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“What is a lift kit, and why might I need one?” This is a question we get here at Tractor Tools Direct quite often when communicating with customers. This blog will answer that question.First, what is a lift kit?A lift kit consists of spacers, bolts, and skid plates that raise the cutting height of a drum mower by roughly an inch to an inch-and-a-half depending upon the model. With simple installation, the kit bolts to the underside of each drum and essentially raises the height of the entire ma …

Here at Tractor Tools Direct we field quite a few phone calls, chats, and emails asking about different types of mowers and their uses. This blog will discuss the differences between the two types of mowers we carry–drum mowers and flail mowers–and explain why they are not interchangeable. They definitely have very different uses on a small farm. A drum mower is a hay mower. Its purpose is to cut the stem of a crop at its base leaving the cut plant as unscathed and complete as possible. …

Here at Tractor Tools Direct, we have narrowed our hay mower inventory to exclusively drum mowers. Here’s why…..For more than a decade we have provided small-acreage farmers with the hay equipment they need for their farms, and we have learned a thing or two. During this time, we sold both sickle bar mowers and disc mowers. We found the occurrences of operator error to be greater, the cost of parts replacement to be higher, and the incidents of breakage to be more frequent with these two types o …

As the old adage claims, prevention is worth a pound of cure. More applicably, in the world of hay production, prevention is worth pounds of curing hay--and the best way to prevent problems in the hay field is through regular maintenance of your equipment. Several of our previous blogs have discussed maintenance to prepare for the hay season and maintenance to close out the hay season. This blog will provide a check list of maintenance that should be performed each time your equipment is us …

There can be much debate about which cutting of hay is best for which species of animal. Unfortunately, there is no way to win that debate. The issue is far too complex. First off, there is just as much variance within a species for which cutting of hay is best as there is between species. Second, as discussed in a previous  blog, there can be more variance in the quality within a cutting of hay than between cuttings. However, we can provide some general guidelines to keep in mind. Wo …