PHOTO - mower/conditioner

Hi Gang;
This is a typical mower & conditioner. 2 drums with replaceable blades, and a horizontal rotating shaft with plastic fingers behind to gently "bruise & crack" the stems to speed up wilting (drying). The most commonly used ones by farmers and smaller contractors are this style, 10 foot cutting width to meet width regulations whilst travelling down highways.
The rotary mowers came from Europe in the late 1960's and destroyed sicklebar mower sales in a short time. No more knife sections to sharpen or change when stones damaged them. Much faster cutting speeds. Today only a few tractor enthusiasts will mow an odd acre or two with their vintage sicklebar mowers. Its almost imposible to buy knive sections today (MF still use the same section on their combines).
There are two styles, the drum mowers driven from above, and disc mowers driven from below.
Cheers David