hay baling questions

[WTA]

We have 25 acres here and it's all really nice pastures. I'm from Tennessee and now in West Texas so Of course I'm doing things different. I think we have the nicest horse pasture in the county myself but recently, I gave up trying to board horses for other people and made the switch to baling hay. Two reasons, One is I make much more money this way for our limited number of acres and two is some horse owners are just nuts. Other barns were referring the ones they didn't want to me I found out and that really was not worth the hassle.

I have a nice new tractor with plenty of power now and just got a hesston 4570 baler with the hydraulic tensioner and quarter turn bale chute. I also picked up a 16 foor NH 116 mower conditioner. It's still at the dealer getting the finishing touches put on it. They had to do a lot of work on it but the price was right and they are fixing it right.

I already had a good NH rake and am getting a bale wagon/stacker in another month. Hopefully I will be able to cut, bale and pickup and stack all the hay from now on without getting off the tractor too much. It will certainly make life easier.

We have Alfalfa and Giant bermuda growing. I've baled the Bermuda about 10 times now since I got it established and yields are still increasing on it. I love that field. The Alfalfa will be my first cutting next week but I don't anticipate any problems with it.

I have lots of questions. I've never owned my own baler or swather before. I've repaired lots of them in the past while I was a mechanic at a dealer but I've never run these particular brands before. Do any of you have any tips or know anything I should know about operating them? I have owners manuals on order for both machines but I don't think the one for the swather will get here before I'm ready to cut.
In the past my neighbor has cut my hay for me and baled it. It was getting way too expensive for us to hire that out and now we have our own machines which can do it faster and much cheaper so he's not happy with us at the moment and won't come over to help me learn it. Isn't that nice?
I already have people asking me about custom baling too, which I was really hoping for. We also just sold our first cutting of alfalfa too. I told the lady I don't want her money till it's on her trailer because there is always that chance of it getting rained on. We were always lucky in the past with timing the hay between storms but sometimes things happen.

If anyone has any words of wisdom for getting into the hay business or about the machines I got please let me know so I don't learn the hard way out in the field.
Thanks.

 

[WTA]

I almost forgot this. One BIG reason we had to get our own baler was because some of my past customers were not happy at all with the ones the neighbor did. Bale densities and weights were very inconsistent. Some would explode as soon as they came out of the chute and some weighed 10 pounds and fell apart when we were stacking them. That's not good when you charge per bale or try stacking them in a customers barn. It really didn't matter how much he tinkered with the bale tensioner on that machine it just would not stay consistent.

This new one I got is only a couple years old and in excellent condition. It's the centerline design Hesston with string instead of wire which I like a lot more due to cost and hopefully that hydraulic bale tensioner will make a big difference.

Does anyone know where a good starting point for hydraulic pressure on that cylinder is? It's a single acting cylinder with a gauge on the accumulator up on the front of the machine. I've never used one before.

 

[Mickey_Fx]

It's been yrs since I was in the haying business.

I think having consistant windrows plays a big part in having consistant bales. Also belive balers with long shutes do a better job of consistant bale weight than shorter shutes. I started out with an old baler with a long shute that did a good job of producing consistant bales. Swapped balers for a new JD model with hyd tension and had a short shute. Don't recall the JD doing any better in producing consistant bales and in some fields bale weight varied more than I'd like.

A question for you. No experience with Bermuda grass and have always associated it with lawns. What kind of yield do you get from Bermuda?

Not knowing anything about growing conditions in your area but around here Alfalfa and clover presented problems for 1st cuttings. Both were long and stemy which presented problems with curing. Convientional side del rakes were bad on roping the hay, making drying a real issue. Had to find a different answer in rake design to eliminate this kind of problem.

 

[WTA]

I seeded giant Bermuda about 3 years ago into a 7 acre field. It takes a good bit of water and fertilizer. Our soil samples usually call for 60 pounds of nitrogen per acre at each cutting. This time I only needed 30 pounds nitrogen but a micronutrient pack and it is growing like you wouldn't believe. Our bale count has steadily increased on that field since I first baled it from 200 to 425 bales on the last cutting. I'm hoping to max out around 500 bales a cutting. Figuring a 60 pound bale average, That's just a little over 2 tons per acre per cutting. I cut 6 times last year. This year it has stayed cold out longer and we are off to a late start. I cut the first time on may 15th last year I think.

Our max so far though was about 3400 pounds an acre. It's still filling in thicker.

I never expected yields like this and the ag extension agent didn't believe it till he saw it but this is good stuff if you manage it properly.

I was a little worried about the alfalfa if I had to rake it myself. I only have a side delivery NH rake. I know I'm supposed to use an inverter on it. Ours is so thick it's unreal right now. Tons of leaves and it looks great. It's about 10 to 18 inches tall on average right now. I have to throw some more water in a few spots out there this week. I broadcast seeded it is the reason it's so thick. Some of the plants on the edges are pretty stemmy and really tall and have already gone to flowering but out in it we are good now. Very few flowers yet.
I've been told I should bale when it's about 50% flowered out for maximum nutritional value. Does this sound right?

With the Bermuda we just stick to a 28 day cutting cycle on it weather permitting. It's nutritional values really drop fast after 30 days.

I am doing one thing different this year. It's costing me a little more diesel fuel but saving me money not having to store hay for our horses and goats.
I cross fenced the bermuda right down the middle and I'm rotating the horses and goats from side to side while growing the other side for baling. When I bale on one side, I take the horses off then shred what the horses were on down to about 2 inches. It spreads the manure around pretty good too. Then I put out whatever the lab tells me for fertilizer on that side and put the horses out where I just baled. We're on our first cycle doing this and it seems to be working. That's a lot of manure out there to spread so far. It should help cut my fertilizer bill and we all know how ridiculous that has become. Their urine out there really makes it grow too. You can really tell where they have gone at.

 

[flusher]

...
I was a little worried about the alfalfa if I had to rake it myself. I only have a side delivery NH rake. I know I'm supposed to use an inverter on it. Ours is so thick it's unreal right now. Tons of leaves and it looks great. It's about 10 to 18 inches tall on average right now. I have to throw some more water in a few spots out there this week. I broadcast seeded it is the reason it's so thick. Some of the plants on the edges are pretty stemmy and really tall and have already gone to flowering but out in it we are good now. Very few flowers yet.

.

So your alfalfa is irrigated. What kind of irrigation system do you use?

My neighbor has 20 acres of alfalfa going on two 10-acre fields. He spent a wad last Sep using his D7 Cat and a 10-ft wide laser grading box to get his fields smoothed and sloped so he could use surface irrigation. It's subsidized water from the local irrigation district. It looks to me like a pretty thin stand so far.

 

[WTA]

I've got irrigation but it's nothing fancy. Just two big water cannons. We are running 9/16 nozzles in each of them. I keep one in the alfalfa field and one in the Bermuda. Each of them do about a 150 foot circle if the wind is calm. It works for me. I put out a bunch of buried pipe early last year with risers every 60 feet and I have cam lock couplings on the risers and at the end of the pipes in the field. It's a real easy setup to move around and it doesn't leak like the old aluminum pipes I had. Someone stole all of that last year (he's now in jail for it) and everything is PVC pipe here now. It's less appealing to thieves as there is no recycling center to take it to.

Now we are using our house well to irrigate but at first we were flood irrigating off a big turbine pump. I was just about to put it back into service but apparently they don't like sitting so long. The casing is rusted up and it's barely pumping anything now. I'm looking for ways to chemically clean that so I don't have to go through all the hassle and expense of a new well on that side of our property. The house pump is a fairly large one too. 7.5 HP. This well will only run one big gun at a time while holding 50-60 PSI for the house. The big well is a 30 horse and will run 10 of them pretty easy at once. I have to upgrade my pipe to 6 inch from that well though. It will go to the center of our property and connect to each fields 2 inch pipe. Hopefully I can run 2 of the big sprinklers in each field at the same time after I do that.

 

[zzvyb6]

It should be fun for you. Be careful and Never get ahead of your plan. Here's what free advise I offer:

Don't cut everything at once. Until you get a good idea about how to drive the mower, how it windrows, how thick & dense the windrows are, and what kind of drying time you have, you should not go all out. Do 3-5 acres and stop. Decide how you want to mow it: lay it down or windrow out of the cutter. I recommend windrowing because you can immediately tell if there are skips or plugs or broken teeth, you set the hay down with openings on the ground which will dry fast. Next day or two, use the rake to push it over and onto the dry spot. with a 16' cutter, you dare not double windrow. There will be too much hay to get dried, and too much per second going into the baler. This also depends on your tractor gearing because the baler wants a certain charge rate and your tractor must deliver the ground speed to provide it.

Plan on a Noon cutting. This gets the most moisture on the grass before you cut it. Study the cut material to see if the crusher rolls are not tight enough or too tight. Depending on the air temperature and humidity, the next day you may be able to rake it first time to get the underside dry. If not, wait until the next day after.

Give yourself enough time to bale the cut field. Start at 2:00 and see what time you are done baling. You will want enough time left to run the stackhand to snag the bales out of the field and get it all back to the delivery station in daylight. Call the customer in advance when it looks like you will actually be picking up real, decent, quality bales. Check the bale tension on every 20 bales until you get the bale weight you want. As dew comes in, they get heavier so plan ahead.

Don't get dehydrated. Drink water and electrolytes (Gatoraid) to keep your energy up. I like Red Bull for this because its more vitamin B that caffeine or sugar. It keeps you thinking. Wear good gloves: ones which protect your hands but not too stiff or thick to feel things. Stay away from the cold beer until you are all done. Keep a gallon jug of water on the tractor and use a Texas air conditioner to stay cool (rag around your head that's been soaked in water). Get a good pair of boots with steel toes and arch supports. That way you won't break an ankle when jumping of the tractor to check the knotter. Carry a good sharp long bladed knife with a thin blade to cut bad knots out of the baler, to pick out a sliver, or to cut of the bale knot when tying two spools together. (Keep a sharp wire cutters in the twine box for this too. Make sure your toolbox has extra shear pins for all machines, a decent set of wrenches and extra hitch pins. Nothing more wasted than time to walk back to the shed for something.

While running the baler circuit, think about what's next on the agenda: calling customers, arranging help, go get some twine bales, bring me a grease gun and a gallon of hydrauic oil. Have someone keep a log book of lessons learned or a "NEXT TIME" sheet. (Next time cut the field the other way to minimize turn circles and wasted travel distance. (next time check the shear pins before you start instead of when you realize you were baling without one. Next time blow out the tractor air cleaner and radiator screen, ) You get the picture. Check your wagons now to see what boards are rotted out and what wheel bearings are dry. A lot easier to do now than trying to do it out in the middle of a field with mosquitoes bugging you, no lights, a dropped bearing race and a lost cotter pin.

One more thing, I always clean off the mower and baler with a leaf blower after I'm done for the day. You get to see missing parts, loose bolts, oil leaks, soft tires, rocks on the cutter bar, belt going bad on the reel drive, and hold down clips that need to be disciplined.

All in all, the more up front time you spend, the easier and more fun you will have. When the fun runs out, I can assure you that the boarders will be invited back.

By the way, there's quite a bit of joy and satisfaction to be had in tossing your very first bale over the fence to one of your ponys with a "Made it myself" gift card on it. Get a picture of it. It will make you snicker up to the day you pass on. Some of your friends will think you're nuts, others will envy you. Enjoy the moment.

Good luck !

 

[chetlenox]

WTA,

You've already got some great advice, there is some good stuff in those responses. This is only my second year of selling hay, which makes me low on the total experience scale. But let me share some odds and ends which others might not think of (since they aren't as new to this thing as me):

1) Appearance matters. I live on the edge of a relatively busy county road, where my "Hay for Sale" sign generates at least half of my business. My meager experience has shown that folks that buy hay don't always know the details of what makes hay good (cutting timing, fertilizer dosage, weather management, herbicides, etc) but they all tend to say the same thing, "Man, that field looks great, thats got to be some good hay!" So I trim my fencelines, tend to the weeds, and keep my property cleaned up. I know that it doesn't make any difference to the actual quality of the hay, but the customers seem to care.

2) Take care of the equipment. It's amazing how costly a breakdown at the wrong time can be (like when the delay results in the hay being rained on). I learned from a buddy that was a professional farmer (I'm merely an amateur with a day job) to do a lot of your preventative maintenance over the winter. It's good advice. Do everything you can in advance to make sure everything is serviced, greased, tested, and ready to go. I've learned the hard way!

3) Customer service matters. I do pick-ups only (don't deliver my hay), and when folks show up I always greet them with a smile, help them load, and give them a bottled water and a business card when they pay. Ok, truthfully I don't know if this will help in the long run, but proper customer service is something that I like myself, so I figure that other people are the same way. People can buy hay in lots of places, if I make it convenient (through location) and pleasant (through customer service), they'll probably keep buying from me.

4) Take "experts" with a grain of salt. I've received lots of lectures on how to grow hay from neighbors who are well meaning, but have never sold a bale in their life. Don't know why, but that's been my experience. Many are well meaning, don't get me wrong. But I've received plenty of advice that was clearly wrong, including things like "Nitrogen is the only nutrient that matters for Coastal Bermuda" (clearly wrong) and "You should only bale your 1st cutting in rounds, since it's only good for cows" (also clearly wrong, as I make much better money per pound in squares). Just because somebody has done the same thing on their farm for 20 years, doesn't make it right.

5) Utilize the Texas Ag Extension service. I've found them to be very helpful, and the boys down at the Texas A&M soil and hay sampling are great, cheap, and they really help to guide on how much fertilizer to use and how the resulting hay quality is. I've even emailed some of the professors down there at A&M with questions, and they've been very helpful with their responses.

Chet.

 

[daycab]

WOW ZZ and Chet!

Your timely advice is greatly appreciated by a greenhorn cutting his first hat tommorow! Thanks for sharing your experience.

Ray

 

[charlz]

"You should only bale your 1st cutting in rounds, since it's only good for cows" (also clearly wrong, as I make much better money per pound in squares). Just because somebody has done the same thing on their farm for 20 years, doesn't make it right.

If the field has weeds most of them go with the first cut... that may be where this 'advice' comes from.