who is using a DRUM mower ?

[MikeF]

Hello ALL,

I would like to hear from people that are using a DRUM mower for haying, I have a JD 4720 and am currently using a NH489 haybine, NH 56 rake, Kuhn tedder and a New Idea 4x4 bailer. I only make hay on about 6 acres right now and even on that small amount the 489 haybine is very slow, so I am considering a DRUM mower. After searching the web some it looks like only a few foreign companies make them and then lots of companies badge them ???? the DRUM's are much cheaper than the disc mowers I was considering and I am on a strict budget but I dont want to wind up with a POS either. Thanks for the help.

Mike

 

[rankrank1]

Hello ALL,

.... I only make hay on about 6 acres right now and even on that small amount the 489 haybine is very slow, so I am considering a DRUM mower....

Must be something wrong with your NH 489. I mow the 5.5 acres or so that I hay with a 9' Hesston 1120 moco (equivalent of a haybine) in about 50 minutes using antiquated tractors that lack hydraulics so I am fighting a manual ratchet cylinder as an additional timing handi-cap. If you can not easily travel 4.0 to 4.5 mph with that haybine then something is very wrong. You can cover quite a bit of ground at 4.5 mph and taking a 9' cut. Heck my lowly Farmall h does pretty decent with my moco in 3rd gear which is 4.3 mph. Typically 6 mph is about the practical limit for max haybine travel speed.

I do not think a drum mower is going to be any faster. Yeah you can tavel faster but you will be taking smaller cut like 5'. More importantly you will lose conditioning so slower dry down times to boot.

With only 6 acres, I would fix the haybine.

 

[stuckmotor]

What's the main reason the Haybine is so slow? My old John Deere mower/conditioner used to be slow, mainly because it was old and I had to stop and repair it on the cheap.

 

[MikeF]

I have not been able to locate the reason for the slowness as I had a 7' NH years ago and dont think it was this slow either. However Since the field is small I have been able to keep up with the ferterlizer, lime and overseeding with orchard grass. That along with the way the sprign growing has been, I am now dealing with 3-4" tall grass and the haybine does not seem to deal with that well. Another reason for looking at the DRUM/Disc mowers is I would be able to get it under cover when not in use, leaving equipment outside drives me crazy. I plan to mow later today if the weather holds I will see if I can figure out why I cant go faster but I think it is just to much hay. Also I understand the conditioner helps but with just grass hay I figureed I could just tedder it more and still dry well as IMO the SUN does the best drying. My concern is not getting a piece of junk and I just have not seen anyone other that those selling equipment saying how good they are.......


Mike

 

[RedNeckRacin]

the conditioner actually crimps the hay stalks and lets the moisture escape from more places. General rule I have heard is an additional 12-36 hours drying time from the time the hay was cut using a conditioner vs not. What ground speed are you mowing at? Are your knives all in good shape? Is your reel turning fast enough? Is the tension on your conditioning rollers set correctly? Are you running the machine at 540 rpm? just some quick thoughts that popped into my head.

 

[Tx Jim]

Must be something wrong with your NH 489. I mow the 5.5 acres or so that I hay with a 9' Hesston 1120 moco (equivalent of a haybine) in about 50 minutes Heck my lowly Farmall h does pretty decent with my moco in 3rd gear which is 4.3 mph.

I think your math is incorrect. 3.9 acres per hr will be closer to what your H & 1120 can cut @ 4.3.mph. Old timers formula that's very accurate is mph X width of cut divided by 10 = acres per hr.

 

[MikeF]

yes I understand the purpose of the conditioner, just not sold on the big benefit with orchard grass as it is not as stalky as other crops. Mowing 3-4' tall hay @ 1 mph @ 540rpm. the conditioner rolls are set right and the knife is sharp. The Reel speed seems slow but I cant find any info on how to speed the reel up. Also lets not forget about storage I really dont like leaving equipment out and I have no room to store it. I do find it interesting that know one that owns and uses a drum mower has given me there input, im thinking not many are using these lol

 

[Tx Jim]

I never used a drum mower but have cut with a disc mower. They both cut fine if blades are sharp. What I've read about drum mower is they're normally low maintenance and require less hp per ft of cut than a disc cutter.

 

[flusher]

Hello ALL,

I would like to hear from people that are using a DRUM mower for haying, I have a JD 4720 and am currently using a NH489 haybine, NH 56 rake, Kuhn tedder and a New Idea 4x4 bailer. I only make hay on about 6 acres right now and even on that small amount the 489 haybine is very slow, so I am considering a DRUM mower. After searching the web some it looks like only a few foreign companies make them and then lots of companies badge them ???? the DRUM's are much cheaper than the disc mowers I was considering and I am on a strict budget but I dont want to wind up with a POS either. Thanks for the help.

Mike

Drum mower with 5-ft wide cut is about $3K--half of the cost of an equivalent disc mower. Drum mowers are less complex than disc mowers and have quick blade change capability. Dealers say they don't jam and can mow as fast as your tractor can move across the hayfield. Drum mowers do tend to windrow the cuttings somewhat, which may or may not be what you want disc mowers and sicklebars lay the cuttings flat and even). I've been looking at getting a drum mower for some time now but haven't bought one yet. Good luck

 

[countryguy1225]

Well good day to everyone! I saw this post and just had to jump in. I just purchased the Galfre fr/g 130 from GoodwinConcepts. He has numerous videos and notes that Travel speed is very high if you wish. Like 5 acres an hour or something like that.
Pat (owner operator) was a great help with my 2 dozen+ questions. Give him a call.
I am in the same boat MikeF. Limited funds. I stopped using the 1957 McCormic sickle mower because it was just too slow. And I have a 1967 nh baler. I did not want a 7' haybine in the 30-40 years old range for my budget dollars!
As for conditioning there is a option on the Galfre you can check out. Called black hole? Anyway, I just put,one together this week and tested it out. WOW does this thing sound cool! And it cuts so so close to the ground! I do grass blend bales and love this thing thus far. And brand new for the price of a very old haybine from the 60's. will put up pics later. Cg.

 

[AndyL52]

yes I understand the purpose of the conditioner, just not sold on the big benefit with orchard grass as it is not as stalky as other crops. Mowing 3-4' tall hay @ 1 mph @ 540rpm. the conditioner rolls are set right and the knife is sharp. The Reel speed seems slow but I cant find any info on how to speed the reel up. Also lets not forget about storage I really dont like leaving equipment out and I have no room to store it. I do find it interesting that know one that owns and uses a drum mower has given me there input, im thinking not many are using these lol

Mike, drum mowers are good cutters. Just slower in coverage due to width. If you hit really tall thick stuff they can ball up the hay. You can get a good used one at a fair price and it will do a good job with low maintenance. I found one in really good shape for 1k but wanted something wider. I still should of got it to resell.
If your grass is 3-4' tall and thick you will have some balling of the hay. Other than that they are good cutters.

 

[rankrank1]

I think your math is incorrect. 3.9 acres per hr will be closer to what your H & 1120 can cut @ 4.3.mph. Old timers formula that's very accurate is mph X width of cut divided by 10 = acres per hr.

I should have been clearer. The usual tractors that I use I can cut my field and my neighbors small field in 50 minutes. The lowly Farmall h is a tad slower but not by much (I have yet to actually time it with the Farmall h. Frankly I have only used the h once and that was for giggles, but I may do it again). Regardless on any of these tractors I am using a hand crank ratchet cyclinder to raise and lower so that is a time handicap. That said, the mowing pattern I am forced to use (due to no hydraulics) is very efficient and I think I can beat your rule of thumb estimation formula anyday with even my well worn unit. I simply mow roundy roundy towards the center like outline in the antique sickle mowers books. I am always mowing there is no wasted travels in my mowing pattern at all.

What I was trying to convey is that the OP who has a nice JD tractor (and he also has a Farmall h) should be able to easily do 4 mph hour or more with either tractor. If not something is wrong with that haybine and needs corrected. Regardless, though of how nice a tractor he uses 6 mph will be about the practical maximum limit of the haybine.

For the record: I have nothing against drum mowers either, but the OP already has the haybine and he only has 6 acres.

 

[Tx Jim]

I think I can beat your rule of thumb estimation formula anyday with even my well worn unit. I simply mow roundy roundy towards the center like outline in the antique sickle mowers books. I am always mowing there is no wasted travels in my mowing pattern at all.

Every 90 degrees corner you turn with your Hesston cutter no matter what tractor you pull it with the cutter back ups on the roundy,roundy corner. At 4 mph there's no way to cut 5.5 acres with a 9 ft cut cutter in 50 minutes PERIOD FYI your Hesston isn't a Mo-Co or Haybine. Both those names are Trademarks of JD & NH respectfully. After 25 yrs in the custom hay baling business this ain't my first rodeo. I hope you have a wonderful day,Jim

 

[rankrank1]

...FYI your Hesston isn't a Mo-Co or Haybine. Both those names are Trademarks of JD & NH respectfully

Yes I am aware of the trademark names. Do not believe I ever referred to my mower conditioner as a haybine or a Mo-Co. I did call it moco which is fine if JD only trademarked Mo-Co. If I dare stepped on a JD trademark then pardon me.

 

[smstonypoint]

I think your math is incorrect. 3.9 acres per hr will be closer to what your H & 1120 can cut @ 4.3.mph. Old timers formula that's very accurate is mph X width of cut divided by 10 = acres per hr.

The old timers' formula assumes a field efficiency of 82.5% -- in line with published estimates in the ag. engineering literature.

The theoretical capacity for a 9' swath at 4.3 mph = 9'*4.3mph/8.25 = 4.69 acres/hour. Rankrank1 has overestimated the field size and/or underestimated his ground speed.

Steve

 

[rankrank1]

The old timers' formula assumes a field efficiency of 82.5% -- in line with published estimates in the ag. engineering literature.

The theoretical capacity for a 9' swath at 4.3 mph = 9'*4.3mph/8.25 = 4.69 acres/hour. Rankrank1 has overestimated the field size and/or underestimated his ground speed.

Steve

If you read all my posts. I clarified that I had not done it in 50 minutes with my lowly Farmall h which is only 4.3 mph in 3rd gear. Still it was not all that much slower. The tractor I normally use is faster, I do not know the actual speed on it though as I have seen 2 different possibilities published for it. I need to lay out a distance and get my stopwatch out so I confirm its speed in the gear I use before I argue further.

You are also correct in that I may be overestimating my acres slightly. While I know what is in my field, I have relied on the neighbors info for his field. I need to either measure it or find a free google earth program to confirm his information to me again before I argue further.

Until then if we want to continue the pissing match my mower conditioner is actually 9' 3" cut.

1 acre = 43560 square foot

(4.3 mph x 5280 ft x 9.25' cut = 210012 sq ft/hour) then (210012 / 43560 = 4.82 acres per hour theoretical).

(4.6 mph x 5280 ft x 9.25' cut = 224664 sq ft/hour) then (224664 / 43560 = 5.16 acres per hour theoretical).

(4.9 mph x 5280 ft x 9.25' cut = 239316 sq ft /hour) then (239316 / 43560 = 5.49 acres per hour theoretical).

(5.2 mph x 5280 ft x 9.25' cut = 253968 sq ft/hour) then (253968 / 43560 = 5.83 acres per hour theoretical).

(5.5 mph x 5280 ft x 9.25' cut = 268620 sq ft/hour) then (268620 / 43560 = 6.17 acres per hour theoretical).

(5.8 mph x 5280 ft x 9.25' cut = 283272 sq ft/hour) then (283272 / 43560 = 6.50 acres per hour theoretical).

Of course these are theoretical 100% max efficiencies which are impossible in real world. You do not get a full cut each time (the efficiency here depends on overlap operator provides on each lap. The least amount of overlap improves efficiency). Also you are not always travel in straight line (efficiency here depends on pattern operator chooses to mow field - some patterns are much more efficient than others. Any time spent not cutting hurts efficiency. Some fields will be more efficient to mow than others due to their shape).

Again my original point to the OP was intended to be that even his lowly Farmall h should not be all that slow on his haybine. The OP's nice JD tractor should be even faster. The OP is mowing at 1.0 mph. Something definitely wrong with his haybine but that's all been lost now.

 

[Tx Jim]

Again my original point to the OP was intended to be that even his lowly Farmall h should not be all that slow on his haybine. The OP's nice JD tractor should be even faster. The OP is mowing at 1.0 mph. Something definitely wrong with his haybine but that's all been lost now.

I do fully agree with your "last statement"!!!!!!

No urinating on my part but don't get any of yours on your toes. All your mathematics won't make it happen even if you have a 9' 3" cut hay cutter. It's impossible to cut with 100% efficiency. On the JD trademark infringement I could care less. I was just trying to let you know that Haybine & Mo-Co were trademarks and that you had neither one in a Hesston. So have a nice day,Jim

 

[SPYDERLK]

I do fully agree with your "last statement"!!!!!!

No urinating on my part but don't get any of yours on your toes. All your mathematics won't make it happen even if you have a 9' 3" cut hay cutter. It's impossible to cut with 100% efficiency. On the JD trademark infringement I could care less. I was just trying to let you know that Haybine & Mo-Co were trademarks and that you had neither one in a Hesston. So have a nice day,Jim

If the field was 5miles long he could do it on the 1st pass. :confused3:
larry

 

[Tx Jim]

If the field was 5miles long he could do it on the 1st pass. :confused3:
larry

That's true and IF a frog had wings it wouldn't bump it's hinny every time it jumped!!!!!!!!:cool2:

 

[dbaer78]

I have had some experience with a friends Reese drum mower. They use it on a 40hp Allis and it works well. You can mow as fast as the tractor can pull it. It does windrow or "ball up" the hay a bit but nothing to bad. My biggest complaint is that it is pretty top heavy in the transport position. It folds up with hydraulics instead of just swinging to the rear like other manufactures.