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Description: This sickle bar mower is towed by a tractor that supplies power through a power take off (PTO) to an oscillating sickle blade (e.g., NAL #4696) that cuts the forage. Sickle bar mowers predominated for decades, but rotary disk mowers were favored increasingly after 2000. In the present mower, the cut forage passes between rollers that crush (condition) the stems to hasten drying. This mower is designed to funnel the crushed forage into a windrow behind the mower to facilitate pickup for baling or chopping. By contrast, some mowers leave the hay in swaths behind the mower for greater surface area to facilitate drying. When the swath of forage has dried, the hay is raked (e.g., NAL #3469) into a windrow to facilitate pickup by a chopper or baler. Without a conditioner, the leaves may be overly dry by the time the stems have dried sufficiently for baling hay, leading to lost leaf nutrients during windrowing and baling. Thus, conditioners reduce drying time, increase retention of nutrient rich leaves on the stems, and reduce the risk of rain damage before the forage can be chopped or baled. Two other sickle bar mowers are illustrated in NAL #4837 and #4839.

Resolution: 504x504

File Size: 210.47 KB