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Haybine vs sickle mower for hay

G

GoJDpuller

Member
Me and a buddy are going to start doing about 12 acres of hay this coming up summer, we did hay a few years ago and used a Haybine we no longer have. Thought about using a couple old sickle mower on our two cylinders, does the hay dry as fast with a sickle mower? What are the pros and cons. The land is clay gravel type not low land, thanks for the help
 
A lot depends on the type of hay you have. A haybine has rollers which squeeze the stems of the plant and by doing so ring the water out of the stems so it does in fact dry faster with a hay bine. I in the many years I have done hay have used both and each has its good points and it bad points and this year I used the sickle mower but we had very little rain so each has it good and bad sides
 
No, it won't dry as fast, a haybine has rubber rollers in it that crimp or crack the stem of the hay to release moisture and help to speed up the drying time, a sickle bar mower will cut hay fine, but will take longer to dry. If you have 5 days or dry weather in you area than a it well work fine. Up to this year we were lucky to get 2 days of dry weather around here.
 
Depending on where you are and what kind of hay you have, it can take an extra day to dry mowed hay compared to conditioned or crimped. Here in Michigan that's frequently the difference between getting it rained on or not. Grass hay, not so bad--alfalfa is tougher to get dry without damage. First cutting is higher volume, so harder to dry also. Obviously it can be done, but it is harder to do.
 
Unless your sickle bar mower has all the cutting pieces in good shape you will hate mowing hay with it. It takes a good sickle and ledgers to really cut hay. Even then if the hay is real thick it may not do a very good job. I hate mowing hay with a sickle mower. It seemed I spent more time backing up than mowing forward.
 
I like using a Haybine on my Grass Alfalfa mix because I cut it early to get the finer leaves. Then hope I can bale it without having to turn it with a rake. It is called FARMIMG, or better known as GAMBLING. I have both types of quipment, and some times I draw the right card.
I have sup fenced everything and now will pasture everything. We will see how that hand plays out.
 
Good points of a sickle mower- Cheap, Low power requirements (good when you're mowing with Horses) and years ago it was the best alternative, mostly because the alternative was a hand scythe. When I was a kid (and dinosaurs roamed the earth) we did 20-40 acres with a New Idea 30A sickle mower, it worked fine but it did take us a bit to learn how to maintain the darn thing. This included sharpening it, setting the rock guards and developing the skill to use the darn thing without plugging it up every 15 feet or at each corner. But then again we also baled the hay with a played out New Holland Super 66 pulled by a Farmall H and used an old Case 4 bar rake on steel to rake hay and one of our hay racks had wooden axles under it. We have learned a lot since then and this thing called progress has showed up, in the past a lot of people did a lot more with a lot less. Don't know that it was a choice it might of been all they had or could afford.
 
Thanks guys I think I start looking for a good used haybine, our biggest tractor is a JD 720 diesel with future plans of a 4020, any recommendations?
 
A lot depends on regional weather. Where are you located? My experience is that the sickle mower is ok for finer stuff but no so good for sudan type stuff.

I can mow rye for instance and it will dry evenly but then I have to rake windrows up. With the haybine I can make one pass and have it set so the windrow is already the correct width for the baler. I eliminate time and fuel for raking. This works in central Texas in the warmer months. I can cut on Monday and bale on Wednsday.

If I cut sudan with the sickle mower the leaves dry in no time flat and are too brittle by the time the stem part is dry. Then all the nice leaf material goes out the back of the baler and you have a nice big round bale of stems.

I did use a sickle mower this fall to cut some grass in a ditch and rolled it up a day or two later.
 
Pro's of a sickle: Cheap to buy, relatively cheap to maintain, operate fine on a minimum of tractor horsepower and even tiny tractor size.

Con's of a sickle: Obviously no conditioning rollers (but you do not get conditioning with a modern drum mower or plain disc mower either). Sickles can be very tempermental if conditions are not perfect (i.e forget wet and damp conditions must usually wait till dew burn off). Generally they must be kept in tip top shape or they plug.

If you want conditioning you might find and older stand alone crimper but they are getting rare and it means another trip over the field and they can be tempermental with wrapping the rollers too. Or you could simply opt to use a tedder as needed. Really depends on your crop type for best answer.

A haybine (or mower conditioner) will generally cut better even when its sickle system is worn compared to a stand alone sickle in tip top shape. (the reel really helps) - plus you get conditioning too all in one shot. Downside is they can be heavy and have lots of tongue weight so you need a tractor weighing at least 4000 lbs or more at minumum and at least 30 PTO hp at a bare minimum. More chains, belts, and bearings to maintain though on a haybine but the benefits are more than worth it. Haybines can be bought reasonable as all the BTO pretty much use discbines so lots of good values to be found for small time operators.

FWIW: I have run my 9' Hesston 1120 moco (same as haybine) with my 1950 John Deere model A on many occasions. Have also used my ole Farmall h once too to run it. I do not even use a hydraulic cylinder and simply use a manual ratchet cylinder. I never plug and simply mow round and round the field to the center.
 
I have been pulling a 9' haybine with a Farmall H the past three years with no problems even on hills, so I would think your 720 would be plenty of tractor. I don't think you'd want too big of a haybine for 12 acres anyhow.
Zach
 
If you wat a 7 ft go with a New Holland 467,477 or 474(I listed them from cheapest to most expensive)9ft New Holland 479,488,489 or 1492.We have all Deere equipment but NH made a better haybine. A 1209 Deere is not a bad machine or even a 483 or 485 Deere.International made a 990 that was very good,some say better than the 1190 that replaced it.Check out the rolls an te NH machines as they were known for loosing chunks of rubber which result in a poor crimping job.
 
Are you jokeing, I have a NH 489, I think the minimum hp is 35 to run it, I also have an H, I wouldent use it on the haybine, I use my Ford 4610 for the haybine. But if it works for you that's good. My h dosent have a hydraulic outlet to left the mower!
 
That's a huge problem with NH haybines, the rolls loose rubber, NH uses chevron rubber, were as Deere uses neoprene rubber, they seem to last longer.
 

Even an old well used haybine is way superior to a sickle bar mower. I cut with a New Holland pitmanless mower for years and spent a lot of time unplugging the knife and backing up. Bought a well used old Holland 479 haybine a couple of years ago and it is so superior to the mower that I'll never hitch onto that mower again. The reel just keeps the knife clear. The rollers are well worn and don't crimp like a new one but still not bad. I'll use the wheel rake to pull two (or 3 ) swaths together before baling. It also helps the swath to dry. Power requirements? Well I ran it for a bit with the Cockshutt 40 and it was ok but my allergies to grass pollen are eliminated if I use my Case 2090 sitting in the air conditioned cab.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E1tcVXZib8
 
Every round I make with my Reese Drum mower, I thank God that I"m not still using my old AC sickle bar mower and backing up 3 or 4 times every round! We just bale grass and weeds. And will dry in two noons. If you mow before noon, can bale the next day after noon. But would like to grow some alfalfa, so a conditioner needs to be in our future.
 
The biggest problem with sickle bar mowers these days is hardly anyone knows how to set up and operate one like they should.I use a JD 350 and a trailer type NH 456 both are excellent mowers and cut good.Keep a good sharp blade in the mower and all the moving parts and especially the belt in good condition and adjusted right.I have to use these much of the time as much hayland I have is hilly and with some stationary rock and the statinary rock will destroy a haybine.To only cut 12 acres
to me a good sickle bar is the better choice but stay away from anything with a Pitman stick.
 
I bought a brand ne New Holland 488haybind in 1990, And when not in use , I have tried to keep it out of the sun.Rain snow sun and coldwill rust and rot the rubber rolls, and the thin sheet metal on these units. I still use the old 488, and cut between 3-400 acres each year with this unit with very few break downs, and the rolls still have all the rubber in place. So if you can find a 488 that has been sheded when not used, not just left in the fence row covered with chaff, it should be a better pick, even if you only have a small field ,you still want to get done, and with as little grief. Bruce
 
I liked running my old NI 30A it didn't plug up near as often as others would seem to....
But I like my NH 467 a lot better. I have run into stuff that will make me back up with that one too.

We used to run a 9' NH 460 behind our JD 720 without a problem.
 
I'm not joking, the H was my 'big' tractor. I also have pulled it with our Massey 35, which could handle it but didn't have a hydraulic outlet to lift the head. Now I have a Farmall 300 which is an updated H which should run it a little more handily.
Zach
 
conditioning rolls do not "wring" water out of the hay. They fracture the stem to speed up drying. The stem of most plants has a waxy coating that water will not come out of very fast, by adding a few cracks here and there on the stem water has a place to escape.
 
I;ll second VicS's motion to get a drum mower. If the field is smooth enough, you can mow SO much faster than either a sickle, or haybine. I have cut sudax, with the Haymax that I bought from the hay Dr. You have to run a conditioner over it to get it to dry in 4-5 days, so I got an old NI pull type roller conditioner, with 1 rubber, and 1 steel roller.
 
Yes, I'm with you there Bret. Some of us do still mow hay with horses. It's the "yesterday" before "yesterday's tractors".
 
For only 12 acres on a brome or native grass I'd use a sickle and rake.

The only problem is a decent 5 bar rake costs almost as much as a decent small haybine.
 
I guess I am probably the odd man out here. I have used sickle mowers all my life, in all types of crops. If you know how to set one up, they will cut in about anything. Other then alfalfa, millet, and sudan, I would never use a crimper/conditioner. But we are also in an arid climate this year. Less then 4 inches of moisture so far.
 
We use a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7iUmB_EZQ0&feature=share&list=UU4gFuJx6qHbiK0FRREh2lDw">JD 350 9ft sickle mower</a> powered by a Model 70 to cut our hay.

We use a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPL6_euXXvE&feature=share&list=UU4gFuJx6qHbiK0FRREh2lDw">JD 350 7ft sickle mower</a> also powered by a Model 70 as a backup mower.

Once the mower is <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFawSW7AWpw&feature=share&list=UU4gFuJx6qHbiK0FRREh2lDw">set up correctly</a> and <a href="http://youtu.be/_CJbfqofbUE">maintained properly</a> it cuts really good.

They will cut the Coastal Bermuda, <a href="http://youtu.be/lmvPOGCvIKM">Bahiagrass</a>, and Texas Panicum without any problem.

Always <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k4WKe-FaEE&feature=share&list=UU4gFuJx6qHbiK0FRREh2lDw">wait until after the morning dew dries</a> before cutting.

Once the grass is cut, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-5HQ9Q7OGY&feature=share&list=UU4gFuJx6qHbiK0FRREh2lDw">it takes about two days to cure</a> in the Texas sun.
 

I've seen a lot of old 9' haybines pulled by Hs. Not so much anymore - most everyone uses bigger stuff.
 
The hay lays flat where it was cut and drys fairly fast too. When you rake it the hay is mostly dry all the way through and continues to dry while in the windrow. Works well with square balers.

Windrows made with a haybine (especially if they are big windrows) will usually be wet/damp on the bottom while the hay on the top is over dry - works OK with big round bales as the damp hay is rolled on top on the overly dry hay.
 
I have nothing against farming with horses! I think it's pretty
neat. I just thought the way he posted was funny,!
 
If they do not ring at least some of the water out why is it most years the rollers are wet when I park the machine???????? Yes they may not ring out a lot but they do ring out some
 
My dad liked to cut his hay with a D14 allis which is about the size of an H.I mowed lots of hay with a 990IH and the D14. You never broke anything because when you caugt a rock ledge the tractor would spin before anything broke.LOL We later used a 1020 and an 820 Deere (the 820 was the three cyclinder german tractor).
 
One of the things that make a haybine mow better than a sickle bar is the speed of the knife. I don't know the strokes per minute, but it must run at least twice as fast as my No.5. I still mow some small areas with my 49B and No.5.
 
(quoted from post at 17:41:57 12/10/12) If you take care of your field and keep a sharp sickle properly adjusted you will not be backing up all of the time.
Click to expand...

That may be true but in this part of the country a sharp knife does not last long. The cutter bar on a mower runs so close to the ground that it can not miss the mole hills that are so common here. And any mole hill will contain little pebbles that will either chip a sickle or if big enough, break the top off a guard.
With my haybine it has hydraulic control on the cutter bar which is also floating on springs. I can set it to cut a few inches above the ground and miss at least some of the mole hillls. That in itself is a huge advantage that I noticed after years of using mowers. Also by cutting a few inches higher it allows the swath of hay to lay above the ground surface. That can make a big difference to drying in a wet year when the ground is wet. Wind can get under and through the swath to help dry it.
 
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