The Life of a Custom Mowing contractor

Hay Dude · Jul 12, 2024

EddieWalker said:
15 acres in one hour is impressive!!!!! How fast are you going? In my tractor, just mowing with the batwing, I'm uncomfortable when I'm going faster then 3 mph!!!!

Probably about 7MPH. My passes are about 20-21’ wide.
A disc mower cuts a lot faster & cleaner than a rotary

EddieWalker · Jul 12, 2024

I'm laughing because I never would of thought of 7mph as being way too fast for me. But I know that there is no way in the world that I would ever try to mow at such a crazy high speed!!!!!!

Hay Dude · Jul 12, 2024

Thats probably higher than average because I slow down around trees, poles, etc.

Gregster613 · Jul 13, 2024

Hay Dude said:
Here’s some scenes from today.
It’s been so dry, the radiators are clogging up with hay chaff. Spent a few hours flooding the radiators until they were flowing clean.
Headed over to cut some pretty rough flood plain that actually makes some nice hay. This is Reeds Canary grass.
Here we are after a few swipes

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Heres a look at the 302 on the side

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Even with lots of poles, I was able to get this little 15 acre field cut in a little over an hour.

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When we exit the field, we have to cross over East Penn’s RR tracks

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Down the road and back to the shop

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Back at the farm & parked for the day

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Hay Dude, I've got to ask a quick question. You said "radiators are clogging up with hay chaff. Spent a few hours flooding the radiators until they were flowing clean." Did you actually use water to flood them clean? I ask because although I've got the Genie set, I've only ever used the air portion to blow out the fins.

I'm kind of afraid that if I use the water portion I'll end up with mud caked fins and a much bigger problem. So how does the water flood seem to work? In your opinion, as well as - or better - than the air portion? It sounded as if it does take quite a bit of time, but if it works better I'm willing to try it.
Thanks for your opinion. Greg

pmsmechanic · Jul 13, 2024

I use a varsal gun for cleaning radiators. You can get them cheap at Princess Auto or Harbor Freight. If you use water instead of varsal it works really well. The water softens up the dirt and the air blows it away. I then run the tractor etc. for a few minutes to dry everything off and you can go back to work.

Slowpoke Slim · Jul 13, 2024

Gregster613 said:
Hay Dude, I've got to ask a quick question. You said "radiators are clogging up with hay chaff. Spent a few hours flooding the radiators until they were flowing clean." Did you actually use water to flood them clean? I ask because although I've got the Genie set, I've only ever used the air portion to blow out the fins.

I'm kind of afraid that if I use the water portion I'll end up with mud caked fins and a much bigger problem. So how does the water flood seem to work? In your opinion, as well as - or better - than the air portion? It sounded as if it does take quite a bit of time, but if it works better I'm willing to try it.
Thanks for your opinion. Greg

I've been of the same opinion as Greg. I've always thought using water would make things worse, but I've never tried it, either.

Looking forward to more info from HD about this when he gets a chance. Maybe I need to change up how I do things.

Slowpoke Slim · Jul 13, 2024

pmsmechanic said:
I use a varsal gun for cleaning radiators. You can get them cheap at Princess Auto or Harbor Freight. If you use water instead of varsal it works really well. The water softens up the dirt and the air blows it away. I then run the tractor etc. for a few minutes to dry everything off and you can go back to work.

Can you provide links and/or more info on these? I've never heard of a "varsal gun"?

Slowpoke Slim · Jul 13, 2024

EddieWalker said:
I'm laughing because I never would of thought of 7mph as being way too fast for me. But I know that there is no way in the world that I would ever try to mow at such a crazy high speed!!!!!!

Me either, Eddie. Not sure which would break first, the machine or me.

Lol.

LouNY · Jul 13, 2024

The Discbine style of mowers can handle quite high speeds they are often advertised as being capable of mowing and conditioning hay at 10 mph. The larger frame 4wd tractors with good sized tires can handle 6 to 8 mph in most hay fields and in a real smooth one 10 mph is doable but the same hp tractor in a 2wd model with the much smaller front tires is often too rough. Between the tall tires and the air suspension seats the ride can be quite comfortable , the head lands are often rougher and merit slowing down for.
Fields that I have mowed at 6-8 mph in an IH Magnum, I can only do 4-6 mph with a tedder or rake in a smaller tractor such as my Branson 8050.
Then a couple of places around here have the Krone Big M mowers with 30+ ft of swath width and 400-500+ hp, these things are flying down fields at 10+ mph. And a price tag of half a million dollars.