Flail Mower v Topper Debate

thegroom

Hi All

Having searched the forum regarding the use of a flail mower v Topper I have a few questions, My position is as follows, I have a 8foot Vicon disk mower that I use for topping - mix of good and rough pasture- I recently joined the GLAS scheme and with the rules pertaining to not removing the cutting from the topped fields I was considering getting rid of my mower and either buying an offset topper or flail mower. I have a 100hp tractor and this should be able to handle most decent sized mowers / flails. My problem is that I know very little about the flail type mowers i.e. speed of cutting and cost so any advise would be greatly accepted!

Thanks in advance!


The groom

blue5000

If the vicon does the job why change it?

Farmer

Here's one of last years threads on the subject

http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057505057/1

It will save you hours and hours of time driving around a field in low second and also save the rest of us re-typing the same answers

Sam Kade

The trouble with flail mowers is that they pull the grass as they cut it which hits regrowth hard where as toppers and disc mowers cut grass at ground level.

Muckit

Yet thats how a cow eats. Curls her tongue around and rips it out of the ground.

Sam Kade

Muckit wrote: »

Yet thats how a cow eats. Curls her tongue around and rips it out of the ground.

But the cow is eating light grass that easily breaks at ground level.

Kovu

We have both and in GLAS as well. We found the topper made very hard work of the fields this year, especially the ones that weren't eaten short before they had to be closed to allow weeds seeds to disperse.
Cows also picked through the cuttings off the mower so got a couple of days extra in the field and cleaned them up a bit.

Limestone Cowboy

You'll be moving very slow with the flail mower. I had the contractors 8ft one for a day cutting overgrown rushes and while it did a great job it was very slow and had a John Deere 6610 on its knees trying to drive it.

Base price

thegroom wrote: »

Hi All

Having searched the forum regarding the use of a flail mower v Topper I have a few questions, My position is as follows, I have a 8foot Vicon disk mower that I use for topping - mix of good and rough pasture- I recently joined the GLAS scheme and with the rules pertaining to not removing the cutting from the topped fields I was considering getting rid of my mower and either buying an offset topper or flail mower. I have a 100hp tractor and this should be able to handle most decent sized mowers / flails. My problem is that I know very little about the flail type mowers i.e. speed of cutting and cost so any advise would be greatly accepted!

Thanks in advance!


The groom

Any chance you could explain - I recently joined the GLAS scheme and with the rules pertaining to not removing the cutting from the topped field.
I have read the GLAS regulations pertaining to the options that we choose (LIPP amongst them) and I cannot remember reading that you cannot remove toppings. However you cannot mow LIPP which is not the same as topping.

thegroom

Base price wrote: »

Any chance you could explain - I recently joined the GLAS scheme and with the rules pertaining to not removing the cutting from the topped field.
I have read the GLAS regulations pertaining to the options that we choose (LIPP amongst them) and I cannot remember reading that you cannot remove toppings. However you cannot mow LIPP which is not the same as topping.

Hi BP!

After I cut the LIPP using the Vicon Disk mower I did what we have always done when there was a lot of material left, I got out my trusted haybob and gathered the material into rows with a view to either picking it up and pushing it into the hedge! So a friend of mine told me that he had previously gotten in trouble for lifting the cuttings! so I contacted my planner and he confirmed the material must be let rot back into the grass!

The Groom

Base price

thegroom wrote: »

Hi BP!

After I cut the LIPP using the Vicon Disk mower I did what we have always done when there was a lot of material left, I got out my trusted haybob and gathered the material into rows with a view to either picking it up and pushing it into the hedge! So a friend of mine told me that he had previously gotten in trouble for lifting the cuttings! so I contacted my planner and he confirmed the material must be let rot back into the grass!

The Groom

Mmm I think your planner is incorrect. I have read the rules and conditions and nowhere does it state that topping have to rot into the ground. As I previously posted "mowing" is not allowed on LIPP.

Count Mondego

Base price wrote: »

However you cannot mow LIPP which is not the same as topping.

and you can't top before the 15th of July.