[AT] Flail mowers

[Dennis Johnson]

Mike,

Interesting discussion. From what I see you have a few choices
1 - grow rice. some people would pay to get a rice field this level
2 - look for hover craft with a PTO and 3 point
3 - Change the slope of the land or drainage - lots of reasonable suggestions already but the best ones are to create enough slope to allow natural drainage. This means somehow moving dirt.
4 - if you can't do above, then something like a little articulated mower such as a Stiener or similar might work, especially if you can install dual wheels on all 4 places. This may give enough bouyancy to carry mower weight over the muck and keep ground pressure low enough to not make ruts. 
5 - An alternative might be some small track drive unit such as the old Struck Magnatrac kits. You would have to mount a mower to it, and provide power, or use the pull behind mowers.

Good Luck
Dennis


Sent from my iPad

> On May 15, 2015, at 3:03 PM, Mike <meulenms at gmx.com> wrote:
> 
> Spencer, this is land that we are desperately trying to turn into 
> pasture, it's always been wet, and making water go where you want it to 
> go is tough when you have the slope of a pool table. The previous owner 
> tried to make it work by deepening the ditch that runs through the 
> property, thinking that would make it flow. Unfortunately, all that did 
> was make it hold more water that now grows algae by the ton and takes 
> forever to dry out. My next attempt will be to fill in the ditch and 
> only leave a 2" or 3" deep channel for the water to flow through. When I 
> walk down the ditch to my neighbors property that's all it is; a little 
> trickle. It doesn't need to move large quantities of water.  I know 
> there are a lot of guys on the list who have experience with this type 
> of thing, so if you're reading this, I'm all ears.
> 
> Thanks,
> Mike M
> 
> 
>> On 5/15/2015 2:20 PM, Spencer Yost wrote:
>> If it's that bad what about a sickle bar mower?   At least it will lay flat and not windrow on you.   By pastures do you mean literally, or are they fallow,  fenced-in fields?   If these are pastures you need more animals!
>> 
>> Seriously though, you might want to see if a neighbor has a sickle bar mower you can test and see if you like it.
>> 
>> Spencer
>> 
>>> On May 15, 2015, at 11:34, Mike <meulenms at gmx.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Mowing infrequently is a huge part of the problem Charlie, and it's not
>>> because of not wanting to. The land is wet until around June, and I
>>> can't get on it to mow. I am working on solutions to get it to drain
>>> better, but it's a slow, trial and error process. Now that I have a 4
>>> wheel drive tractor, I could probably mow it sooner, but would make a
>>> mess in the process. Last year I couldn't mow until the grass was 6 feet
>>> high. I think I would have been better off leaving it alone and burning
>>> it off in the Spring.
>>> 
>>> Mike M
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On 5/15/2015 4:00 AM, charlie hill wrote:
>>>> Mike, if you are cutting it infrequently enough that you have a problem with
>>>> large windrows of grass then a finish mower is NOT going to stand up to the
>>>> task.
>>>> Or at least the ones I've been around will not.   A good bush hog with good,
>>>> sharp
>>>> blades on it will mow a pasture to look almost as good as a finish mower but
>>>> you
>>>> can't let it get so high or mow in wet conditions.  Also some bush hogs have
>>>> removable
>>>> discharge panels so that the grass can blow out the rear or to one side.
>>>> 
>>>> I always try to mow pastures in a pattern such that I'm cutting back over
>>>> any windrow
>>>> I leave with the next pass of the mower.  In other words, if my bush hog is
>>>> leaving
>>>> the windrow on the right side I work around the pasture so that the right
>>>> side of the
>>>> bush hog is always toward the uncut grass.  On the next pass I'm re-cutting
>>>> the windrow
>>>> along with the next portion of grass.  If you are getting a lot of windrow
>>>> it's because
>>>> you are cutting more grass than the bush hog is able to disperse, just the
>>>> same as with
>>>> your lawn mower.
>>>> 
>>>> I've never used a flail mower but a friend of mine used to use one to mow
>>>> his mobile home park.
>>>> It does a fine job.  However, they are a bit more of a maintenance challenge
>>>> than a bush hog or
>>>> finish mower.  Still even with a flail, if the grass is too high and thick
>>>> it has to go somewhere and
>>>> it will pile up.   The key is to keep the pasture mowed more often.
>>>> 
>>>> My two cents worth.
>>>> 
>>>> Charlie
>>>> 
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: Mike
>>>> Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2015 10:11 PM
>>>> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
>>>> Subject: Re: [AT] Flail mowers
>>>> 
>>>> ?? so yes on the flail or keep the hog, or go with a finish mower?
>>>> 
>>>> Mike M
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>> On 5/14/2015 8:54 PM, Spencer Yost wrote:
>>>>> A tough finish mower used a few more times a year than I would a bush hog
>>>>> does great in my 4 acres.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Spencer
>>>>> 
>>>>>> On May 14, 2015, at 20:11, Mike <meulenms at gmx.com> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I have about 5-7 acres of horse pasture that i mow, and have been using
>>>>>> a brush hog, John Deere 513? What I don't care for is how it leaves
>>>>>> windrows and clumps of the taller grass. I would be interested in
>>>>>> getting some opinions on flail mowers.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>> Mike M
>>>>>> 
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