Hay Making for Dummies

[Dave5264]

Hi Guys, I'm the Dummy in this post, and I need educating by the experts and seasoned farmers out there.

This is my first year on the farm doing my own hay.

Im trying to collect as much info/knowledge as I can before the harvest season arrives.

I have some older New Holland equipment - late 70's/early 80's - 9ft NH hay bine, a late 50's NH Rake (real nice shape) and a late 70's/early 80's Sm Square NH Baler.

Tractor is a 2008 52 hp 4wd Montana c5264, 80 hrs on it

I know the basics (the real basics), cut one day, rake the next, bale the day after that. Dont let the hay get wet after its cut. Keep the machinery well oiled and Greased (alot)

I plan to mow a row or two (or maybe one lap around the field), Rake and Bale that first, just to get used to it. I dont think mowing all 75 acres at once would be wise for a newbie.

I have no clue on anything else, here are but a few of my unknowns:

-how high the cuting bar of the mower should be off the ground
-how high the Rake tines should be off the ground
-the PTO RMP speed to run the Mower at
-the PTO rpm to run the Baler at
-what speed/gear to run my tractor at while, mowing, raking, baling -- is slower better? e.g. i tend to use Low gear when working but not sure if 2nd or 3rd gear low is too slow (or good since it doesnt over stretch my 52 hp tractor)
-Baling is the part that worries me most -- seems like that twine has a lot of places to be routed and get bunged up.
-how do i test for moisture content, doe everyone have one of those testers?
-should i search for a farmer to assist me on Day 1 (I wonder if any of them would really have the time to do this) ?
-what oil to use on the chains
-what oil/greas to use on the knotters
-what grease to use on the wobble box etc
-i heard of a trick when joining the sp0ols of baler twine to keep the knots real tight (moistened by spit), and cut off the excess so it doesnt get caught up...what other tricks are there?
-what directiuon to i mow, rake, bale ? do I do laps, or side by side row's ?
-If i rake the 1st row will it land on the second row?
- do i rake in only 1 direction to avoid lumping 2 rows of hay together?


and, to be honest, I dont know what I dont know.

I've looked forward to this for a while now, but....now its almost here Im darn' terrified of getting it all wrong.

what would those of you that have done this for years teach me?

what would those of you that have done this once or twice tell me you wish you'd have known in advance ?


Thanks in advance

 

[VALENT]

If it were me, I would find a nearby farmer to go offer my services to for their first week or so of haying and learn by doing. There is lots of advice to give and it would be pretty easy to answer a bunch of your questions but there is nothing I could write that would make it as clear or easy as a little experience beneath the wings of somebody who knows this stuff real well.

With that said:
Most mowing and baling will be done at pretty near full pto speed 540 rpm pto.(or 1000)
You mow in a clockwise direction around the whole field and I would do three or four swaths the first day. The mower blades should be pretty close to the ground but different mowers operate quite differently. The rake should be as high as possible without leaving hay behind. Speed will be governed by how rough the field is, how thick the grass etc... etc..

I know these are only some of the answers but it is a start.

 

[backdoor]

Watch or help someone in your area, if you can.

Your haybine will stick out from your tractor on the right, so make clockwise rounds around the field. You'll have to run over the outside row on your first round, but come back for that later when you have room to turn around. Set your haybine to spread the hay all the way across its width. Make sure you open the tongue on your haybine from the transport to the mow position. Same for the baler. If your field is smooth, a 3" tall stubble might be enough. By the time you cut a round or two, you will figure out the best speed for the tractor and the RPM.

Rake your hay towards the center of the field one or two rounds, depending on how much hay is laying there, then roll the windrow part the way back out in order to pickup the hay that your windrow has covered. A couple more rounds in, then partly back out, until the field is done. Rake teeth should not gouge the ground, and should kick over almost all of the cut hay. Drying time will depend on hay thickness and weather. A good rule of thumb on dryness is to watch the hay as the rake rolls it. Hay should be picked up by the front part of the rake, kept off the ground in a continuos roll until its dropped out the rear of the rake.


Be sure to open your baler. Lower the pickup head to almost touch the ground, have at it. If you can, travel speed and PTO speed should work together so that the pickup head gathers hay in a smooth pickup. The head should not be crowded with hay, but it should not be reaching for hay, either.

If your twine breaks, run the end through the needle eye and tie it to a solid place somewhere on the baler, and continue baling. As the baler cycles a bale the knotter will pick up the twine and the next bale will tie, and hold the twine properly.No oil on the knotter, just grease the knotter zerk.

Hope this helps. Maybe some of the others here can add better or more advice. Visit a neighbor's farm, even if you have to work a day or two for him.

 

[Dave5264]

Thanks for the Tips !!

I agree, helping a local would be a good way to learn.

Backdoor, I wasnt quite sure what you meant on part of the raking advice.."then roll the windrow part the way back out in order to pickup the hay that your windrow has covered" .. are you saying that as i rake the second time round the field, that freshly raked row will have rolled partly onto the 3rd windrow and i need to roll it back by raking it counter clockwise?

 

[Negligence]

A lot of questions but I've been there and I'll try my best.

First off depending on your drying conditions you don't necessary want to rake the first day after cutting. Where I'm at (south eastern Ontario) it's usually cut, sit for 1-2 days, rake, then bale the next day. If you rake too quickly the top won't be dry yet.

-how high the cuting bar of the mower should be off the ground
You want it to sort of "float" on the ground, touching but not dragging hard.

-how high the Rake tines should be off the ground
Low enough to grab all the hay. You'll find out after a few seconds if you need to lower it.

-the PTO RMP speed to run the Mower at
-the PTO rpm to run the Baler at
You want to run the PTO at 540rpm -- there will be a marking/sign somewhere on your tractor telling you what engine rpm that is.


-what speed/gear to run my tractor at
When cutting, you want to be slower rather than faster with a haybine. Too fast and you'll miss hay and clog up faster, too slow and you're wasting your time. It's really trial and error. Go as fast as you can while making sure you aren't leaving scraps behind.

For raking, slower is better so you don't shatter dry leaves, stems, etc. You should be raking slower than you were mowing.

For baling, it's all about how windrow size. The thicker it is the slower you go, and vice versa. Again, trial and error.


-Baling is the part that worries me most -- seems like that twine has a lot of places to be routed and get bunged up.
Nature of the beast. Routing twine isn't a big deal. Just make sure you know where it goes before you head out into the field.

-how do i test for moisture content, doe everyone have one of those testers?
You don't need one as you can tell by feel if hay is dry enough.

-what directiuon to i mow, rake, bale ? do I do laps, or side by side row's ?

You mow counter-clockwise first so that you can get closest to the edge of the field all the way around. I usually repeat this 2-4 times to get myself a lot of room to turn around at the end of a row. Then you can start doing straight lines with the rest of the field. Someone else said start clockwise, but I've never heard of this.

-If i rake the 1st row will it land on the second row?
Depends on the position of your rake. Ideally you want to flip half the row over, then the other half of the second row to make one.

- do i rake in only 1 direction to avoid lumping 2 rows of hay together?
The point is to make two rows together so you need to rake in different directions.

 

[Negligence]

And a few other things I thought I'd chip in:

- Make sure your sickle knives are sharp and your knife guards in alignment. Leaving hay standing is annoying.

- 75 acres is a large field for a first-timer, I would cut 3-4 laps around the outside and some rows down the center to get used to it.

- Make sure you have spare rake tines, fuel, knife guards, and shear bolts for mower and baler. Especially baler.

- Try not to cut through a swath of hay on the ground as you will clog quickly. If you have to, gear down and take it slow.

I learned by doing (I had no help, I just hooked on and learned as I went) and you can too. It's not as hard or daunting as it seems. You don't need help, just patience and tolerance for frustrating breakdowns or slowdowns -- they will happen!

 

[backdoor]

I usually rake 2, 3, maybe 4 times around, depending on how thick or tall my hay is, then turn around and kick that windrow back out one round. That gets all the hay off the stubble and into the windrow. Everything has been raked into the windrow. Easier for the baler to pick up that way.

You can mow counterclockwise on your first round, last round as you finish an area, anytime in between. No matter how you do it, you will have to run your tractor in uncut hay at least one round. Your haybine should have adjustable shoes to hold the sickle off the ground at your desired height. One shoe at each end. The cutterhead is spring loaded to keep some of the head weight off the ground.

On exceptionally thick hay you may need to rake two swaths into one windrow today, let it dry more, then in a day or two, run your rake just far enough onto the windrows to turn them bottom up to dry the bottom more. Just the outer couple of feet of rake will do that.

Bale grass hay up in the day, after dew has dried off good. Leafy hay like alfalfa or clover needs a little dew to help keep the leaves from shattering off.

If your baler kicks quite a bit of hay along the ground as you're baling the hay may be a little too wet, or not cured enough. It won't get too dry to bale.

 

[bill in ny]

if you want to test you're baler, you can get it hooked to the tractor. get it in the bailing position. buy 5 or 6 bales from a farmer. break the bales and feed them into the baler by hand. (be careful) this will tell you if the baler is working properly. any problems can be fixed before you need it.

 

[aczlan]

if you want to test you're baler, you can get it hooked to the tractor. get it in the bailing position. buy 5 or 6 bales from a farmer. break the bales and feed them into the baler by hand. (be careful) this will tell you if the baler is working properly. any problems can be fixed before you need it.

Spread the bales out on the ground and bale them, DO NOT handfeed them into the baler.

Aaron Z

 

[bill in ny]

aczlan, you are right. i forgot that he was new to this.