Hay cutting has seen a lot of improvement in terms of machinery and equipment over the years. The addition of modern machines for the hay cutting process has led to time saving and essentially sped up the whole process of making hay. Selecting the appropriate designs, capacity and sizes of the machines for cutting hay is instrumental in ensuring a clean and trouble-free forage cut. Hay cutting machines can be used for both grasses and legumes.

Conditioner-Mowers

A conditioner mower cuts the hay and at the same time allows it to dry its underside. This type of machinery will either have rubber rolls or steels rolls which pressure the hay and crimp the hay stems, leading to cuts without any trouble. Another type of mower conditioner comes with a tine or flail, and an impeller. These machines cut the hay very aggressively and the plant takes longer to repair itself before growing again. Some mowers include side adjustments such as windrow attachments, split swaths on wider units and variable reel speed.

Sickle Bar Mower

The best feature of the sickle bar mower is that it cuts the hay in a very neat and clean fashion. The forage, whether alfalfa, grass or legume, is cut according to the speed of the sickle bar mower. The sickle bar mower can be run on a small tractor, but care has to be taken that some portions of the field are not missed; this usually happens then the speed of the machine is too fast. Clogging is another side effect of the machine if the speed of the sickle bar mower is very high. The sickle mowers usually do not perform well if the speed exceeds 6 or 7 mph.

Disc or Rotary Mower

The disc or rotary type of mower is used for crops that have fallen over and need to be cut while in that position. The disc mower never plugs, so you can rest assured that there will be no issue with speed in this particular kind of hay cutting equipment. Keep in mind that the disc type mower has a high power requirement and therefore will not run on small tractors.