Mower Type Pros & Cons?

[GAM]

Whats the Pros and Cons of using a mower conditioner against a straight disc mower for making hay & haylage?

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Is it for horses

 

[GAM]

Is it for horses

Yes...

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Anything that helps in weather like this

 

[James]

From what I've seen plain mowers leave the grass too flat to the ground. This makes it tricky for whatever is following to lift all of it.

 

[TripleSix]

Moco uses more fuel and more wearing parts to do the same job?

 

[James]

Moco uses more fuel and more wearing parts to do the same job?

But a plain mower doesn't condition

 

[TripleSix]

But a plain mower doesn't condition

Do you think a conditioner does much?

 

[Yale]

But a plain mower doesn't condition

But do a lot of conditioners really do that much or just fluff it up?

 

[organicguy]

Moco which spreads takes half a day off wilting to 30% for silage and a day off making hay.

 

[Pan mixer]

Despite the extra fuel and horsepower, I think that the conditioner is worth it, certainly until July.

The conditioner sets up the swath speeds the drying, the tractor wheels don't run over it and the tedder picks it up better.

If there is rain then the swath is narrower than with a plain mower and less grass gets rained on.

With stemmy grass the conditioner does make it 'crinkle' so that it doesn't lie about in slabs.

 

[milkloss]

Moco which spreads takes half a day off wilting to 30% for silage and a day off making hay.

Unless it rains and then the bruised grass absorbs water much faster. I still prefer a moco.

 

[v8willy]

Conditioner takes power, so men wind them back to go quicker/save diesel & then complain that they are no better than a plain mower...pointless.
I have raked grass & left bits on the floor, customer then mentions it but when you look it's still as it came from the plain mower & he's been over it twice with the tedder & never touched it either.
Yes you can screw the rake down & lift it better but then you are scraping the soil to get it, not a good idea in a wet year.
The row from a plain mower would take less water in to it if it gets soaked on the deck.

Prefer a conditioner myself, a lot easier on the following machinery on rough ground too.

 

[wiggyv8]

Mower conditioner2 jobs in 1 pass get a one that spreads the swath saves time as previously stated up to you how hard you condition the grass

 

[onthehoof]

We cut river meadows and I worry that a large piece of wood going through the conditioner would mangle it, would a conditioner be shearbolt protected?

 

[KB6930]

We cut river meadows and I worry that a large piece of wood going through the conditioner would mangle it, would a conditioner be shearbolt protected?

Not on any I've had but you'll be surprised what they can put through without too much damage !!!!

 

[michael N123]

We cut river meadows and I worry that a large piece of wood going through the conditioner would mangle it, would a conditioner be shearbolt protected?

My fella mowers got a shearbolt on the conditioner I didn’t find out until a tyre went threw it Nothing else broke so it did a good job

 

[Pebd99]

I’m using 4l/acre of diesel with a kuhn moco in heavy crops with the conditioner full up and full speed. Doesn’t seem to bad to me and the grass dries an awful lot quicker. Would never change back to a plain mower.

 

[gatepost]

The difference is a day, and I wouldn't go back to a straight mower now,

 

[tinsheet]

Going against the grain here, run a disc mower only here, if I'm in a hurry for hay just ted it soon as it mown, it's better for arable silage etc, cheap to run, can use a 80hp tractor on a 12ft mower.