Topping - Mower or Topper

[Jerry]

Everyone says to top with a mower vs a topper to get better regrowth.

But how do you deal with the residue?

With a mower it will be in windrows, with a topper it will be mulched and spread to a degree??

 

[Al R]

Hell of a job this year, mower leaving windrows and ewes won’t eat it or top it and it’s rough as hell and doesn’t actually regrow. Graze as tight as possible and mow I find best, getting ewes to eat fields down tight enough so it doesn’t leave windrows is the problem. Tending to top 4” with the mower where it’s dense

 

[Davy_g]

I used to use a 5ft single rotor - twin cut topper. It was crap. Changed to an 8ft double rotor topper. It was just a wider cut of crap. Hammering the grass rather than cutting it.
Bought a 10ft malone disc mower. Adjust the toplink to suit (tried the topping skids but they just left marks). Ideal.
If there is too much grass then it needs grazed out rather than topped / mowed? If you had a mulcher / flail then that would give a different finish to heavier covers.

I seen a comment on here a while back that a topper was a sign of bad grass land management. I get the sentiment but cutting off the trash after the second or third rotation gives a lovely cover of fresh grass for the next grazing.

 

[YorkeshireFog]

If you had to cut an apple in half which would you rather use?, A razor sharp knife or a Hammer??


A mower does a far better job, cuts grass heads off and leaves great residuals, a topper (the hammer in this scenario) just smashes things up and doesn't really improve the field that much apart from looking a bit better to the eye

 

[Skintagain]

Open the doors on a disc mower? Drum mower I angle back a bit and it flicks it away

if it’s thick it still leaves a row but it surprising how it disappears

 

[davidroberts30]

Cattle will eat it in a few days if it's dry!

 

[ford4000]

I used to use a 5ft single rotor - twin cut topper. It was crap. Changed to an 8ft double rotor topper. It was just a wider cut of crap. Hammering the grass rather than cutting it.
Bought a 10ft malone disc mower. Adjust the toplink to suit (tried the topping skids but they just left marks). Ideal.
If there is too much grass then it needs grazed out rather than topped / mowed? If you had a mulcher / flail then that would give a different finish to heavier covers.

I seen a comment on here a while back that a topper was a sign of bad grass land management. I get the sentiment but cutting off the trash after the second or third rotation gives a lovely cover of fresh grass for the next grazing.

I get on alright with the skids on the malone, does leave marks going around a tight corner

 

[M-J-G]

I use a mower on better fields and a flail topper on the rougher ones, the mower is the best of the two, the residue will disappear eventually.

 

[DaveGrohl]

I seen a comment on here a while back that a topper was a sign of bad grass land management. I get the sentiment but cutting off the trash after the second or third rotation gives a lovely cover of fresh grass for the next grazing.

Fair enough, guilty as charged, but there’s still a field that needs topped. Flail topper here, easy to adjust for height.

 

[j6891]

Doe anyone just "top" with a mower then bale the toppings? Quick hay/haulage? Or even flail it off and bale the lot?

 

[Davy_g]

I get on alright with the skids on the malone, does leave marks going around a tight corner

How many skids are you using?
I was using 2 skids on a 10ft bed. Seemed to leave some marks on both wet and dry ground. I bought another 2 skids to use 4 and spread the weight but experimented with a longer toplink and no skids inbetween..... i never put the skids back on.

 

[choochter]

Doe anyone just "top" with a mower then bale the toppings? Quick hay/haulage? Or even flail it off and bale the lot?

no, because it will be full of poop

 

[davidroberts30]

no, because it will be full of poop

Get it dry it be fine

 

[Pan mixer]

I had to top a field last year that I couldn't graze, I usually made hay therebut by the middle of september start date for hay last year it was dead and useless, cut with a mower, left lines, scattered it a couple of times with the tedder and left in.

Looks lovely this year, the OM mulch helped in the no input field no end.

 

[ford4000]

How many skids are you using?
I was using 2 skids on a 10ft bed. Seemed to leave some marks on both wet and dry ground. I bought another 2 skids to use 4 and spread the weight but experimented with a longer toplink and no skids inbetween..... i never put the skids back on.

Yes just the 2 skids it came with. Smaller bed than yours though, 8ft I think

 

[Ian050]

Mower, then either take the row boards off all together or open them as wide as possible.

Toppers, good for rubbish or stoney ground full of rushes, but butcher the job IMO.

Looks lovely this year, the OM mulch helped in the no input field no end.

We find this on some sheep ground at home. Usually turn the sheep onto it after lambing, off it again by mid-late April when the winter grazing ground cover has recovered back, slurry it if available, top/mow it and let the grass come back evenly, get a crop of bales off it towards later summer. Made hay 1 year, but weather conditions were spot on. Pretty minimal inputs but gives nice bales for what we need. Never fertilised.

The old topped grass mulching down certainly seems to help it. Leave it long enough after topping, grazing and slurry that the bales are perfectly clean.

About 5 years into this cycle, works great for us. No issues with weeds either, and no effort made to control them. Surrounding ground would have weeds normally too.

 

[Skintagain]

Yes just the 2 skids it came with. Smaller bed than yours though, 8ft I think

I’m have been topping in 4wd the drum mower was sinking some places never mind topping skids

 

[Ian.]

Free hay/silage, just cut it bale it take it. Cranborne.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Flail
But a good farmer don't need a topper
Tin hat on

 

[Skintagain]

Flail
But a good farmer don't need a topper
Tin hat on

Cow farmer I agree

harder with sheep