topping or bales?

yellow50HX

the topper died the year before last and with the crap weatehr last summer there wasnt a huge need for it. this year i have a few paddocks that really should have been topped. i was going to stop them and cut and bale it but that hasnt happend. and not the grass is a bit too strong in places but not really worth tryign to wrap.


i have been toying with the idea of instead of getting a topper to cut the storng paddocks for bales. this would be fine if i had my own gear but i'll need to get in a contrtactor to do it. as the mowing cost will probaly be the same even though it'll be a light crop and i would still need to get a lad in to bale, wrap and stack these could be expensive bales as the overall cost would be higher then the cost/bale for main crop silage.

if i had my own mower then then i could mow it myself and get the contractor to do the rest as this is costed per bale the silage would be the same cost as the main crop. the rub though would be that i'd need to get either a mower conditioner or get a disc mower & tedder/racker to get the required wilting.

i know fellas can use a disc mower to do topping too by lenghting the toplink but realistcly that only feasible for the smaller cut units or for a very tight cut as the bed needs to be sitting on the ground espiaccly for the light duty beds.

a topper would be cheaper but then i'd still need to get a contractor in to mow for the silage.

realistcily which is a better opion, bale the strong grass to get the max output from the grass or top to get regrowth? if i go with the baling then i would need to get my own mower.

silage cuts is usually 20-30ac a year this would mostly be about 15ac of main crop and another 10-15ac of 2nd cut or heavy paddocks.

Muckit

I know this may be feck all good to you, but our contractor charges so much a bale to mow/bale/wrap so it doesn't matter if crop is lighter.

Also taking out paddocks is more suited to a local contractor with a fusion system as one man/one machine passing the road can easily pop by to do a few minutes work.

What I've started to find is that taking out the right amount of ground for bales at the right time will cut down the amount of topping that needs to be done. A handy number of bales to bring in, quality regrowth with no dead butt and little or no fertiliser used to produce the silage. It should be cheaper, not dearer silage to make and excellent quality.

I do still think a topper is a necessary for some bits though.

yellow50HX

Muckit wrote: »

I know this may be feck all good to you, but our contractor charges so much a bale to mow/bale/wrap so it doesn't matter if crop is lighter.

Also taking out paddocks is more suited to a local contractor with a fusion system as one man/one machine passing the road can easily pop by to do a few minutes work.

What I've started to find is that taking out the right amount of ground for bales at the right time will cut down the amount of topping that needs to be done. A handy number of bales to bring in, quality regrowth with no dead butt and little or no fertiliser used to produce the silage. It should be cheaper, not dearer silage to make and excellent quality.

I do still think a topper is a necessary for some bits though.

yeah, i think topping is a bit of a waste when feed is scarce or dear. but most lads round here split the mowing from the bale. the mower still has to cover the same amount of ground although he can go a bit faster on the lighter crops. i know where lads that have thier own gear cutting the strong paddock even if its only a couple of bales is a no brainer but when you need a contractor to do the lot its a different thing. also no fusions in these parts

larthehar

yellow50HX wrote: »

yeah, i think topping is a bit of a waste when feed is scarce or dear. but most lads round here split the mowing from the bale. the mower still has to cover the same amount of ground although he can go a bit faster on the lighter crops. i know where lads that have thier own gear cutting the strong paddock even if its only a couple of bales is a no brainer but when you need a contractor to do the lot its a different thing. also no fusions in these parts

Why not buy a disc mower with skids... you can remove the skids when mowing and stick them back on for topping...

yellow50HX

larthehar wrote: »

Why not buy a disc mower with skids... you can remove the skids when mowing and stick them back on for topping...

skids might be an option alright.

9935452

yellow50HX wrote: »

skids might be an option alright.

I agree with the skids but some lads reckon that beds of mowers can over heat when topping, When a mower is cutting grass the swarth/ground is cooling the bed.

Sami23

9935452 wrote: »

I agree with the skids but some lads reckon that beds of mowers can over heat when topping, When a mower is cutting grass the swarth/ground is cooling the bed.

+1, don't use a disk mower for topping if you can at all for the reason above.

Dampintheattic

9935452 wrote: »

I agree with the skids but some lads reckon that beds of mowers can over heat when topping, When a mower is cutting grass the swarth/ground is cooling the bed.

Why, in that case, do manufacturers of disc mowers, supply them with topping skids?

Figerty

Sami23 wrote: »

+1, don't use a disk mower for topping if you can at all for the reason above.

Disk mower is supplied with skids for topping.The oil is a heavy oil for that reason. The Lely I have uses 85W110 if I recall correctly. Would be more important to change the oil in the bed when it supposed to be changed than worry about overheating.

Contractor I use charges about €12.50 to Cut, bale and wrap. Your paddocks would cost what ever number of bales you make. Talk to the contractor. I'm told yields are back 20% on normal so I don't think the contractors will turn you down.

jimmy G M

9935452 wrote: »

I agree with the skids but some lads reckon that beds of mowers can over heat when topping, When a mower is cutting grass the swarth/ground is cooling the bed.

I have topped literally 000's of acres over the past 25 years with disk mowers. Never once has a bed gone anywhere close to what you could describe as warm not to mention hot. Old wives tale I think.

Ill bet that any beds that got hot out there, probably had oil problems - low or no oil.

I tried those topping skids, waste of time, they cut too high. I suppose it depends on what you are topping but IMO topping any higher than 3-4 inches is a waste of time. Graze low, top off the long stemmy grass, docks, grass around cow pats etc. Just lengthen the toplink a few turns and off you go.

We have both a disk mower and a conor semi offset topper. Topper only does 5 or 6 acres per year - some rocky land at the top of the farm where we would be afraid of damaging the mower. No comparison between disk mower and topper as regards giving a neat cut.

My advice would be to buy a good secondhand disk mower maybe 7 ft cut, that will top away for you and also cut any paddocks you want. Topper will only do one job and not even as good at that as a disk mower. Any of the well regarded makes, Krone, Kuhn, Lely, Vicon, Claas etc. No second hand Malones coming through yet.

say something like this? http://www.donedeal.ie/mowers-for-sale/krone-disc-mower/5306986

TEAT SQUEEZER

never top with skids on here....theyonly smear the ****e everywhere and the height of the stubble is too high with em imo

freedominacup

larthehar wrote: »

Why not buy a disc mower with skids... you can remove the skids when mowing and stick them back on for topping...

Why not buy a fusion?:D I can't credit there's none in your area. At least one farmer around here has one not to mind say contractors.

yellow50HX

freedominacup wrote: »

Why not buy a fusion?:D I can't credit there's none in your area. At least one farmer around here has one not to mind say contractors.

most farms around here have the bales in the yard usually stacked 2 or 3 high. almost everyone will wrap and stack in the yard or adjioning paddock, either using a convential wrapper and a loader or using a tanco wrapper+stacker. bales are mainly brought to the yard using either a keltec or for draws next to the yard using a bale spike or bale carrier or bale trailer. very few people would wrap the bales in the feild and then draw them in. driving over and back to bring in bales one or two at a time is just madness. only way it would make sense would be for a single paddock right next to where it is being stacked. roads around here are pretty shocking too so loading freshly wrapped bales onto a trailer to bring back to the yard is not really practical as you'll spend more time patching the bales when your stacking them.

i agree they are a good yoke but unless your are able to transport the bales back to the stacking area without them getting damaged or you keep them in the corner of the field they are in in single rows then there is no advange of wrapping in the field.

i used to work with a lad from sligo that told me they would wrap all the bales in the field then bring them back. They would do around 6-700 bales a year usually in 2-3 cuts. he would spend the whole day after the wrapping bringing them 2 at a time back to the yard to stack. i can only imagine the state of the fields after that.

i know there are proably a few lads with fusions around here but TBH i have never seen one working in east cork. they seem to be more popular in the midlands or up the west.

yellow50HX

jimmy G M wrote: »

I have topped literally 000's of acres over the past 25 years with disk mowers. Never once has a bed gone anywhere close to what you could describe as warm not to mention hot. Old wives tale I think.

Ill bet that any beds that got hot out there, probably had oil problems - low or no oil.

I tried those topping skids, waste of time, they cut too high. I suppose it depends on what you are topping but IMO topping any higher than 3-4 inches is a waste of time. Graze low, top off the long stemmy grass, docks, grass around cow pats etc. Just lengthen the toplink a few turns and off you go.

We have both a disk mower and a conor semi offset topper. Topper only does 5 or 6 acres per year - some rocky land at the top of the farm where we would be afraid of damaging the mower. No comparison between disk mower and topper as regards giving a neat cut.

My advice would be to buy a good secondhand disk mower maybe 7 ft cut, that will top away for you and also cut any paddocks you want. Topper will only do one job and not even as good at that as a disk mower. Any of the well regarded makes, Krone, Kuhn, Lely, Vicon, Claas etc. No second hand Malones coming through yet.

say something like this? http://www.donedeal.ie/mowers-for-sale/krone-disc-mower/5306986[/QUOTE]

would anything less then 8ft be a waste of time as the rows woulo nly get trampled by the tractor and baler coming behind? for any of the smaller mowers i'd proably need to tedd the grass out and then rake it back in

Figerty

The mower should put the topped or cut grass in a swarth regardless. For topping you can take of the swarth board if there is one and let the grass spread out, dry and rot down. For a smaller mower it will have to be rowed for baling anyway.

With the disc mower you don't have t worry about trampling on the previous cut when topping, the mower will go through it anyway.

49801

Would a disc mower have a better work rate than a topper?

Been out with our 7ft 'perfect' topper lately and it will do about 4acres/hr on our old db996. I know lots of lads complain about driving over the grass in front of the deck.... But I think the proportion that is trampled just cosmetic farming and not worth worrying about:pac:

himwdah

i find it would but then i top with a 9ft moco, or for rough ground a 9ft votex or 6ft. would take the mower if im certain of ground was good enough, do most rushes with the mower too, all at normal silage height and find that it is a cleaner cut than the topper and grass comes back quicker and more even:D