Topper/Drum Mower/Disc Mower

highspeed

can someone explain the difference between a drum mower and a disc mower - i am thinking of buying a topper or a mower this year as my abbey topper is on its last legs. thanks

Farmer Pudsey

Drum Mowers nor suitable for topping as you cannot adjust height easily so you are always cutting ground very bare

Grecco

With a disc mower do you have to cut in straight lines or can it corner like a drum mower???

C0N0R

Grecco wrote: »

With a disc mower do you have to cut in straight lines or can it corner like a drum mower???

Never had a problem cornering with a disc mower. Personally if your land is half decent I'd go for the disc mower, you can adjust the height to a certain degree with skid plates and top link. Also will spread out the grass bit better to. Get one with quick release blades and you won't know yourself! :cool:

larthehar

A drum mower consists of two or three drums, depending on the length. Most common would be 5'6" with two drums, I have a 7ft with two drums. Personally speaking, I think it depends on the application, I only use it for mowing silage or hay. I then have a 8ft abbey topper for topping.
A discs mower consists of a series of smaller discs, approx 1ft in diameter. I used to own a 7'10" disc mower and I could never get it to clean the fields mowing silage so I traded it!
Really depends on how tight you top your fields, max topping height of a disc only would be 3" and with slides added could be 5"-6" at a guess.. drum would only be able to cut max height of 1", spacers can be added between pans to increase height but is a pain in the arse.. Also nice to bear in mind at current fuel costs, driving a disc is easier than driving a drum of same length!
My summary:
Topping only - disc
Topping and mowing - disc
Mowing only - drum

keep going

does anyone find cows lick up the toppings better after a topper than a mower?