What did your rye end up looking like? Do you think the seed was viable? I'm tempted to let mine go another five to seven days.
Starting Over.
- Thread starter Foggy47
- Start date
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Im not positive but I think most of it is viable unfortunately. Some heads were a little soft but most were hard. Hell of a lot of biomass out there with the banner balansa crop. I was short on PTO HP for my 6’ flail mower going through it. Makes me wonder if i shouldn't delay my fall planting to allow most the viable stuff to germinate before I spray/plant..
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Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
I think my surrounding neighbors with hay ground/cattle ops look at my plots of cereals and clover and curse me for leaving it lay rather than letting them bale it up haha!
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Between your affinity for the herbicide and the CEB bullets, i'm going to start calling you raptor man.
Brian662
5 year old buck +
Have any clear pics of the field after the flail mowing?
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Not really. I took one of a clump that developed on one of the side "skids" because i was running the front of the mower too low for a while and you can kind of see what it looks like beyond it. It laid down a hell of a mat of biomass. In general, it is very evenly distributed. If I didn't have the front of the mower up a bit the skids on the side start grabbing a pile of mulch so there were a few bunches of mulch but mostly very smooth looking.
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SD51555
5 year old buck +
Do you guys with flail mowers and appropriately sized tractors purposely not post pictures of the work or them working to avoid making me feel bad about my life choices?
Cause I’ll be ok. I like flail mower pics. I don’t think a rotary mower would ever sell again if people got to see what they can do.
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Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Brian662
5 year old buck +
Looks good in this pic. How does it do in the areas where your tires push the vegetation down?
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Great. It does what they say they do especially when the mower is flat. I had it "nose up" for a while due to only having 28 PTO HP and it still does great but maybe not flawless when its not flat on the ground. When looking at the fields after you can see depressions form tire tracks but that is mostly from the next pass over from already mowed where the tires pushed down the already mowed mulch mat.
jsasker007
5 year old buck +
Are you trying to keep the clover going underneath or getting rid of the clover? Sorry if it's already been said.
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
I'm indifferent. The bulk of the clover is annual balansa from last fall or earlier planting which i'm assuming is largely terminated from mowing but there is lots of Medium red and some white clover in there as well and i expect that will forge on. Ideally most of the living/growing stuff gets through the mulch in the next 8 or so days so it is hit with gly when i spray immediately before planting.
Primary goals of mowing:
1. terminate rye before viable (I fear i was too late for most)
2. knock down all the standing biomass for the fall planted plot seed to grow through and get sunlight/deer access.
3. make it easier for herbicide to make contact with living plants before fall planting
jsasker007
5 year old buck +
I was going to suggest maybe mowing it again to chop what's down into smaller pieces if you're trying to salvage what's underneath. I mowed my plots and would up with some spots that were too thick for my clover to get through.
Brian662
5 year old buck +
Are you going to use the Esch or the GP to drill through the mulch?
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
I was just about to put a real effort into selling the esch, until i saw that mulch.. not postive which i'll use yet though.
Foggy47
5 year old buck +
Why don't you pull both thru the duff to see what works for you. You dont need to put seed in 'em.....just compare the operation. My GP drill goes thru allot of stuff.
I went out right after reading your reply, and I think all of my rye and most of the wheat I saw was hard already too. Ended up broadcasting into it anyways and mowed it down. At a minimum, the red and white clover should come back nicely before the cereals take off. Hoping some brassicas can find a home in the tire tracks, but not overly confident. Left rye standing a bit too long last year in an old garden area and rolled it down. Came in thick and did a good job smothering most of the competition, including the clover I had broadcast into it. Not the worst result, but not quite what I was trying for.
Foggy47
5 year old buck +
I left some rye standing too.....it's all in some pretty sad soils.....and I'm hoping it will reseed itself for next year. Yesterday I checked a seed head.....and it's definetly late in the dough stage for most of it.....and some hardening is taking place now. I'll let mine stand a bit longer, and not sure if I should knock it down, mow it, crimp it, or just let nature take its course? Comments??
How does a flail mower do on 2” diameter ash trees?
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
Like hot knife through butter
