History and characteristics of haying

• The production, harvest and storage of hay has been a major enterprises on cattle farm for hundreds of years.
• There is no reason to expect its importance to diminish.
• Most of the problems experienced in haymaking are in the harvest operation rather than in production or storage.

History

• One of the first successful cutting implements was Bailey's mower of 1822.
• The cutting mechanism was a serious of scythe blades laid horizontally on a circular framework.
• The rotating blades were driven from the left drive wheel through a series of cogs.
• The scythes were automatically sharpened by a whetstone fixed above them.
• The principle of the reciprocating knife and slotted finger guards was patented by Obed Hussey in 1833.
• The principle that he and Cyrus McCormic separately developed is still being used on our present day machines.
• Tractor-drawn and mounted mowers were developed after 1930. Practically all of these machines have no gears in the drive, mechanism, and none is driven by the mower wheels.
• Ample tractor power makes it possible to use cutter bars 10 feet long or more in some cases.
• The year 1952 saw the introduction of the first reciprocating pitmanless mower, and in 1953 a hydraulically drive mower appeared.

Types of Mowers

• There are two basic types of mowers that are used for cutting forage:
• Cutter-bar mower (Figure 14) mowers with knives that reciprocate (move back and forth) when cutting.
• Rotary mowers (Figure 148) mowers with knives that rotate when cutting.
• Each of these basic types can be designed into several groups according to their characteristics.

The types of cutter-bar mowers are

Tractor-driven cutter bar mowers.

• These are also known as: "sickle-bar mowers", or "conventional mowers".
• Tractor-driven cutter-bar mowers are designed for hitching to the tractor in four different ways.
• There are side-mounted mowers, rear-mounted mowers, semi-mounted mowers, and trial mowers (Figure 143, 144 and 145).
• Trial mowers are now available with conditioning and / or windrowing equipment built into the machine.
• They are generally known as "cutter-bar mower-conditioners", "mower-curshers" or "windrowers" (Figure 146).

Self-propelled cutter-bar mowers.

• Self-propelled windrowers are available with or without conditioners.
• Some models are also designed with provisions for adjusting the width of the windrow.

Rotary mowers

• Rotary mowers are classified according to the plans in which the knife rotates.
• There are two types of rotary mowers. They are:

Rotary-cutter mower (horizontal knife)

• "Rotary cutter" is the common term used for this type of mower.
• It is distinguishable by the horizontal rotating plane of the knife.
• The rotary cutter is not generally recommended for mowing forage but is designed primarily for shredding stalks and brush, and for mowing pastures.
• Rotary-cutter knives may be rigidly attached on free swinging.

Flail mower (vertical knife)

• Flail mower knives rotate in a vertical plane.
• All flail mowers condition hay while mowing and are called "flail mower conditioners".
• Flail mowers are used primarily for corn stalks or other crop residue.