# Mower conditioner for Bermudagrass hay



## Martin58 (Jun 7, 2019)

Looking for advise on mower conditioners for Bermudagrass hay. I know I've read on this forum that it's not needed BUT I live in Tennessee where it's high humidity all summer. Our harvesting conditions require 72 hours to put up high quality horse hay using a Kuhn disk mower and Kuhn Tedder (teddering twice and sometimes three times during the process). I really want to cut this down to 48 hours. I'm looking at a Heston 1359 which just has the rubber rollers and not the tines. This is the least expensive of the Hesston line. But I'm not sure it's the right Moco for Bermuda. Trying to keep cost down while at the same time getting the right peice of equipment. Also one field is very small and bound by fencing all around so those big pull behind Mocos will not work for us. I've looked at the Kuhn mounted (three point hitch) but that seems really heavy and cumbersome for our JD 5603. So two questions really: will a Moco cut our harvest time from 72 hours to 48 hours? And what equipment would be the most cost effective to achieve this? Many thanks to anyone who can help!


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## Trillium Farm (Dec 18, 2014)

I don't think that rollers will do much to condition the grass, you'll need flails/tines, also I don't think that tedding grass does much for its dry-down. IMO a wide swath, flails and a rotary rake will do much more. This is only my opinion and I don't live in your area so maybe someone who is in your weather area may have more precise ideas.


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## Troy Farmer (Jul 31, 2011)

I run rubber rolls (JD 630 MOCO). Wish I had steel. I do not like flail conditioners. Just my opinion.


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

John Deere dealer here recommends flails for Bermuda and that is what I have. JD 630 MOCO to cut then ted right after cutting. I Ted the next day and then ted just before raking to get the hay fluffed to eliminate any damp spots. I can make 48 hours hay this way. Without the MOCO and tedder it would take at least 72 hours. Keep in mind my field is a river bottom. If you want to talk about my setup send me a PM.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

You can make 48 hour hay with V tines/ flails. Somedevildawg lives in South Georgia and Bermuda is all he does....he uses flails and a JD 630 MoCo. I also have the identical moco. It is only 10 feet from outside to outside and you can swing the mower directly behind you for transport. You also can mow a 2 track road with it directly behind you but you don't want to make it a routine mowing in transport. It is designed to be a side pull basically.

The most important factor in making 48 hour hay is temperature. If it is in the 90's you can make 48 hour hay even with higher humidities with flails. If it is in the 80's you will need preservative to make 48 hour hay with flails. I am speaking about Tennessee of course.

Regards, Mike

P.S. Welcome to Haytalk Martin58.


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

I don't really know what kind of conditioning it takes for bermuda hay, but in our stemmy Timothy first cut hay the impellers on our Krone mower conditioner really does a nice job. Here in the mountains of VA, you have to ted just to get the bottom of the windrow off the moist ground and exposed to the sun. The top side dries very quickly and once you ted, we get a quick dry down. I also think that an impeller is good for second cutting grass hay. I've read conditioning isn't really necessary for these post first grass hay cuttings, but I think it helps to kind of scuff up the hay for a quicker dry down.

JD makes, IMHO, a very good impeller mower conditioner, I consider my Krone an excellent machine too. My Krone is a 9ft 2801cv with 2 point hitch and gear swivel head. Krone probably has more online info in their mowers, huge brochures, operators manuals and parts manuals for a free PDF download and look-see.

Good luck,
Bill


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## Martin58 (Jun 7, 2019)

Many thanks for all the excellent advice. I had an idea that the rubber rollers alone were not what we needed, but of course the MF salesman wants to make a sale 
We fertilize according to recommendation and get three to four cuttings of Bermuda per year. It's not a large stem diameter but it's very thick growing and we do have to Tedder just to get all the hay exposed to sun and wind. Basically we are using the Tedder to condition and it's not working real well. Bermuda gets tall and tough just waiting on the right 72 hour window to cut and bale. I'll be looking into the other machines recommended here. So glad I found this site!


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## R6Farms (Jun 24, 2019)

We use a JD 630 impeller for most grass and prefer it to our NH 1411, we cut mainly coastal varieties here but do cut some Sudan that we use the rollers on, hands down for grasses I would choose a impeller style conditioner.


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## Texasmark (Dec 20, 2011)

I use a 6' Drum mower, sells new for $3500 and a two basket Tedder I bought new for $1400 on Bermuda rather than a MOCO which sells for much much more and is bulkier. The drum cuts anything wet or dry, doesn't clog like sickles, and doesn't have all the moving parts of a disc. I run it on a 45 hp tractor.

The tedder not only scatters the hay, getting the bottom hay up on top but the whacking action of the tines cracks the grass stems in numerous places as it scatters the hay giving you multiple avenues for your stem moisture to dissipate.

I ran a MOCO before retiring and the above after due to smaller operation on less acreage. BTDT. I have a NH 404 crimper that I use on sorghum-sudan (haygrazer) due to the thicker and stiffer stems, then the tedder.

I have hay in the barn that wouldn't be there this year thanks to the tedder. Good luck.


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