A few pics from today’s square baling

leeave96 · Aug 17, 2021

Here are a couple videos we have on our youtube channel. The first is baling with a view from the tractor seat back to the baler and kicker wagon. The second is a drone video. John Deere 5055d, 348 baler, #42 kicker and home made kicker wagon racks.

Enjoy!

buckeyefarmer · Aug 17, 2021

Oh, a kicker and a wagon, you cheated!

Nice video, wish I had a drone back when we did hay. Dad stopped making hay 2 yrs ago, but he’s still mowing the fields at 97 yo.

KenEtch · Aug 17, 2021

MoKelly said:
It’s dangerous for sure.

I’m not a farmer, but I do use ZTR’s, brush cutters and a 35 hp CUT for brush hogging.

Anytime around these machines there is danger. Moving parts and sharp blades.

In my opinion, the danger compounds as the day goes along. The work is physically demanding and mentally taxing. So, we get tired.

Working with dangerous equipment and being tired can be a bad combination.

Plus - you are typically in a remote place with no one around.

MoKelly

So true about remote locations &
nobody else around. Step back 50 or 60+ years, when cell service didn't exist, & many farms had no landline, or at best a party line. Then forget stat flight to nearby hospital. I remember several farmers in Southern Illinois with a hook hand instead of a real hand, or worse dying in field. Farming is indeed a demanding, dangerous occupation, even today. Bless them all.

beenthere · Aug 17, 2021

Hay Dude said:
Thanks, Mo.
Yeah it’s fun to teach him something, but it’s a dying trade. Just wish it was a little safer and more prosperous
Probably why it’s dying

Much, much safer than back in the "old" days. Even have AC in the tractors with cabs these days.
Good if kids will do a job and do it well.
How old is the son?

Hay Dude · Aug 17, 2021

beenthere said:
Much, much safer than back in the "old" days. Even have AC in the tractors with cabs these days.
Good if kids will do a job and do it well.
How old is the son?

Oh yeah, its much safer, but still has danger. Especially when 2 tractors are working in the same field.
We do have cab tractors with AC. They are much safer in terms of sun exposure and inhaling dust. Rollover protection, too.
My boy is 21. I tried to keep him away....couldnt live with myself if he was hurt, but a father can only keep him away for so long.
He will finish college and work summers and breaks for me

Hay Dude · Aug 17, 2021

KenEtch said:
So true about remote locations &
nobody else around. Step back 50 or 60+ years, when cell service didn't exist, & many farms had no landline, or at best a party line. Then forget stat flight to nearby hospital. I remember several farmers in Southern Illinois with a hook hand instead of a real hand, or worse dying in field. Farming is indeed a demanding, dangerous occupation, even today. Bless them all.

I have a cell phone, but get into places that are desolate and have very spotty cell reception

Bearsixty7 · Aug 17, 2021

Hay Dude said:
Oh yeah, its much safer, but still has danger. Especially when 2 tractors are working in the same field.

Not sure why it would be so unsafe with 2 tractors in the same field, we have had up to 5, maybe even 6 at a time, plus pickups and trucks being loaded and never even close to an issue.

IH H or 464 raking, 574 square baling, A big White 100+hp round baling, IH 464 and a IH 504 or something like that moving the round bales. We may even had an Oliver running a JD Moco at the same time in one particular field where 4 families were doing the hay on shares.

Hay Dude · Aug 18, 2021

Bearsixty7 said:
Not sure why it would be so unsafe with 2 tractors in the same field, we have had up to 5, maybe even 6 at a time, plus pickups and trucks being loaded and never even close to an issue.

IH H or 464 raking, 574 square baling, A big White 100+hp round baling, IH 464 and a IH 504 or something like that moving the round bales. We may even had an Oliver running a JD Moco at the same time in one particular field where 4 families were doing the hay on shares.

Unsafe is a relative term. When you are in a small field with an inexperienced operator, IMO it can be unsafe. Especially when raking and baling in tandem. We already have had a few close calls, so that’s the way I see it. I make 1000 tons of hay a year and with the amount of time I spend in the field, it’s a wonder we haven’t had anything more than a minor accident. Also, many of my fields are hilly or have obstacles to work around.
If you don’t feel the same way, I have no reason to disagree with you.
Its an unsafe way to make a living in general and accident statistics support farming as a very dangerous occupation.
Stay safe out there!
Keep posting pictures, both current and past!