"Cow's Teeth" Mower Has Just Two Moving Parts

"Cow's Teeth" Mower Has Just Two Moving Parts HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Mowers (38) 8-5-16 You've never seen anything like this new "cow's teeth" mower from Utah that looks and works like a giant auger-type snowblower. Small cutter knives welded at right angles to the outer edge of auger flighting on the new "Dualmower" tear at grass like cow's teeth, completely eliminating conventional sickle sections, guards or drives. The new-style mower is making its hay-cutting debut on western farms this summer. "It has just two moving parts," says Ted Johnson, sales manager for the manufacturer, General Implement Co., Salt Lake City, Utah. "In addition to virtually eliminating mower maintenance, it'll walk right through gopher mounds and other obstacles in the field." The mower consists of two augers. One is used to cut the crop and the other to windrow it. The flighting on the cutting auger is equipped with 1/2-in. long teeth welded at right angles to the flighting. The flighting turns up into the mower so the teeth cut the grass in an upward, raking motion that Johnson compares to the way cows tear grass off with their teeth. The hay is then windrowed by the larger rear windrower, which has a "stripper" plate mounted behind it to condition hay by stripping wax off the stems before feeding it out the back into windrows. The drive system of the pto-driven cutter consists simply of a right angle gearbox that feeds power to belt drives at either end of the augers. "Because it works right through gopher mounds and other obstacles, the operator never has to worry about maintenance in the field. The cutting teeth don't have to be sharp to do a good cutting job and, even if some teeth are knocked off, the mower still does a good job," says Johnson. The 14-ft. wide machine lays side-by-side double windrows that can be adjusted in width. Johnson says the double windrows dry faster and are flatter and more uniform, making better bales. "There is almost never any bunched hay in the windrows," he points out. Cutting height of the mower is adjusted by tilting the head forward, bringing the cutting auger closer to the ground. "At 8 mph it does as good a job as a sickle mower traveling at 4 mph," says Johnson. "The new Dualmower will cut and windrow corn stalks and can also be used to æted' hay by slowing down the auger speed and speeding up the ground speed. The only condition where the mower won't work at top speed is in extremely wet, heavy hay." The new mower is available in two sizes, a 14-ft. wide header model designed to fit self-propelled Deere, Hesston, or New Holland swathers, and a 12-ft. wide 3-pt. model designed to fit any 60 hp. or larger tractor with a Cat. II hitch and a 1000 rpm pto. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, General Implement Co., Inc., Box 27641, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84127 (ph 801 972-4321).

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