Grass serves as a vital feed for livestock, provided as fresh grass, dried grass, or processed and fermented grass (silage). This article explores equipment used for forage handling in livestock management.
Mowers for Grass and Crop Harvesting
Mowers primarily cut grass but can be adapted for harvesting cereals like wheat. Two main types exist:
- Cutter bar mowers
- Rotary mowers
Both can be self-propelled or tractor-powered. Rotary mowers are typically smaller, while larger machines may also condition crops.
Small, self-propelled walking mowers, the first step in agricultural mechanization, use single-action cutter bars 1–1.5 m wide.
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Cutter Bar Mowers for Precision Cutting
The cutter bar mower features two plates: a stationary ledger plate and a moving sickle or knife section, operating like scissors via shear action. Multiple ledger and sickle units form the cutter bar, with the number depending on available power.
Proper clearance between plates ensures effective cutting, maintained by knife clips. The sickle section, driven by the tractor’s power take-off through a gear system, converts rotary motion to reciprocating motion via a crank and pitman attachment.
The cutter bar slides on skids called shoes, with the outer shoe separating cut from uncut crops and both featuring replaceable linings. Animal-drawn mowers follow similar principles, with power derived from drive or transport wheels.
Rotary Mowers for Weed and Stalk Management
Rotary mowers, with one or more rotating blades (horizontal or vertical), excel at cutting weeds, stalks, and brush. Their low height makes them ideal for clearing weeds under orchard trees.
Robust construction and low maintenance offset their higher energy demands compared to cutter bar mowers.
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Raking Equipment for Forage Collection
Rakes gather cut grass or smooth loose soil or gravel. Used in livestock production, rakes are typically animal- or tractor-mounted, with some manual options. This article focuses on rakes for livestock management.
1. Hay Rakes for Windrow Formation
Hay rakes, driven by the demand for hay loaders and pickup balers, create loose, fluffy, continuous windrows for collection. They collect cut hay or straw, fluff and turn it for drying, and protect it from dew overnight. A tedder spreads it the next day for faster drying. Hay rakes can be tractor-drawn, animal-drawn, or hand tools.
Historically, wooden hand rakes with teeth, larger than garden rakes, were prevalent in the 19th and early 20th centuries and remain in use in some regions.
2. Types of Hay Rakes for Efficient Forage Handling
Hay rakes are classified as side-delivery or sweep rakes. Side-delivery rakes include:
i. Cylindrical-Reel, Parallel-Bar, or Side-Stroke Rakes: Feature reel bars attached to three spiders, with curved spring steel teeth (often coiled) for lifting and pushing hay. The reel, angled at 45 degrees, gathers hay to one side, creating continuous spiral windrows.
ii. Finger-Wheel Rakes: Use individually floating, ground-driven wheels angled to the direction of motion, with spring teeth in light ground contact.
Tension springs counterbalance wheels, adjusting to surface irregularities like irrigation levees. Wheel diameters are typically 1.5 m.
Reel-type rakes maintain teeth in parallel positions perpendicular to the reel axis, with tooth bars shaped to keep bearings perpendicular to reel-head planes, ensuring consistent horizontal tooth movement.
Parallel-bar rakes, with four to six reel bars on parallel plates, keep teeth vertical, raking hay briefly as each bar contacts it.
3. Sweep Rakes for Hay Transport
Sweep rakes, also called buck or bull rakes, collect hay from windrows and transport it short distances to stationary balers or stacks.
4. Desirable Characteristics of Hay Rakes
Effective hay rakes minimize:
- Leaf loss from shattering
- Missed hay
- Trash or dirt in windrows
- Uneven windrows
- Stem-heavy windrows with leaves at the center
Leaf loss depends on the distance hay moves, hay velocity, movement type (rolling, lifting, or dragging), and tooth impact. High forward speeds increase leaf shattering.
5. Rakes and Spreaders in Agricultural Construction
Rakes in road works remove vegetation from loose soil, featuring 10–16 teeth (75–100 mm long, 400–450 mm overall). Spreaders, made of 2–3 mm thick sheet metal with ridges, level road surfaces to set gradients.
Both tools have long handles for comfortable standing operation.
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