The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Equipment => Topic started by: Thebarber on October 19, 2016, 03:15:13 pm
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ive googled and came up with links but no definite answer as to whether i could cut hay with a towed topper.
ive used my BCS scythe mower successfully but its slow & painful.
so can i Y/ N ?
cheers
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To cut hay properly you need a disc, drum or fingerbar mower. These cut the grass cleanly so the stalks of grass are left whole and undamaged.
A topper has a big (blunt) rotating blade that smashes up the grass (great for when you are leaving the cuttings lying as they break down quicker, and for cutting coarser things like thistles). I don't know if you could make hay from the resulting grass but I doubt it would be easy or much good.
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You can and I do however, there is a slight flaw in the process. As you are dragging the topper behind then the tractor wheels flatten the grass before the topper gets there and so you are left with lines of largely uncut grass which makes raking up difficult. As for the quality of the hay, have never had any problems.
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I don't have a tractor so I'm debating whether or not to buy a towable atv topper for my 4wd.
I primarily need to keep the grass down but would like to get a bit of loose hay for bedding & feed aswell otherwise a flail & just use my BCS.
Thanks for the help