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There's some pretty good ideas here but I'll tell you how I use my hog. I've been using mine for several years and have a disc mower and sickle bar cutters, but the hog will out do both of them as far as ease of operartions and quality of hay. I keep my blades sharp and keep the deck only slightly lower in front. I keep mine in the same position it would be in if I were just bushhogging and not cutting hay. That way it cuts the grass and crimps it as it's being discharged. The main problem you'll have using a hog is setting you're ground speed to match the blade speed. If you go too fast it won't cut good.
If you go to slow it will grind the grass too fine. When you have your speed matched out right, the grass will be cut from 6" to 12" long, and will be crushed from one end to the other like it's been thru a crimper. You'll probly save at least a day on cure time, and you'll have some of the most tender hay around. Another advantage is the higher protein count in the hay. When it's run thru the hog and cured right you'll usually have about 3% more protein than when cut and cured using a disc or sickle bar mower. I think that's from the quicker cure time causing less leaching.
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