grouper Mower

The Stig

Well-Known Member
Hello all, I'm thinking of upgrading the mounted 8' kuhn mower to a trailed mower with or without grouper in maybe a 10' size.
My question is would a grouper mower work instead of raking for baling silage, I have a Mc hale F550.its for our own use
 
Hello all, I'm thinking of upgrading the mounted 8' kuhn mower to a trailed mower with or without grouper in maybe a 10' size.
My question is would a grouper mower work instead of raking for baling silage, I have a Mc hale F550.its for our own use
You'll often see a grouper mower going for handy money as lads don't want groupers anymore. You might not use the grouper all the time but there very handy in light grass to put 2 swards together.
 
Groupers have gone out of fashion as rakes (and now mergers) are the ‘must have’

i’ve been wondering about the in between position of something like a muffler with a belt on it, the problem with the grouper is the little to no wilt on cut swards on top of one another, the wuffler with the belt will mean an additional pass, but better DM i would imagine.

 
You'll often see a grouper mower going for handy money as lads don't want groupers anymore. You might not use the grouper all the time but there very handy in light grass to put 2 swards together.

I was thinking of using the grouper for that reason as I'm cutting lighter/leafier stuff more these days and thought it might be an idea.
 
Groupers have gone out of fashion as rakes (and now mergers) are the ‘must have’

i’ve been wondering about the in between position of something like a muffler with a belt on it, the problem with the grouper is the little to no wilt on cut swards on top of one another, the wuffler with the belt will mean an additional pass, but better DM i would imagine.


cant post that without a ballpark figure. i think it would be a great tool
 
as 086lavey said it depends on the weather but a tedder imo just causes hassle with how lumpy a swarth is after. with the autoswarther though you can join the 1st headland together and leave the rest in 10fts and rake them after. thats how 1 contractor down this direction does it. and sure if you're cutting lighter stuff, i think an autoswarther is fine for the job. if anything it makes life easier with the width of the swarth being the width of the feed rotor. just need to to give it a days wilting and be fine
 
cant post that without a ballpark figure. i think it would be a great tool

i haven’t a clue what it would cost. Several brands seem to be offering them with belts now. So i guess there might be several prices

personally i like the look of the elho version

Pict5-480x384.jpg
 
i haven’t a clue what it would cost. Several brands seem to be offering them with belts now. So i guess there might be several prices

personally i like the look of the elho version

Pict5-480x384.jpg
We have a 3m elho without the belt. Super machine .a belt would be a great addition but adds 5k to them
 
No one seems to be using groupers by the sounds of it but we do. I say we could nearly do 750-1000ac a year at a guess straight into 20ft rows for the harvester. If the weather is good dry days many farmers around here want the mower no more than an hour or so ahead. Some leave it in grouped rows for 24hours. Top of the row will be dry and bottom will still have the green to help with consolidation in the pit.
 
Grouper is definitely the economy way.if grass does not need wilting its fine but nothing will wilt in a row,especially 20ft of grass unless its toppings.
Traders and rakes are great tools but add cost even though they save it in ways
 
Years ago a local contractor ran a very wide header for a season,something like 16’ wide,it went because hitching up between fields was a pain,it would have suited a pair of rows next to each other.
 
Dry year -yes
Wet year -no

buy a Tedder

Tedders dont make bigger rows though....


You'll often see a grouper mower going for handy money as lads don't want groupers anymore. You might not use the grouper all the time but there very handy in light grass to put 2 swards together.

I wont be without the grouper here its very handy to be able to leave a field in twenty foot rows at same time as mowing it. Raking costs time and money.
 
Great job if you can get away with it. Most farmers we work for wouldn't like to see it done.
 
Tedders dont make bigger rows though....




I wont be without the grouper here its very handy to be able to leave a field in twenty foot rows at same time as mowing it. Raking costs time and money.

If cows eat grass it’s good for them. If you mow grass and make silage of it you have to scatter it around and dry it so the cows can eat it.
If cows eat seven tonnes of wet silage over the winter will they eat seven tonnes of dry silage or less.
I reckon if people gave the same effort rolling and covering the pit as they did throwing grass in the air and rowing up they would have good feed . My father used to roll the pit at lunch time when the harvester was stopped. At least half a day was given rolling the pit after the last load was in . One year he even turned the front wheels inside out so he could roll next to the wall .
 
If cows eat grass it’s good for them. If you mow grass and make silage of it you have to scatter it around and dry it so the cows can eat it.
If cows eat seven tonnes of wet silage over the winter will they eat seven tonnes of dry silage or less.
I reckon if people gave the same effort rolling and covering the pit as they did throwing grass in the air and rowing up they would have good feed . My father used to roll the pit at lunch time when the harvester was stopped. At least half a day was given rolling the pit after the last load was in . One year he even turned the front wheels inside out so he could roll next to the wall .

They will eat less fresh weigh of dry silage and will drink more water.
 
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If cows eat grass it’s good for them. If you mow grass and make silage of it you have to scatter it around and dry it so the cows can eat it.
If cows eat seven tonnes of wet silage over the winter will they eat seven tonnes of dry silage or less.
I reckon if people gave the same effort rolling and covering the pit as they did throwing grass in the air and rowing up they would have good feed . My father used to roll the pit at lunch time when the harvester was stopped. At least half a day was given rolling the pit after the last load was in . One year he even turned the front wheels inside out so he could roll next to the wall .

A big contractor near here would have to loader out the gate after the last load. He wouldn't care if you died unless it was before you fixed up.
 
If cows eat grass it’s good for them. If you mow grass and make silage of it you have to scatter it around and dry it so the cows can eat it.
If cows eat seven tonnes of wet silage over the winter will they eat seven tonnes of dry silage or less.
I reckon if people gave the same effort rolling and covering the pit as they did throwing grass in the air and rowing up they would have good feed . My father used to roll the pit at lunch time when the harvester was stopped. At least half a day was given rolling the pit after the last load was in . One year he even turned the front wheels inside out so he could roll next to the wall .
But the other side to that is that you’ve more bulk to draw in and store, then you have the effluent running out of it to draw back out, and if it’s running from a pit into a slurry tank you’ve the added gas danger when mixing it.
Don’t get me wrong there’s a nice balance some lads don’t seem to care and others go excessive. We let ours go to dry imo in 18 and it was a pain as the meal wouldn’t stay mixed in it and it also fluffed up a lot in the feed trough so we ended up having to split feed out into 2 stages
 
I never cut silage in single swards. That ended with the jf harvester. 99% of the time grass that's mower dry and given a day on the ground in 20's has more then enough drying done on top to soak up the moisture from low down in the sward. The amount of seepage I'd have to deal with most of the time wouldn't fill a tanker.
 
Tedders dont make bigger rows though....




I wont be without the grouper here its very handy to be able to leave a field in twenty foot rows at same time as mowing it. Raking costs time and money.
Groupers fine if you are prepared to wait till grass is good and dry which can limit mowing time, otherwise cut it full spread width and tedd if needed, most SPFH in use today want 30 ft or more in a row.
 
But the other side to that is that you’ve more bulk to draw in and store, then you have the effluent running out of it to draw back out, and if it’s running from a pit into a slurry tank you’ve the added gas danger when mixing it.
Don’t get me wrong there’s a nice balance some lads don’t seem to care and others go excessive. We let ours go to dry imo in 18 and it was a pain as the meal wouldn’t stay mixed in it and it also fluffed up a lot in the feed trough so we ended up having to split feed out into 2 stages
People forget that's lost feed value.
 
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