Hay mowers and toppers might both cut grass, but using one in place of the other is costing you more than the convenience is worth. Farmers who regularly top paddocks with their hay mower are accelerating wear on expensive equipment while getting inferior results compared to using a purpose-built topper.
The difference comes down to design. Hay mowers are built to cut low and maximise yield. Toppers are built for regular paddock maintenance. When you blur that line, you're shortening the life of your most valuable piece of cutting equipment and spending more time in the paddock than necessary.
Understanding why this matters can save you thousands of dollars and a lot of frustration.
Hay mowers use thin, belt-driven blades that sit low to the ground. This setup works perfectly when you're cutting hay and want maximum yield from every pass. But these mowers aren't built for the kind of repetitive stress that comes with regular topping work, especially through uneven ground or rougher growth.
Hay mowers' belts slip, stretch, and need replacing far more often when you're using your mower outside its intended purpose. The wear accumulates faster than most farmers realise, particularly when you're running the machine through conditions it wasn't designed to handle.
Toppers use direct-drive systems. There are no belts to maintain or replace. The entire design is built around handling paddock work repeatedly without the same mechanical strain. Another major advantage of toppers is their durability in real-world paddock conditions.
Hay mowers are vulnerable to hidden stumps, rocks, and uneven terrain, which can cause damage or require downtime for repairs. Gear-driven toppers, on the other hand, are built to handle these challenges, with reinforced cutting systems and a more robust design. This resilience means you spend less time fixing equipment and more time keeping your paddocks in top condition.
Most hay mowers - when used for topping - often cut 2 to 3 metres wide. Toppers can cover 6 to 7 metres in a single pass. Some models can cut up to 9 metres. Using a hay mower to top paddocks not only doubles the time on the machine but also increases the risk of hitting obstacles and causing damage. A topper cuts wider and is designed to withstand paddock hazards, keeping your operation efficient and your equipment safe.
Hay mowers cut low because that's how you maximise yield. But when you're topping paddocks, cutting too low damages pasture and slows regrowth. You need flexibility with cutting height, and hay mowers don't give you much.
Toppers have adjustable height settings. You can manage grass length properly without scalping your pasture, which keeps regrowth strong and maintains better conditions for your stock. Topping before grazing improves pasture quality and animal performance, and having proper height control makes that job far more effective.
If you want to understand how topping fits into your grazing strategy and why timing matters, we've covered the key benefits in detail. Read more about why you should top paddocks before grazing.
A 2.7-metre topper starts around $15,000, while wider 5.4-metre models can exceed $42,000. At first glance, it may feel cheaper to put more hours on the hay mower you already own rather than purchasing another piece of equipment.
But a new hay mower is still a major investment, typically costing $25,000 to $30,000 or more, depending on width. When you use it for regular topping, you can reduce its lifespan by around 25%, meaning you’re wearing out one of your most expensive, high-value machines years earlier than necessary.
When you factor in that early replacement cost, plus the extra time spent topping with a narrower cutting width and the lack of height control, a purpose-built topper becomes the more cost-effective long-term investment. It protects your mower, reduces downtime, and maintains your pasture with less overall strain on your equipment.
Your hay mower is one of the most expensive pieces of equipment on your property. It's essential during hay season, and replacing it isn't cheap. Using it as a topper between grazings might feel practical, but you're trading short-term convenience for long-term costs.
A topper does the job it's designed for. It cuts wider, handles paddock conditions without excessive wear, and gives you the control you need to manage pasture properly. More importantly, it keeps your hay mower available for the work it was actually built to do.
If you're heading into the busy season and still relying on a hay mower for topping, now's the time to rethink that approach. A dedicated topper protects your investment, handles paddock hazards, improves efficiency, and ensures better pasture management.
Choosing the right topper depends on your property size, paddock layout, and rotation strategy. Our Mower Selector tool takes the guesswork out of matching the right equipment to your needs.