New guy, looking for more opinions.

[Joe Batt]

I posted before about a rough rocky field. Looks like picking up rocks will become the nightly walk for a while. I'll try to get the field rolled, if I can find anyone, but I've not heard of anyone with a roller.

My hay guy complained that the rocks damaged his mower and the rough field was too much wear on his rake, but his round baler was fine. So to make this a little easier for him (or his replacement), I'm thinking about using my 60" rotary mower next year, buying a 12' 3 point rake and only paying to have someone round bale it. It looks like the baler is the expensive, high maintenance implement in this process anyway.

If that works out, I'll invest in a disk mower. I have a 31 hp Massey Ferguson 1250, which is a little light for a good mower. I plan on replacing it in about 5 years. The field should produce about 60 ton, but I only need about 20 ton for my sheep (so the losses due to using a brush hog shouldn't be an issue).

Here is a picture of the grass that he left because he didn't want to tear up his rake. The alfalfa really took off after this photo was taken. We've had a lot of rain for this time of year. I do not expect to get another cutting this year though.

 

[Doughknob]

Do u mean brush hog type mower?

 

[Joe Batt]

Yes. I'm considering mowing with my single spindle bushhog/brushhog/rotary mower. It sounds like I will end up leaving 20% or so on the ground. Anything else I need to know about mowing with a bushhog?

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Some of them you could remove one side side and cut hay. Half the skirt.

 

[jeff9366]

Anything else I need to know about mowing with a bushhog?

As you are working toward a smooth field and will be cutting grass and not brush and saplings, consider a Rotary Cutter with twin tail wheels for stability and an even cut, rather than a single tail wheel.

For those cutting brush a single tale wheel model is desirable for backing into heavy brush areas.

I do not hay. But I operate a 60" HD Rotary Cutter on a similar spec tractor regularly.

Massey Ferguson 1250​

1992 - 2002 1200 Compact Series Compact Utility tractor Iseki built

Series:	1240 ←	1250	→ 1260
		1433 ↓

Production
Distributor:	Massey Ferguson
Manufacturer:	Iseki
Type:	Compact Utility tractor
Original price:	$16,000 (1999 )

Massey Ferguson 1250 Power
Engine (gross):	34 hp 25.4 kW
Engine (net):	32 hp 23.9 kW
PTO (claimed):	27.3 hp 20.4 kW

Massey Ferguson 1250 Engine

Iseki 1.5L 3-cyl diesel

Mechanical
Chassis:	4x2 2WD
	4x4 MFWD 4WD
Steering:	power assist
Brakes:	wet disc
Cab:	Two-post foldable ROPS.
Transmission:	16-speed synchro shuttle

Photos

Capacity
Fuel:	7.9 gal 29.9 L
Hydraulic system:	6.6 gal 25.0 L

Hydraulics
Type:	open center
Capacity:	6.6 gal 25.0 L
Pump flow:	6.3 gpm 23.8 lpm
Total flow:	9.6 gpm 36.3 lpm

Tractor hitch
Rear Type:	I
Control:	position control
Rear lift (at ends):	2866 lbs 1300 kg

Power Take-off (PTO)
Rear PTO:	independent
Clutch:	electro-hydraulic
Rear RPM:	540 (1.375)
Engine RPM:	540@2389
Mid PTO:	independent (optional)
Clutch:	electro-hydraulic
Mid RPM:	1960
Engine RPM:	1960@2600

Dimensions
Wheelbase:	67.9 inches 172 cm
Length:	121.9 inches 309 cm
Width:	55.3 inches 140 cm (min)
Height (ROPS):	85.4 inches 216 cm
	68.9 inches 175 cm (folded)
Weight:	2746 lbs 1245 kg (4WD)
Ground clearance:	12.2 inches 30 cm
Front tread:	39 to 50.9 inches 99 to 129 cm (2WD)
Front tread:	42.2 inches 107 cm (4WD)
Rear tread:	43.3 to 55.9 inches 109 to 141 cm

MF1250 has enough power and weight to operate a 60" Rotary Cutter of 600 to 800 pounds weight.

A 60" Rotary Cutter pulled over a smooth field a 5-mph will cut about 2.5-2.75 acres per hour.


MF 1250 would have enough power and weight to operate a 72" Rotary Cutter in moderate length grass, weighing up to 800 pounds. In longer grass you might have to cut a partial, rather than full width swathe, at times.

A 72" Rotary Cutter pulled over a smooth field at 5-mph will cut about 3.0-3.25 acres per hour.



Two examples: Land Pride RCF2060, RCF 2072.

 

[Doughknob]

Soooooo, uhhhhhh, cut hay with a brush hog eh. I suppose you will be able to rake some up and bale it but it will be all beat up and poor quality feed. You will lose much of the small pieces the rotary blades chop up. I have never seen, or heard of, anyone cutting hay with a brush hog.

 

[Grumpycat]

If the problem is rocks then buy or rent a rock rake to remove the rocks.

 

[RustyA]

A skeleton or rock bucket will do wonders in the spring when ground is soft and rocks are looser and easier to skim. Way better than picking by hand. It will also flatten ground a little. Hay cut with brush hog will be difficult to rake and bale.

 

[dirttoys]

If the problem is rocks then buy or rent a rock rake to remove the rocks.

Yup, can't remember if I replied to a similar question on another thread. Rock hound or Harley rack will pickem/windrow them for you.

Best,

ed

 

[CH4Ohio]

You can't really cut HAY with a bush-hog type mower. That's like cutting with your lawn mower and then trying to tie string around the clippings. It repeatedly chops the same grass, etc. as you mow over it, unlike a discbine, haybine, or sickle-bar that just cuts the plant at the base and then lays it on the ground.

Looks like you've got a pretty good crop of foxtails going there too. They are the worst for horses and will blister their mouths in short order. OK for sheep or will the sheep pick around them? Foxtails are a real problem here in Ohio in July and August too.

The cheapest way I've found to cut hay with limited horsepower is to find a decent NH haybine. But you'll still have to deal with the rocks . . .

Good luck.

 

[Jerry/MT]

I posted before about a rough rocky field. Looks like picking up rocks will become the nightly walk for a while. I'll try to get the field rolled, if I can find anyone, but I've not heard of anyone with a roller.

My hay guy complained that the rocks damaged his mower and the rough field was too much wear on his rake, but his round baler was fine. So to make this a little easier for him (or his replacement), I'm thinking about using my 60" rotary mower next year, buying a 12' 3 point rake and only paying to have someone round bale it. It looks like the baler is the expensive, high maintenance implement in this process anyway.

If that works out, I'll invest in a disk mower. I have a 31 hp Massey Ferguson 1250, which is a little light for a good mower. I plan on replacing it in about 5 years. The field should produce about 60 ton, but I only need about 20 ton for my sheep (so the losses due to using a brush hog shouldn't be an issue).

Here is a picture of the grass that he left because he didn't want to tear up his rake. The alfalfa really took off after this photo was taken. We've had a lot of rain for this time of year. I do not expect to get another cutting this year though.

View attachment 710159

Maybe you should invest in a roller and roll your hay ground in the spring. Then your neighbors can make your hay without fear of damaging their equipment. You say you have excess hay to your needs so do the hay on shares and whatever excess you have, sell. You'll need a tractor or a pick up to pull the roller but you won't have to invest in mowers, rakes, and balers.

 

[rankrank1]

I suppose some rotary cutters do better than others, but I made hay for several years using my little Kubota L285 and a 5 foot genuine bush hog brand rotary cutter so yes it can be done.

The hay was equally as good in quality as the haybine type mower conditioner that I use today on the same fields with same crops. The rotary cutter even acts a poor man's conditioning system in it will actually improve really low quality type stemmy grasses making them more palatable to eat to the animal. On grassy type crops this will work fine on more leafy crops like alfalfa you will loos some leaves so not the best choice for those crops.

I can tell you your yield loss will be more than 20% that you are hoping for but will not be 50% like many claim it will be. I would say about a 33% will be atypical average give or take a bit. Back when I started I did not care about that though as I was getting zero of it so getting even 67% of it was fine for me. In really tall and thick hay though your travel speed will be quite slow on a small tractor with limited hp which is really the only reason I quit doing hay with the hog. That said it is still my back up cutter for hay if the haybine breaks. No other cutter exists that will operate as cheap, if you have the time to deal with how slow it can be in really heavy crops.

If you are committed to proceeding? Doing anything that discharges the cut material as fast as possible will help you. Run the tail of hog a little higher than the front is easy to do for better discharge. As mentioned by another poster back in the day many company's made what was called a hay side cutter. In essence a part of one of the side panels unbolted for better discharge for cutting hay. If you buying a hog look for one of those. If you already have a brush hog then a little creative metal cutting can add that feature to an existing unit for not much $ if you handy. Design it such that the piece you cut out can be bolted back in though for non-hay duties.

 

[rankrank1]

an old thread of mine that the pic links still work

Hobby haying pics with a compact tractor and bushog

Well here are some pics of hobby haying with: a) An older compact tractor. A Kubota model L285F of around the year 1977. It is about 26 PTO hp. b) An old square back genuine brand Bushog as the cutter. c) JD model 594 rake which I reurbished (this dates to somewhere between a 1940-1948 year...

www.tractorbynet.com