Haying Process

[orangehay]

Here's another video I got of us baling. We've got a late 1960's Ford 530 powered by a Wisconsin TFD engine. Paid $500 dollars for it off of craigslist and put about $500 dollars worth of repairs into it. Pretty good baler for a $1000 bucks, occasionally misses a tie but not too frustrating. Hope to do some custom haying for the neighbors so it should see some more action.

 

[rtimgray]

Love the Wisconsin-powered baler - that's the first time I've seen one in action. My John Deere 24t manual shows it with an engine option (I think it was Wisconsin as well). It looks like it makes a nice bale - I'm assuming it's got similar limitations to my 24t - you just have to go slow and not over feed it. I think for those of us who don't need too many square bales, these old balers can be just the ticket. I picked mine up last year for $900 and planned to just do a few hundred bales for myself (and roll the rest). I ended up doing alot more and got paid 50 cents per bale and made back a good portion of my investment.


Thanks for posting the videos.

Good luck and take care.

 

[flusher]

My neighbor has an NH three-twine baler with on-board engine that he tows around his hayfield with his Kubota L4630. It's a nice rig, like yours.

 

[Verticaltrx]

Thanks for the videos. :thumbsup:

Just FYI, if your sickle bar mower is setup right and you have good fields you could and probably should be going about twice that fast. They will plug up far less if you go a little faster. I usually mow at about 4-5mph in grass like that, upwards of 6-7mph in something that cuts nice like oat hay.

If you don't have one, a hay tedder is absolutely invaluable (you could find a good small used one for about $500.) Tedding it a couple times will take a good day off the drying time. Also, don't rake it until it is almost completely dry and ready to bale, same day as baling. Leaving it in the windrow overnight will cause the bottoms of your windrows to be wet from condensation. If you know how, you can invert the windrows with a side delivery rake, but the best bet is to just bale it as soon as it's raked. This also holds true for bales, if you leave them in the field overnight, they will be a little damp on the bottom. Once the sun has burned the dew off the bales, turn them over to dry the bottoms before picking them up and putting them in the barn.

 

[ksbrdmkr]

When baling with my old NH 269 twine tie, I count the slices per bale and try to set tractor speed for 10 to 15 slices per bales. Will try my new Kioti with HST for a consistent 12 per bale.

 

[flusher]

When baling with my old NH 269 twine tie, I count the slices per bale and try to set tractor speed for 10 to 15 slices per bales. Will try my new Kioti with HST for a consistent 12 per bale.

Like your avatar. I have an Oliver 60 that looks just like your Oliver:thumbsup: Go Ollie!!!

 

[AGRIMAN]

Here's a video of me out there cutting it. I was using a 6ft Massey Ferguson #32 Sickle bar mower, with new serrated blades of course.

The biggest issue I see is that you are missing the divider which goes on the very end of the blade (part of the shoe), which rolls the material back and provides a clean area between the "rows". Without the divider (especially in thick grass), you are not getting a clean path for your gear box shoe to ride on during the next pass/round. Thick material will tend to bunch up underneath the gearbox shoe and cause a drag.

Most of the dividers on the older mowers were made of wood. You can probably fab one from a hoe handle fairly easy. I agree that a more speed would help, but I would add a divider first.

 

[Bigfoot62]

The biggest issue I see is that you are missing the divider which goes on the very end of the blade (part of the shoe), which rolls the material back and provides a clean area between the "rows". Without the divider (especially in thick grass), you are not getting a clean path for your gear box shoe to ride on during the next pass/round. Thick material will tend to bunch up underneath the gearbox shoe and cause a drag.

Most of the dividers on the older mowers were made of wood. You can probably fab one from a hoe handle fairly easy. I agree that a more speed would help, but I would add a divider first.

That is known as a "swather" or "swathboard." Here's a link to an old pic of one:
http://www.ntractorclub.com/eds_stu... Book/Page 01 - Assembled mower - diagram.jpg

 

[orangehay]

I will definitely look at getting a swathboard put on. I did have some clogging issues in the thicker grass. Thanks for the suggestions guys i appreciate it.

 

[Tx Jim]

That is known as a "swather" or "swathboard.

When I worked at JD dealer it was called a "grass board" and was made out of wood until later