haying 101

[Jordanbear]

Sounds like you've done pretty good.

I was going to add a note about the 'crick in the neck' problem from spending hours watching the machine behind the tractor but you have discovered that one on your own.

Do you ted or just let it sit? Usually we ted the hay a couple of times to facilitate drying.

I spend more time glued to the weather forecasts this time of year than any other time.

How is it that 30% chance of a shower can equal "rain daily for 12 days in a row"

 

[dan_d]

I raked the hay once the afternoon/evening before or day of baling, except for the stuff that got rained on which got raked a second time... The worst one is when they call for chance of scattered showers. Not enough rain to fill the well, but just enough rain to screw everything up for hay


Yesterday was the best day so far, since I got the neighbour to run his 14ft haybine over a couple of fields... he put it into 7ft rows, which made raking and baling go so much quicker! Since monday was so hot, he cut monday morning and I was able to rake and bale tuesday afternoon! I am so totally getting myself a haybine

Oh, and one more thing i thought of... you really need 3 ppl to make this work right: one driving the tractor and 2 on the wagon grabbing bales and stacking!

DD

 

[Negligence]

Love the umbrella LOL...

Glad to hear you made out OK for your first time. This season was my first try at haying too, and things went alright. Got about 40 round bales done up, need 80 more plus a thousand + small squares. What happened:

- Broke about 8 rake tines in the field
- Instead of mowing, spent about two hours unclogging the haybine after going through thick clover patches. I couldn't cut the whole field cause it took so much time
- I made some windrows too thick for the round baler to pickup
- Had a broken knife guard on the haybine, so I've got small amounts of standing hay all over the field

But for my first time, it was good. No complaints, it was fun! The old farmers around me think I'm crazy for jumping in with no experience, but ya gotta learn somehow...

Haybines are good, especially for drying quicker and sizing your windrows to how you want. A good 9ft one won't set you back to much ($2-3000) and will definitely help. I see your in Ontario too... we need all the drying help we can get!

About the dew: sometime it is preferably to rake while there's still moisture on the hay. It helps prevent too much leaf loss.

 

[Brent.Roberts]

Dan

Be careful cutting test strips and baling wet hay. Everything in the chute that comes into contact with wet hay will rust. I've worked out a way of putting a rope on the twine and pulling them out when I have wet hay inside.

 

[Brent.Roberts]

The info on the link


Making Horse Hay Part Three: Hay Cuttings by Cherry Hill

provided by Negligence is on the money. Tjhis is full of solid advice.
But there are many things on the page however that are stated but not explained. You need to read this VERY carefully and question or search out the meaning of some of the things they say

 

[Brent.Roberts]

Dan

If you're using lots of shear bins, something is out of whack. When I got my 315 baler, my local mentor said to call the local dealer and tell them you want John to come out and set it up for you. John came and I kept hearing him mutter stuff like " this is way off, he must have busted a lot of shear pins"

Later we discovered the tool box on the baler and sure enough, there were literally dozens of new and broken shear pins in there. I've now put about 3000 bales through the machine and have not broken one shear pin.

I'm too old and forgetful now to tell you how and what the guy teaked, but it worked. And when the thunderstorm is 10 miles away and you need to get another 100 bales in before it gets here, it's great to have the machine keep on trucking. I think the few hundred bucks I spent for that tune up was a very very good investment.

 

[Brent.Roberts]

I seem to have a lot to add to this thread but

this is the most important thought.

Don't drive downhill with a wagon behind the baler. The wagon will pass you.

This lesson was beat into me by my mentor. I'm in the Caledon Hills, part of the Oak Ridges Moraine, and you my be in a bit of the other end of the same moraine.

There is nothing to keep all the toys following each other. The baler is offset and going down the hill the wagon is pushing on the baler. So all it takes is a bit of moisture and the baler loses traction and the wagon pushes it out of alignment. Or you turn a bit, Or you touch the brakes a bit and the baler is suddenly going faster than the tractor. After the baler tongue hits the tractor tire the wagon keeps going. Without so much as flashing its intent with its high beams, it passes you on the hill.

If you think you had some delays doing shear pins, just imagine what it will be like trying straighten up that mess, while you strung and jammed together still on a bit of a slope, near the bottom of the hill, but not yet at the bottom, so everything is still under stress. Maybe the wagon will still be upright.

So the mentor guy told me, on your front field (with the big hills)
A L W A Y S go around the wrong way so you go UP the hills ONLY.

Consider yourself lucky the you didn't learn about this the hard way.

you can see some of the more moderate hills at
Duffys Lane Maple Syrup and Honey
The worst hill is not shown.

 

[dan_d]

Thanks for all the tips Brent! None of my hills are that long/steep but it didn't really occur to me that because of the alignemtn thing it wouldn't take much for things to go bad real quick! Just so I get what I think your're saying tho, i guess you mean I should find the 'flattest' way down the hill and use that each time before going back up?

As for the shear pins, I've maybe broken 3 so far, (pretty good i'd say considering this baler hasn't seen hay in the last 15+ years! ) but if I find myself breaking many more i'll probably have a closer look at things! I guess I should have said "shear-pins in general" tho, since its certainly better to have a few spares than to be stuck on sunday afternoon when all the stores are closed and rain is coming overnight!

And I've been wondering how to get those last two bales out of the baler since the very beginning... mind sharing your secret 'rope-twine' trick?

Thanks,
Dan

 

[Brent.Roberts]

The baler I have came with a thrower, basically a pair of belts the run continuously and when a bale gets pushed down the chute far enough, the belts fling it onto the hay wagon.

Almost everyone seems to leave the last couple of bales in them. But I figure if the bales are at all wet, they'll cause rust. And it does happen that we sometimes work into the early evening when the dew starts to collect on the hay and those bales are the last ones left in the chute.

So, I shut down everything, crank off the tensioner ( remember to count the turns so you can reset it ) I get about 15 feet of rope a good diameter rope so it won't cut your hand or chaff and break the binder twine. Run the rope threw both of the loops of binder twine, thread it out through the end of the chute / thrower and pull like ^%$#. At first you might only get an inch or so per tug, then it gets easier. Eventually I get a bale so it's near the belts of the thrower. I carefully lay the pulling rope on the chute so it won't get caught in anything, restart the tractor at idle speed, engage the PTO and then go back an pull the bale into the belts. The thrower graps in lobs it slowly about 4 feet. Shut down and repeat as needed.

I admit there is some danger. Don't get fingers caught, done leave your shirt hanging out. Take off you necktie etc etc.

A plastic lined chute that didn't rust would be really cool. You think anyone from New Holland reads this ???

 

[Mickey_Fx]

Here's a tip that save you some time and money. Don't always believe the manual when it comes to making adjmts. Find an experienced machanic for the equipment at hand and asked them about adjmts and how valid the manual is.

Had a new JD 336 baler and as soon as I did the first maintance after running 1000 bales throuh it I started breaking needles, maybe 4-5. Went back over all the adjmts made sure eveything was to the book but still breaking needles. Went to the dealer's shop and told their baler mechanic what was happening and was wondering what was going on. First question he asked was, "did you set the needle timing to the book? YES and rechecked several times. The responce was "that's your problem, the book is wrong". He told me what the timing should be and that was the last of the broken needles.