With grass fertilizer spread and temperatures on the rise, grass should soon jump out of the ground. Across the country, many farmers will be letting grass up with the intention of cutting it for silage or hay.

Much of this grass will be cut by large trailed, butterfly or even self-propelled machines. The market for a standard, three-point linkage mounted plain disc mower is huge.

Mainstream manufacturers continue to offer a variety of working widths, but it is perhaps the 2.4m (8ft) version that is the most popular. If anything, there are a growing number of manufacturers offering such options.

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Relative newcomers to the marketplace are Irish manufacturers Major and Malone. Both offer plain disc mowers of this size and it is rumoured that another Irish manufacturer will soon enter the marketplace with its own mower. The size and configuration remains to be seen.

Plain disc mowers are available in a variety of sizes but machines around the 2.4m (8ft) mark can generally be easily driven and handled by tractors from around 80hp or 90hp upwards. These are still popular size and horsepower tractors here. Some venture up to a 3m (10ft mowers) but as three-point linkage machines, they take a bit more handling.

For those in the market for a new eight-footer, there are many options to choose from. Standard configuration would be a belt-driven machine with hydraulic folding and headland function. Providing bed suspension would generally be a spring with some sort of adjustment. The majority would come with a swath wheel or board for the outside of the mower as standard. An inside swath wheel is available from many manufacturers. On a 2.4m mower, this provides the potential to make a swath that can be picked up by a baler.

One option certainly worth considering, if available, is quick-fit blades. With this option, changing blades is so much easier where the risk of stone damage is higher than normal. Some manufacturers now offer individual disc protection from stones or foreign objects. Again, this is worth considering for areas where there is the risk of stone damage, particularly on headlands.

Moving up spec a little further, there is the option of over-arm mounted three-point linkage mowers. A hydraulic arm over the mower carries the mower bed midway along the bed to provide greater ground contouring and better control over bed pressure. All with the aim of reducing the amount of soil contamination in the crop/silage.

Generally, mowers of this type are heavier and require a larger tractor to handle them.

Not all will offer a 2.4m variant but an increasing number offer variants around the 3m mark. Mowers of this type are typically more expensive than their conventional counterparts, but silage quality is potentially better.

There is a huge variety of options out there and the following is a sample listing of what is available around 2.4m in working width.