Starting Over.

[Foggy47]

My flail mower actually does better when blazing trails threw this kinda stuff than it does going thru heavy, thick grass. Grass takes more power....IMO. I have knives rather than hammers on my machine...but it chops up softwood trees to 4" diameter pretty quick. I do not make a practice of cutting hardwoods....but I have done so on some small oaks. I could quite easily turn here and clear a new trail thru these trees. Probably not a good practice....but I have done it for a few hundred yards to open a new sidewalk. Biggest fear is hitting a rock or a stump. This duty can be hard on equipment.....gotta go slow, listen carefully, and be ready to lift the mower.

 

[omicron1792]

I cut some trails and such through native grass and forb areas yesterday. Does a great job.

 

[SwampCat]

View attachment 66651
My flail mower actually does better when blazing trails threw this kinda stuff than it does going thru heavy, thick grass. Grass takes more power....IMO. I have knives rather than hammers on my machine...but it chops up softwood trees to 4" diameter pretty quick. I do not make a practice of cutting hardwoods....but I have done so on some small oaks. I could quite easily turn here and clear a new trail thru these trees. Probably not a good practice....but I have done it for a few hundred yards to open a new sidewalk. Biggest fear is hitting a rock or a stump. This duty can be hard on equipment.....gotta go slow, listen carefully, and be ready to lift the mower.

How much hp is your tractor?

 

[Foggy47]

How much hp is your tractor?

Kubota L 3560 is 30 PTO HP.

 

[TreeDaddy]

View attachment 66651
My flail mower actually does better when blazing trails threw this kinda stuff than it does going thru heavy, thick grass. Grass takes more power....IMO. I have knives rather than hammers on my machine...but it chops up softwood trees to 4" diameter pretty quick. I do not make a practice of cutting hardwoods....but I have done so on some small oaks. I could quite easily turn here and clear a new trail thru these trees. Probably not a good practice....but I have done it for a few hundred yards to open a new sidewalk. Biggest fear is hitting a rock or a stump. This duty can be hard on equipment.....gotta go slow, listen carefully, and be ready to lift the mower.

good advice for all mowers ,etc in thick woods

bill

 

[SwampCat]

Kubota L 3560 is 30 PTO HP.

How long of cutting length?

 

[Foggy47]

How long of cutting length?

I have the FM78H Woodmaxx - which has a 72" cutting width and the hydraulic side shift. If I had a gear shift tractor.....I may go a bit narrower. With a hydrostatic tractor it's easy to slow down as the machine starts to work too hard.....thus letting it clear. It fits right behind my tires and has been a good unit. I did buy a set of replacement blades and a spare set of belts at time of purchase.

Glad I had those belts.....as a bolt backed out near the belts......and I managed to smoke a belt early on. Never turned in a warranty claim....but I should have. I seem to remember that if you replace one belt you should replace them all....which is what I did. I figure I could get along on two belts for a back-up situation until I bought another set.

I must have had the machine for 5 years or more. Other than the bolt issue....it's been a great machine. Just the other day I noticed it was not cutting as nicely on one side......so I flipped up the service lid and saw that I had some bent knives. Likely from a rock contact. Removed and beat them straight again and replaced. Seems to cut fine again. Saving my spare blades....but I suppose I would have improved operation with a replacement or re-sharpen job. Some of the blades look a bit worn and the edge is bad now. I'm sure that robs power and a nice cut.

I'd buy a Woodmaxx again.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

View attachment 66651
I could quite easily turn here and clear a new trail thru these trees. Probably not a good practice....but I have done it for a few hundred yards to open a new sidewalk.

Yeah, I don't think i'd have the guts to pull that move with near the same tractor/mower! Replaced my first y-blade this week because I broke one off last year and hadn't had a chance to swap it. Could notice vibration in the mower due to the unbalance.

 

[Skeeter]

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??

What I rolled down last year came up in clumps since the seeds were still all together on the head. Didn't look as nice as an even distribution. Not sure that it mattered to the deer. This spring the stand of rye was quite thick, as stated previously. I'm hoping that mowing scattered the seed better, if only for my viewing pleasure. Not sure what crimping would gain you over rolling.

 

[jsasker007]

I have the FM78H Woodmaxx - which has a 72" cutting width and the hydraulic side shift. If I had a gear shift tractor.....I may go a bit narrower. With a hydrostatic tractor it's easy to slow down as the machine starts to work too hard.....thus letting it clear. It fits right behind my tires and has been a good unit. I did buy a set of replacement blades and a spare set of belts at time of purchase.

Glad I had those belts.....as a bolt backed out near the belts......and I managed to smoke a belt early on. Never turned in a warranty claim....but I should have. I seem to remember that if you replace one belt you should replace them all....which is what I did. I figure I could get along on two belts for a back-up situation until I bought another set.

I must have had the machine for 5 years or more. Other than the bolt issue....it's been a great machine. Just the other day I noticed it was not cutting as nicely on one side......so I flipped up the service lid and saw that I had some bent knives. Likely from a rock contact. Removed and beat them straight again and replaced. Seems to cut fine again. Saving my spare blades....but I suppose I would have improved operation with a replacement or re-sharpen job. Some of the blades look a bit worn and the edge is bad now. I'm sure that robs power and a nice cut.

I'd buy a Woodmaxx again.

I think the cutters on flail mowers are reversible so you can turn them to use the other side when they get to beat up and don't have an edge left. I have never done it myself, yet. Might not make a big difference.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I think the cutters on flail mowers are reversible so you can turn them to use the other side when they get to beat up and don't have an edge left. I have never done it myself, yet. Might not make a big difference.

Yep, definitely the case with the y blades on my mower.

 

[SD51555]

@Foggy47 when do we get to see a follow up pic of that clover punching through the rolled rye?

 

[Foggy47]

@Foggy47 when do we get to see a follow up pic of that clover punching through the rolled rye?

Gonna have a look tomorrow. I'll take some pics. Had some great weather here recently.....lots of rains......so I anticipate good things are happening.

 

[Foggy47]

Had some rain overnight.....so I didn't go to the Proving Grounds until this afternoon. It was 90% humidity.....and the deer flies were absolutely nuts. I checked my plots and got the hell out of there. Could barely step out of my vehicle to take a pic without being swarmed by deer flies. No fun.

Anyway, I used my Polaris (with an AC cab) to drive thru my plots and inspect for clover and brassica. I had nuked about 2 acres two weeks ago......and planted brassica a few days later. Looks like those plots are germinating well....and hopefully establish a nice stand of brassicas (collards, radish, PTT, DER, kale). Pic below.


Then, I got about 5 more acres of clover with the rye that has been crimped two weeks ago. Most of the areas has a decent amount of clover coming thru....however some other areas the clover is slow to establish.....and last week I drilled a brassica / clover / chicory combo into those areas. I also threw a few lbs of NW Whitetails Sorghum into this mix......and I hope I can get a few stalks to provide some vertical cover in the plots. Looks like the brassica has germinated in the open areas and the clover is also coming along better now. Not sure how much brassica I will have as the clover tends to outcompete my attempts at this. It's a bit of a gamble on what will grow in these plots and I expect I will have a mixed bag this fall.....which is perfectly fine with me.
More pics of my efforts.

 

[Foggy47]

I also have a few acres of poor soil....that has a fair amount of clover under the standing cereal rye. I checked the rye seed heads today......and the seed is now hard. Not sure if I should let the rye seed simply fall to the dirt.....or flail mow it? Alternately I could roll-crimp the rye which may be a good way to put some armor on the soil. It would also provide some seed for the turkeys and grouse. I'm hoping to get a free stand of rye for next year.

 

[Tree Spud]

Had some rain overnight.....so I didn't go to the Proving Grounds until this afternoon. It was 90% humidity.....and the deer flies were absolutely nuts. I checked my plots and got the hell out of there. Could barely step out of my vehicle to take a pic without being swarmed by deer flies. No fun.

Anyway, I used my Polaris (with an AC cab) to drive thru my plots and inspect for clover and brassica. I had nuked about 2 acres two weeks ago......and planted brassica a few days later. Looks like those plots are germinating well....and hopefully establish a nice stand of brassicas (collards, radish, PTT, DER, kale). Pic below.
View attachment 66842

Then, I got about 5 more acres of clover with the rye that has been crimped two weeks ago. Most of the areas has a decent amount of clover coming thru....however some other areas the clover is slow to establish.....and last week I drilled a brassica / clover / chicory combo into those areas. I also threw a few lbs of NW Whitetails Sorghum into this mix......and I hope I can get a few stalks to provide some vertical cover in the plots. Looks like the brassica has germinated in the open areas and the clover is also coming along better now. Not sure how much brassica I will have as the clover tends to outcompete my attempts at this. It's a bit of a gamble on what will grow in these plots and I expect I will have a mixed bag this fall.....which is perfectly fine with me.
More pics of my efforts.
View attachment 66843


View attachment 66844



View attachment 66845View attachment 66846View attachment 66847View attachment 66848

That look great! You have some tremendous cover on your property.

 

[SD51555]

View attachment 66846

That's the money pic right there! I bet that area shows no open spots in another 10 days.

On your standing rye, what I might try is mowing it a little high and as low of RPM's as you can operate the machine. The straw should chop like nothing, and I'm hoping a slower RPM would shatter less seed and get you a legacy crop. You could also try mowing 12-18" high and leave eye pokers out there. Maybe your brassicas could go the distance if the deer don't go after them below the tops of your standing rye stumps.

Try a few things 30' at a time and see what you get and what you like.

 

[Foggy47]

That's the money pic right there! I bet that area shows no open spots in another 10 days.

On your standing rye, what I might try is mowing it a little high and as low of RPM's as you can operate the machine. The straw should chop like nothing, and I'm hoping a slower RPM would shatter less seed and get you a legacy crop. You could also try mowing 12-18" high and leave eye pokers out there. Maybe your brassicas could go the distance if the deer don't go after them below the tops of your standing rye stumps.

Try a few things 30' at a time and see what you get and what you like.

OK.....your the professor. Wink/grin. As you say....I think it will all fill in.......but I am hoping to have a fair mix of brassica and clover in some of that area. Time will tell. The whole shebang will get additional rye and clover in early Sept. Some by drilling and some by broadcasting.....depending on what I got going at that point.

Actually I do not have any brassica under most of the standing rye.....as that soil is too weak to grow such stuff. Tho....I have a fair to lousy mix of clover under that rye. If I can get clover established for a few years.....my mission will be accomplished. Perhaps I will broadcast a little more clover before I mow off the rye.

Shoot....just remembered......I should have tried a rag doll test on those rye heads. I'd like to do that before taking the next step. Git muhself edumucated.

 

[SD51555]

OK.....your the professor. Wink/grin. As you say....I think it will all fill in.......but I am hoping to have a fair mix of brassica and clover in some of that area. Time will tell. The whole shebang will get additional rye and clover in early Sept. Some by drilling and some by broadcasting.....depending on what I got going at that point.

Actually I do not have any brassica under most of the standing rye.....as that soil is too weak to grow such stuff. Tho....I have a fair to lousy mix of clover under that rye. If I can get clover established for a few years.....my mission will be accomplished. Perhaps I will broadcast a little more clover before I mow off the rye.

Shoot....just remembered......I should have tried a rag doll test on those rye heads. I'd like to do that before taking the next step. Git muhself edumucated.

Well, if you have good clover, it's hard to have anything else. But you've got the drill, so you could get some through if anyone will.

You got any yellow sweet clover left? I'd try that again, but this time I'd broadcast it and see if you can get it under some rye residue.

 

[Foggy47]

Well, if you have good clover, it's hard to have anything else. But you've got the drill, so you could get some through if anyone will.

You got any yellow sweet clover left? I'd try that again, but this time I'd broadcast it and see if you can get it under some rye residue.

I was just looking at my seeds.....and at the Welters site. Was thinking I may do some Fixation Balansa Clover instead of more YSC. Also considering Frosty Berseem.....but I may have enough going on now. I have not seen any trace of the YSC and do not have any left over seed. I have heard good stuff about the Fixation Balansa. What say you?

Also want to add some (3#/a) chicory, (5#/a) medium red, (2#/A) Alice white with my (112#/a) cereal rye in Sept. I feel I'm keeping my seed bank full of the good stuff.