Mower conditioner or tedder

[jonnyjon]

Have a plain mower, thinking of changing for a moco or a Tedder, aiming to make top quality silage. Which do people think would be better?

 

[BIG PACK]

Get both

 

[Fragonard]

Have a plain mower, thinking of changing for a moco or a Tedder, aiming to make top quality silage. Which do people think would be better?

Preferably both, but if just one new machine, maybe the tedder, you'd have more use for it in a wet year.

 

[Barmyfarmer]

Stemmy silage get the moco and tedder, leafy young grass keep the plain mower and get a tedder

 

[Martin Holden]

I installed 2 triple mowers this week. The first, a plain 9m and after they had done 3 rounds of a 20 acre field I still didn’t get the fresh mown aroma. The second visit was a 9m triple moco’ and after 100m I could smell the grass! Conditioner was set aggressive so it was getting well crimped. To be fair that crops were different but it illustrated the faster wilting behind the moco.

 

[bobk]

There's moco's and moco's , Lely give it a brushing , Taarup or any other steel conditioner tined mower smash it to pulp .

 

[KB6930]

Decent grass and good weather will make you top quality silage.

Can't see any need for a tedder unless it's pee'd with rain onto cut grass and needs drying out .
There's dairy boys round here mowing with mower conditioner outfits and the tedder is 3 rows behind I cant see why they don't just spread it with the mowers when the ground is dry then give it time to wilt then ted it if really needed

Mower conditioner gives you more options than a plain mower .

 

[Sheep]

Decent grass and good weather will make you top quality silage.

Can't see any need for a tedder unless it's pee'd with rain onto cut grass and needs drying out .
There's dairy boys round here mowing with mower conditioner outfits and the tedder is 3 rows behind I cant see why they don't just spread it with the mowers when the ground is dry then give it time to wilt then ted it if really needed

Mower conditioner gives you more options than a plain mower .

The reasoning behind that is that the quicker the tedder goes behind the mower the better, breaks the stem and aids faster drying.

In theory anyway.

 

[Jackov Altraids]

Decent grass and good weather will make you top quality silage.

Can't see any need for a tedder unless it's pee'd with rain onto cut grass and needs drying out .
There's dairy boys round here mowing with mower conditioner outfits and the tedder is 3 rows behind I cant see why they don't just spread it with the mowers when the ground is dry then give it time to wilt then ted it if really needed

Mower conditioner gives you more options than a plain mower .

I would have thought that a plain mower and tedder gives you more options?

I try to do everything myself and just have the grass picked up by the contractor. I like being able to get it cut and then ted according to conditions and when the contractor will arrive.
Given the very dry conditions in the last couple years, you would really need the grass lifted within hours/ minutes of being cut with a conditioner.

 

[KB6930]

I would have thought that a plain mower and tedder gives you more options?

I try to do everything myself and just have the grass picked up by the contractor. I like being able to get it cut and then ted according to conditions and when the contractor will arrive.
Given the very dry conditions in the last couple years, you would really need the grass lifted within hours/ minutes of being cut with a conditioner.

My thinking is that a mower conditioner you can go slower with the conditioner doing more to aid wilting or go fast with it doing very little so more or less like a plain mower .

Also swath width from spreading out to a nice row for picking straight up if needed/possible. But that's just me unless we're making hay or very occasionally the grass has got very wet the tedder will never be in the field.

 

[deleted user 837354]

Both.

Every dairy farmer should have a tedder for when the weather isn't very wilty. There is way too much at stake to be making mediocre silage. A tedder is going to cost yes but the savings on bought in feed will soon pay for that.

 

[Tarw Coch]

Undoubtedly a Tedder to my mind but it’s interesting to see some very different opinions here.

 

[seedman stains]

Does going slower with the conditioner make a difference isnt it adjustable?

 

[thesilentone]

Bet you wish you'd never asked Mo-Co when the weathers good, with min ammount of conditioning to reduce leaf loss. A bit more aggressive conditioning if stemmy and heavy. Full width conditioner as most don't condition all the grass.

Only tedd if weather demands, if mown grass get's p'd on, or wet ground conditions, as the only way to dry it properly is shift it off the ground it was mown on.

Tedders are popular as they are big, and can do the job quickly and do a good job. But, it's one extra task, more fuel, wear and tear and emissions = more cost/ton.

 

[KB6930]

Does going slower with the conditioner make a difference isnt it adjustable?

Yes to both you out a single mower going 14-16 k against a set of triples doing 8k the triples rows will wilt quicker in the same field

 

[deleted user 837354]

I'm not saying everyone should run out and ted their grass right behind the mower, I would (depending on the weather) let it wilt first (and the sun to take the damp off the bare stubble), and maybe kick it out some time after.

There will be some years where you won't do any, particularly given the nice springs we have had the last few years. Other years you will be glad you have it, you know how it is, you cut your grass and suddenly it's overcast and struggling to get much above 10 degrees.

 

[Tarw Coch]

Tedders are popular as they are big, and can do the job quickly and do a good job. But, it's one extra task, more fuel, wear and tear and emissions = more cost/ton.

The cost per ton is nowt compared to the ability to make better silage.
We bought a Tedder and rake more than 20 years ago after a wet harvest and crap silage.
After testing the silage the next year the feed rep calculated that we could sell £32,500 more milk off 500 tons of silage than the year before, we thought he was talking bollox, .......he wasn’t.

Have never had bad silage since including last year when despite a good forecast it pi$$ed down after mowing.
We Tedded out and picked up dry silage a day later.

 

[deleted user 837354]

The cost per ton is nowt compared to the ability to make better silage.
We bought a Tedder and rake more than 20 years ago after a wet harvest and crap silage.
After testing the silage the next year the feed rep calculated that we could sell £32,500 more milk off 500 tons of silage than the year before, we thought he was talking bollox, .......he wasn’t.

Have never had bad silage since including last year when despite a good forecast it pi$$ed down after mowing.
We Tedded out and picked up dry silage a day later.

I bet a lot of farms would make/save even more money than that. What does a 10 tonne load of dairy cake cost these days, best part of 2500 quid I bet. How long does that last and what is the biggest component of your diet?

 

[Andrew]

Does going slower with the conditioner make a difference isnt it adjustable?

It depends on the design of the conditioner.
If you have very little grass going through the conditioner it has nothing to batter against. If you have loads it’s forced onto the blades so more useful work is done - up to a point. Profi did an article a few years back, two samples at 10k and 15k and measured which dried the quickest.
Some makes dried faster at 10, others at 15.

 

[Barmyfarmer]

Always makes me laugh when people know what the baling contractor charges to the last penny and grumble, yet just think how many less bales they could have if they got the grass wilted more and had higher dry matter silage