Field maintenance, topper or flail mower?

[tda]

Could anyone advise please, ? I assumed a straight forward topper with circular blade would be ok, but I'm concerned after looking at reviews that the cut longer grass is just going to sit on the surface. Would a flail mower chop it up ?

 

[Goldenstar]

This is a hard one , which I have wrestled with .
What are you going to tow / Power it with ?
I think it also depends on your paddocks the acreage and what your biggest issues are .
I have had both sorts over the years and now manage mine with a heavy duty diesel garden tractor with a heavy duty mulching deck .
I took this choice because I don’t want a quad on the place and the cost of upgrading my tractor to one that had enough power to run the topper well made it most cost effective to buy a very good garden tractor and keep on top of things .
The circular type topper will keep the paddocks looks great and encourage growth the flail type are better when things have gone rogue .
My choice would be the circular type and keep on top of things if you are new to the land and it’s got lots of tall woody stemmed weeds I might get some one in with a flail to get on top of them .
Topping is one of my favourite summer activites.

 

[cauda equina]

It would
Are you buying, or getting someone in to do it?
Flail mowers are much more expensive to buy and maintain but do a much better job if the grass is at all long

 

[sywell]

In large paddocks where picking up droppins can be very time consuming a flail mower breaks up the droppings and then harrow in as we rest paddocks for some months this has worked well for us. There comes a time when you have to make decisions that are not the recommended procedure.

 

[tda]

Thanks for the quick replies, towing with a quad, we've worked very hard this summer to keep the small paddocks (2 x 2 acres) poo picked daily, but the are still rouge areas that are growing rather faster than the rest.

Normal topper is then, thanks

 

[PeterNatt]

I use a specialist grassland contractor who has a 'cut and collector' for my grass land.

 

[Fragglerock]

We have a quad and flail mower - works well enough to keep our paddocks looking really neat. What looks like long grass virtually disappears to nothing.