What sort of topper

[Dman2]

Planning on doing some options in the stewardship scheme, wild bird mix etc.
Will need topping periodically, but don`t have a topper
What sort will i need? a flail, or one of those with a chain that wazzes round?

cheers

 

[livestock 1]

Depends what you are topping. If it’s grass a normal topper will do if it’s rushes and rough going a flail mower will be best. I don’t know about the chain ones

 

[Dman2]

So whats a normal topper?
Sorry for sounding thick, never had anything to do with them

 

[livestock 1]

The ones with the 2 rotors on them with swing back blades on them. I’ve had one of them ok for grass but useless for rush or heavy going

 

[B'o'B]

What sort of area would you be looking at using it on? Which stewardship options are you looking at going into?

 

[Dave W]

May as well have a shameless plug.
suire heavy duty topper cutting 2ft deep grass. Only thing rotary toppers don't do is mulch very well

 

[Goweresque]

My vote would be for a flail rather than a rotary topper. My experience of rotaries is that if you drop one side into a rut or hit a high spot and a rotor hits the soil you can end up doing shear bolts for fun. Whereas a flail tends to have a roller at the back that will keep it up off the ground even if one side hits a low spot. It might do a bit of rotavating, but should keep going. Flails will also mulch the cuttings better, rotaries will leave the cuttings in a line, where the green cover might struggle to grow back through. The only advantage of rotaries is if you've got big areas to cut, you can get far wider rotary toppers than flail ones.

 

[quattro]

Just got a teagle 320 mounted on front and cutting 4ft high phacelia/crimson clover and forage rye cutting it like a lawn and mulching it up well

 

[Farmer_Joe]

i cut rushes with my topper fine, just go slower i would say unless your in gauze or bracken it will be fine but as other say it wot mulch.

the one dave has looks good the 3 blades will be decent, i nearly got one like that but it had sold,

i ended up just getting new as lot of the second hand ones i found were total shite.

 

[Wombat]

I love our big offset flail

 

[livestock 1]

i cut rushes with my topper fine, just go slower i would say unless your in gauze or bracken it will be fine but as other say it wot mulch.

the one dave has looks good the 3 blades will be decent, i nearly got one like that but it had sold,

i ended up just getting new as lot of the second hand ones i found were total shite.

I had a Major and an Abbey which I attempted a big rush cutting project with. Didn’t end well the Major chewed through umpteen sets of belts, smashed bearing cases bearings rotors broke and bent upwards on both machines. Tractors travelling as slow as they would go. Big rushes have a root which is a soily stump better with a flail I think

 

[grainboy]

I’ll have a plug as well, both for sale,

 

[Dave W]

I’ll have a plug as well, both for sale,

Prices?

 

[grainboy]

Suire £1000 plus vat
McConnell £2000 plus vat
Both in very good condition.

 

[DeeGee]

Just my humble opinion.
For the past 20 years I have owned and used a basic 6’ Fleming single rotor topper. This simple machine was bought new for about £550 IIRC and has topped hundreds of acresranging from wispy grassland through docks and rushes to young scrub and emerging hedge up to about 40mm diameter.

With the right approach and speed this little topper has coped with it all with nothing more than a few broken shearbolts and the odd dent and scratch. It still works and is still here, though I have now bought a new wider 9’ twin rotor Kidd as it was too god an offer to miss.

But if you are looking for a simple and relatively cheap topper that will do a wide variety of cutting work then a single rotor Fleming or similar for under £1,000 is a great machine IMO.

 

[Emmett]

Major is a brand of topper I know and have used for general grass land management, 3 rotary blades on it. Gearbox and belts.