Grass seed specials – Part 1: Modified Mowers

One thing the modified tractors and self-propelled foragers used to annually cut grass for seed, all have in common is that the mowers all have a working width nudging 4.0m, some even have two mowers and there are even a few others are configured as 12.0m triples.

These can be seen in action during the two-month season from early June to late July. You have to go to bed late or get up very early in the morning to see any of them, though, because cutting grass when it is damp limits the seed losses. Most of the mowers usually starting around midnight and finish early the next morning.

One of the best places to see machines in action is in the south of the country on the Dutch/Belgian border, where an estimated 3,000ha of grass seed is knocked down each season. We encountered numerous machines on our three-day tour of the region, and quickly discovered that older John Deere self-propelled foragers are popular