The Life of a Custom Mowing contractor

[LHF2019]

50 some acres as well. Rain moves through tonight drizzle tomorrow then another great week. Should have whatever I want to bale mowed down by end of day Tuesday and bale Friday Saturday from the current forecast

 

[Hay Dude]

50 some acres as well. Rain moves through tonight drizzle tomorrow then another great week. Should have whatever I want to bale mowed down by end of day Tuesday and bale Friday Saturday from the current forecast

Sounds like we will be finishing up at similar times.
I’m thinking about sleeping for like a week to try to regain my sanity.

 

[Hay Dude]

Some action from Sunday
We had a great morning service. We have a small group of Pastors who alternate services and the one who spoke today was just masterful. He reminds us how important it is to pray, to maintain constant contact with Jesus and become as much like him as we can.

With that in my heart, after service I had work to do. Lots of bales to stack.

This is more of the ROH I had down. Another 60 1750LB bales in this field alone.

Back to the main stacking area. Note the historic old school House in the background.

I stacked bales from 1 until dark.
On the way home, I pulled into the driveway and noticed my side toolbox had flung open on the dark drive home. Unfortunately, my 1 year old Stihl hand held blower fell out. Went back and searched my route home at first light this morning. Nope. It’s someone else’s blower now.

Anyway, here I am back on Monday morning stacking some more bales. It’s about 8-9AM and the local freight train is passing in the woods in the background while I warm up the Challenger MT535B. Zoom in and you can see it.Trees are still holding leaves pretty good. In 2 months you would be able to see that train completely.

Now I’ve driven about 3 miles west to another very large farm. Here, I am stacking the last 25 of 380 bales made here. This is my best producing property by far. Hope I can keep it for many years to come.
First cutting it produced 221 Bales. Second cutting 159 bales. Real happy with that.

Here’s a nice stack of 20 waiting to be trucked away. I try to resist putting more than 50 in one area in case of fire.

Done stacking and it’s onto some mowing. Here I am refueling the Massey Ferguson, and jumping a dead set of batteries. Forgot to turn off the battery switch again.

All done that small field. Now to cross the tracks safely, I really worry about this crossing. It’s a legal PA crossing, but you can’t see jack until you are atop the tracks. Then its a slow process creeping over them.

One more 40 acre parcel to cut tomorrow, and unless I forgot something, that’ll be my last parcel to cut for the 2024 season…..

 

[mrmikey]

I really worry about this crossing.

I don't like crossing uncontrolled crossings in a regular vehicle never mind a tractor that you have to operate slowly. Do they have to sound whistles before approaching?

I try to resist putting more than 50 in one area in case of fire.

Have you ever had a bale/s spontaneously catch? It's wet bales that combust, correct?

 

[Hay Dude]

I don't like crossing uncontrolled crossings in a regular vehicle never mind a tractor that you have to operate slowly. Do they have to sound whistles before approaching?

Typically, they do not. The best thing about old freight railroads in my area is that they’re in such disrepair, that they can only travel about 5MPH, so it seems like there’s always time to get out of the way. US infrastructure is rapidly deteriorating and even being dismantled since it’s no longer needed.
I had one of their locomotives softly derail right in front of me. Great group of people. They try very hard to get the job done with what they have.

Have you ever had a bale/s spontaneously catch? It's wet bales that combust, correct?

No and I never hope to, either.
Hay that is baled too green, with excessive stem moisture is usually the issue.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Did you ever get a scale for your loader?

 

[Jason05216]

Hay Dude...I've really enjoyed your thread. I read the entire thing. I have a question and wanted to get your opinion. I think I remember you briefly commenting about this earlier in the thread.

My wife and I purchased 34 acres this summer. Not sure what we are going to do with it yet. Maybe build on it someday or maybe just own it as an investment. For the past several years the previous owner rented it out to a guy that had a few cattle or horses on it depending on the season. For the most part it wasn't mowed or anything. I had a guy lined up to mow it with a rotary cutter but he kept putting me off so I'm in the process of doing it myself with a 6' rotary cutter. Pretty slow go but it'll work this time. Maybe next year I'll invest in something a little more appropriate for the size property. Some areas of it are pretty grown up. Knocked down quite a few locust trees (saplings) and lots of brushy weeds. I'd like to get this back into shape to have it cut for hay. How many times of mowing it down like this do you think I'll need to do before it's suitable for hay? Will mowing it down like this stop most of the brushy weeds?

 

[EddieWalker]

I can't speak for your place, or anywhere else, but on my land, I've seen significant improvement over the last two years when I started mowing it three times a year. One area where I had a bunch of wild black berries taking over is now my thickest grassy area on my land. Where the saplings would get 4 feet tall in one year, it's now become all grass without any sign of saplings. Pine and Sweet Gum trees are like weeds here, they come in super thick, and very quickly if not mowed on a regular basis.

Before that, I had a 6 foot cutter and I was lucky to get most of it mowed once a year. Now I have a bigger tractor with a cab, and a 12 foot mower, and it's pretty easy to get it done because I'm not bothered by the heat in the cab.

 

[bearthebruce]

I'd like to get this back into shape to have it cut for hay. How many times of mowing it down like this do you think I'll need to do before it's suitable for hay? Will mowing it down like this stop most of the brushy weeds?

I know you asked @Hay Dude this question but I have some relevant experience...

We have a 15 acre field that was left go by the previous owner. We began brush cutting on it twice a year 5 years ago. We have no intention to hay ourselves.

That said, a neighbor came by and he asked if we would consider letting him hay the field. "Sure", was our answer.

I then asked him what it would take to get it to good hay. He said probably 30 tons of lime would be a good start. He guessed it would take another two or more years to get it into really good feed hay for his cows.

He has not yet started and we are still mowing with our 5' brush cutter. Yep - it takes a while.

Oh, and ours is all slopes.. some pretty steep. Maybe he decided it was not worth his time to bring the field to hay quality. The hills make the going slower on our machine as it is a Compact Tractor... only 33 ponies. A bigger machine would let us go faster.

 

[bearthebruce]

I should add that the twice year cutting eliminated most of the nasties in the field. In the Spring, it is all grass now. In the Fall it is a mixture of clover, grass, and some other weedy plants that I have not taken the time to identify. The deer love when we cut it as they feed on the tender stuff down low. We like that we are helping feed the deer since November is coming and its our time to take a few to feed our families.

 

[Hay Dude]

I know you asked @Hay Dude this question but I have some relevant experience...

We have a 15 acre field that was left go by the previous owner. We began brush cutting on it twice a year 5 years ago. We have no intention to hay ourselves.

That said, a neighbor came by and he asked if we would consider letting him hay the field. "Sure", was our answer.

I then asked him what it would take to get it to good hay. He said probably 30 tons of lime would be a good start. He guessed it would take another two or more years to get it into really good feed hay for his cows.

He has not yet started and we are still mowing with our 5' brush cutter. Yep - it takes a while.

Oh, and ours is all slopes.. some pretty steep. Maybe he decided it was not worth his time to bring the field to hay quality. The hills make the going slower on our machine as it is a Compact Tractor... only 33 ponies. A bigger machine would let us go faster

I have rehabbed many a field. I have seen some bounce back in one year. I have seen other remain stubborn for years.
The best suggestion I can give is intense mowing and making sure not to let weeds go to seed.

 

[Molalla1]

I have rehabbed many a field. I have seen some bounce back in one year. I have seen other remain stubborn for years.
The best suggestion I can give is intense mowing and making sure not to let weeds go to seed.

I concur . . .

 

[Hay Dude]

While you are mowing, get soil samples and send them to your local AG extension and see if you are acidic.

 

[Hay Dude]

Final push today to get the last fields mowed.

Thats a wrap on 2024 hay mowing.

Still have to rake & bale 2 fields, a lot more trucking and some large fields to be rotary mowed left. But it is nice to be done with disc mowing for the year….

 

[civilian]

Sure is nice reading your threads. Never been around the actual haying process, but you have explained in an understanding way. Makes it enjoying. Thanks. Jon

 

[Hay Dude]

Still plenty to do. I’ll be baling for another 1-2 weeks and trucking hay until the end of the year.
Then I have some field fertilizing to do.

 

[Hay Dude]

Did you ever get a scale for your loader?

No.
I really want one, though.

The Krone baler has a scale built into it, but the numbers are stored in the monitor. Helpful for tracking moisture & density. Really want a scale so I can track weight while I’m loading. That’s when it counts.

I’m looking at a 2nd loader tractor and a hay truck over the winter. Both would make my life so much easier.

If I do locate a loader tractor, I will install a scale on it. Might put a scale on the current Challenger loader tractor this winter, too.

 

[Hay Dude]

While waiting for the final fields to dry, it’s a good time to get some contract field mowing done.
This one takes over a full day. Challenger MT535B and Deere CX-15

It has some very steep areas, here’s some around a drainage basin.

You can really feel yourself at the tipping point, but it would probably slide before tipping.

 

[Hay Dude]

A little more mowing action on Friday. Steep roadside bank. Great supplemental income while waiting for hay to dry. I’ll do $40K in field mowing this year. My goal is to double that in the next 2 years and have a tractor dedicated to just mowing so the challenger I currently use is devoted solely to hay.

I’m really happy with the Challenger. Been a great tractor. Would like to buy another similar loader tractor to cut down on using it for so many tasks. I’d prefer to cut down on the hours it is used and spread the hours out over 2 loader tractors.

 

[Hay Dude]

Haying action yesterday (Saturday). I’m getting close to being done. Had 2 parcels to go. This one is about 16-18 acres under the power lines. Weather conditions were great. Made 15 really nice clean & green bales. Perfect for cattle hay.

This place is tough to get in/out of. Between the steep climb up a narrow path, pulling a 38,000LB baler and the railroad tracks, you have to be on your toes. I can just barely fit between the 2 posts and make the turn out on to the road.