haying 101

[Jordanbear]

I only clean out the baler at the end of the season - I tarp it between hayings and don't worry about getting those last 2 bales out. I never bale wet hay though - horses won't eat it.

Cleaning out the baler is one of those things that ought to be on 'Dirty Jobs'. I cut the strings on the bales, loosen the tensioners and just pull out the hay. You have to climb inside the chute to get the last bits out. It seems every year I discover a new part of the baler interior that I didn't reach the previous year.

I use the aircompressor to completely clean out all the dust, then I grease it up, spray the knotters with marvel mystery oil and tarp it with a small tarp over the knotter assembly and a big tarp over the whole baler.

About shear pins. If everything is adjusted right, I find that it's speed that kills the shear pins. If I overload the baler but I'm not going too fast it will just choke and not break anything. If I'm going fast (ground speed and pto speed) and it chokes, the pins break.

I probably drive everyone nuts putzing around in 2nd gear and 1400rpm but the machinery is happy and it's less time than stopping to fix things.

 

[lhfarm]

I saw the guy I purchased my haying equipment from over lunch. Told him about this thread. He told me that Spencer Yost, who has run the Antique Tractor Internet Service - The World's Oldest Web Site for Antique Tractors! since the early 90's has a book on Small-Scale Haymaking.

I've not read the book, but if it is anything like his book The Antique Tractor Bible (Antique Tractor Bible: The Complete ... - Google Book Search ) it would be a great resource.

 

[flusher]

I saw the guy I purchased my haying equipment from over lunch. Told him about this thread. He told me that Spencer Yost, who has run the Antique Tractor Internet Service - The World's Oldest Web Site for Antique Tractors! since the early 90's has a book on Small-Scale Haymaking.

I've not read the book, but if it is anything like his book The Antique Tractor Bible (Antique Tractor Bible: The Complete ... - Google Book Search ) it would be a great resource.

I have a copy of Yost's book. It's very good for beginning hayers like myself. Be aware that he's deep into using vintage tractors and implements to do small scale haying on a shoestring budget. I pretty much have followed his suggestions in rounding up used equpiment to go haying later this year when (if????) there's rain in the forecast (my 10 acres is not irrigated so I'm a dry land farmer).

Here are a few photos showing my growing collection of equipment. The sicklebar mower and 2-14 pull plow have been restored to working condition. The JD hay rake was bought in working condition.

The MF-124 square baler (my most expensive purchase at $2000) is in working condition. I bought it right out of the field. The seller used it to bale on his 35 acres the day before I bought it.

The two Minneapolis Moline P3-6 grain drills need work.

Bought these for $275. The one on the right is the primary drill; the other one is the parts unit. I've disassembled the fertilizer box on the primary drill. Several of the fertilizer cups are rusted and they're soaking in PB Blaster now.

You can see from these photos that I've pretty much gotten into the spirit of Yost's haymaking book. You have to be willing to get your fingernails dirty using this approach, but it's really fun to get that old stuff working again.

 

[Kendrick]

1) thow shal be shot for wet knotters... Tarp or roof must be used.

2) pay a good old mechanic to make sure every thing is in working order bailer is the most important on the list.

3) walk your field and make sure no tiling, trenches, wood chucks etc have changed the landscape. I found a 2' square hole where i think tiling used to be. there is a chance that there is a couple more out there in better condition.

4) test cut is a must on new equipment. took till the 2nd cut to figure out the reel was broken on our haybind. we had a grand total of 4 rivets that were still attached out of 30 when the belt finally got really stuck. we still have to put a 2nd chain back on the mower and I need to do some mods to resolve some issues for the end of the cutter.

5) see what optional parts are available. mine there are a pair of poles to help direct tall grass to the cutter. i need that and some more to fix the problems i have with end plugging.

6) make sure your cart is decrepified before mowing forgot to do that and had to use my cars trailer instead


The mower conditioner is a good piece of equipment in the north. if you have a wide swath and a conditioner you may not need to ted. our hay went up almost to dry and it was just grasses. over the 4th weekend it was 3 days to cut-bale.

 

[Rara Avis]

I only clean out the baler at the end of the season - I tarp it between hayings and don't worry about getting those last 2 bales out. I never bale wet hay though - horses won't eat it.

Cleaning out the baler is one of those things that ought to be on 'Dirty Jobs'. I cut the strings on the bales, loosen the tensioners and just pull out the hay. You have to climb inside the chute to get the last bits out. It seems every year I discover a new part of the baler interior that I didn't reach the previous year.

You can save the last two bales in the baler...
You take a couple of OLD bales from last year out of the barn...break them and feed them to the baler...Voila!!...the new bales come out and now you have junk bales in the chute...

That's what baling hooks are for...is to clean the chute at the end of the season...

 

[Jordanbear]

And today's haying excitement : check your rake tines before each season.

A couple of years ago I went through and replaced a bunch of the tines that were missing, or getting loose- the rake is an International side delivery, circa 1950.

Apparently another one decided to let go today and I baled it.

And it didn't slide neatly into a flake, where I'd find it in January in some horse's stall.

Ping goes the shear bolt (so much for my claim 2 days ago that I've not broken any b/c I bale so slowly).

Took me a few minutes to find the problem after cleaning out the hay. Then what to do - the tine was facing forward and the ram/slicer had closed on it. So tight it almost looked like part of the baler and it wasn't budging.

And the whole reason I was baling this afternoon (I mowed yesterday at 4pm) was that around 4pm the forecast changed from sunny, to 70% chance of storms.

As I'm fighting with the baler, the sky gets dark, the wind blows the rest of my windrows all askew, and I'm sure it's going to pour - with my 73 bales already on the ground.

We finally rocked the flywheel back and forth and loosened the ram enough to open the slicer and remove the tine.

I'll put it in my collection of "things to remember to not do a second time". It's got some nasty bites out of it!

Got the rest of it baled, and in the barn (190 bales) and it just started raining now. Whew!

 

[Briana03]

I moved your thread to the new Haying forum!

 

[countryguy1225]

We're pretty close regionally. I did my first go late this summer as well. The Drought in MI took hay from $3/4 a bale to 10-15 a bale. I'd be interested in keeping up a dialog if you care too? Pop a note back and we can chat. Did you buy the books suggested?

 

[dan_d]

Geez it feels like forever since that first year! I hear you about the hay prices... big bales around here went from $25 to $60+
I didn't actually buy/read any of the books, but read most of the online info to get a feel for what I was up against. I also had a lot of help from family and neighbours It's just like most other things in life: don't believe any once source; better to read, learn, try and think critically about what you're doing to form your own opinions

Off the top of my head, here's some more stuff that I've learned since starting this thread:
- true in all cases, but especially if you're using old equipment like me: make sure you have access to spares! I now have 2 balers, 2 rakes, 2 wagons and 2 tractors, because it's pretty much guaranteed that stuff only breaks when you use it! although I have access to a neighbour's haybine, i figure if mine breaks its just a nuisance more than anything since uncut hay won't be ruined if it rains...
- if you can get the help, baling with a person (or 2 is best) on the wagon is a huge time and effort saver! at the very least, invest in some kind of bale buncher or stuker to cut down on pickup time. when the weather is good, you want to be able to take in as much hay as possible since you could be waiting a while for the next window.
- on a related note, i'm in the market for more wagons since unloading during the good weather window wastes valuable haying hours! you can always unload later or the next day even if its crappy weather
- depending on your equipment, its usually worthwhile to double or triple up windrows to cut down on the baling time and wear... that of course depends on the quantity of hay your fields are producing, and assumes that your baler and tractor (and person(s) on the wagon if applicable!) can handle it ) With my NH269 baler, I find that bales are generally more uniform if you keep the baler well-fed and bale slower, in my case 2L High Multipower on my Massey 275
- a haybine saves a full day's worth of drying time is a worthwhile investment, but make sure it's adjusted properly! (see next point)
- get the user's manual for whatever equipment you own, they aren't usually too expensive (eg: on ebay) and are bound to have some useful tidbits on how to run & maintain it
- learn how to fix your own equipment! it will save you time and money in the long run, and you'll feel better knowing that everything is done to your satisfaction!


I'm happy to provide input if you have any other specific questions
Cheers,
Dan

 

[petes]

Somewhere in this thread there was discussion about whether or not to leave bales in the chute. My JD 24T is ~50 years old, and I do everything I can to keep it from deteriorating any further. I found the easiest way to clear them out is: when you're within 1 or 2 bales from finishing the end of the last windrow, stop, back off the tensioner and hand feed loose hay it in while hand tripping the knotter to make a couple "mini bales". These are easy to reach in, grab the twine and pull them out one by one (maybe 4 or 5 total). So easy that there is no reason not to!