I’m unsure of any options that are hydraulic drive. We opted for the below machine and haven’t regretted so far

hally · Aug 1, 2023

nick... said:
I’ve got a new spearhead 460 rotary batwing with 6 blades per rotor and been using it today to cut down some legume mix that has a lot of fat hen in it.was doing some this morning on meadow land that was full of willow weed,fat hen and wild oats and that was higher than front wheel on my 6620.all been chopped up a treat.did wonder if I wanted my big tractor on it but 130 hp coped fine.bought new as second hand ones are normally knackered.will post some pics in today at work and may add on here when my phone synches with my iPad.
nick...View attachment 1127758 View attachment 1127759

Same as ours. Had them all here and it's the only one to stand the abuse of a hill farm.

nick... · Aug 1, 2023

hally said:
Same as ours. Had them all here and it's the only one to stand the abuse of a hill farm.

Only issue is they are complete pain in the arse to clean.leaf blower works well but having been in legume mix today the back of the machine is covered in mulched green pulp.
nick...

hally · Aug 1, 2023

nick... said:
Only issue is they are complete pain in the arse to clean.leaf blower works well but having been in legume mix today the back of the machine is covered in mulched green pulp.
nick...

Same here....do it only gets done once at the end of the season

David. · Aug 1, 2023

Another good reason to have a road compressor.

puppet · Aug 1, 2023

Bob lincs said:
We have a 4.2mounted batwing . It will handle some serious growth as in brambles as high as the tractor wheels or can also be used for a very neat mowing job as in the picture.View attachment 1127706 View attachment 1127706

That looks a tidy job but have to ask why all that expensive metal is needed to cut some daisies? As mentioned in another post this is the madness of green policies which encourage unnecessary fuel use.
Topping used to be a 80hp old tractor with a knackered mower which could handle stones.
Topping grass is really a failure of grazing management

zero · Aug 1, 2023

Front mounted flail with a rear mounted verge mower. Do 5 or 6 meters in one pass. Spearhead, Kuhn, Maschio, Muthing. All do a heavy version for hedgeback, margin, roadside sort of work.

Bob lincs · Aug 1, 2023

puppet said:
That looks a tidy job but have to ask why all that expensive metal is needed to cut some daisies? As mentioned in another post this is the madness of green policies which encourage unnecessary fuel use.
Topping used to be a 80hp old tractor with a knackered mower which could handle stones.
Topping grass is really a failure of grazing management

Being paid to knock the the tops off daisies works for me !!!

Fendt516profi · Aug 1, 2023

OSM-Verge Mower

The Major Offset Verge Mower offers extreme cutting for verges, ditches, and embankments with hydraulic arm floating from 95° to -35° Side shift of 1.56 suits mowing around fences, buildings and under trees.

www.major-equipment.com

L P · Aug 1, 2023

Hi Clive, I'd say for stewardship get a flail, have a 3m Votex here which has taken a lot in its stride, Kuhn and Muthing are well regarded too. Have a 6m Kidd Flexwing which is great for open land but pops shearbolts far too easily on rougher stuff, headlands and old furrows are far better suited to a flail, bit tedious on bigger fields but can bash out 50acres a day with 3m. Flexwing will do 120 acres a day. Perfect world I'd put a pto on the front and run the Votex ahead with an offset behind. Doesn't matter what batwing or flail, unless you're rotorvating with it wisps stand back up behind the wheels

ollie989898 · Aug 1, 2023

If it is only for margins and you aren't doing day after day/hundreds of acres I would say a 3m flail machine, probably a muthing with the ability to run it on the front or back. They are all PTO driven, you won't get enough grunt from hydraulic power alone without a whole raft of grief, cooling and efficiency losses, etc. Before you buy the thing speak with the manufacturer or their technical guys and tell them what tractor(s) you intend to put it on. Your 240hp Fendt may well be able to run it in economy PTO if the correct gearbox is specified.

With the right flails a Muthing (or Kuhn) will cut it as low as you want and shred every bit. They are also quite resistant to grief from foreign bodies- the Muthing in particular is built like a tank and I know Kuhn machines aren't far behind.

If you need more output and are doing bigger areas routinely year after year then it is worth considering a front and back combination or a batwing but the cost starts to escalate as does the power requirement.

Derrick Hughes · Aug 1, 2023

Topping is a contractors job
The rate they charge won't cover your man and diesel

Bobthebuilder · Aug 1, 2023

personally i'd go batwing, there's not much they wont cut and they leave a very good finish, width is depending on the job you want but a 4.6m is a nice size to work with, but your 240/250hp would handle bigger https://woodsequipment.com/product-category/batwing-cutters/

Bobthebuilder · Aug 1, 2023

the problem with front toppers is cooling, the chaff and debris will always end up on your radiator so keeping tractor cool can be a problem

tr250 · Aug 1, 2023

Henarar said:
So sustainable farming involves just topping every year, grazing with sheep or cattle is far more sustainable.

not looked at arable options, why do you need to top at all?

Be interesting to see if TFF opinion on toppers will be go for the heavy, expensive, power hungry one that chews it to the ground

Yes we refuse to own one. They are normally a livestock man’s recreational cultivation

CPF · Aug 1, 2023

There’s one working in there somewhere

Oh there, he is

Cowabunga · Aug 1, 2023

CPF said:
There’s one working in there somewhereView attachment 1127870 Oh there, he isView attachment 1127871

Someone should explain the difference between topping and cultivation to him.

Toppers - educate me please !

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