Anyone built a Hay Conditioner Crimper ?? Here is my thought on a design......

stuckmotor · Jun 22, 2013

Dave,
Your alfalfa looks good to me. I think of it as a northern crop and haven't seen much of it grown in this area. One person I knew who did grow it in S.C. lost most of his plants to a particularly cold winter we had in the 80's. Made me wonder how it thrives up north.

CantonHayGuy · Jun 22, 2013

While I like the idea of making your own hay crimper, I too feel that using the ground as an anvil isn't the way to go. I think, too, with your design, you would risk tearing off the valuable leaves of the alfalfa. I would be interested in seeing what RW came up with. But Omak, if you are set on making your own, can you devise something along the lines of a commercially made hay conditioner? Something that has pick-up teeth, a conveyor of some sort and wheels to crush the alfalfa? Then...like others have said, you could probably pick one up for just as cheap.

DaveOmak · Jun 23, 2013

stuckmotor said:
Dave,
Your alfalfa looks good to me. I think of it as a northern crop and haven't seen much of it grown in this area. One person I knew who did grow it in S.C. lost most of his plants to a particularly cold winter we had in the 80's. Made me wonder how it thrives up north.

stuckmotor, thank you.... Extreme lows run -15 deg here avg +15 for lows... 12" rainfall avg year... Maybe the alfalfa drowned.... too much water will suffocate it.... They have alfalfa that will take a 30 day soaking and survive... Alfalfa is one of the main grass/legume crops here.. export markets also.... Dave

DaveOmak · Jun 23, 2013

buickanddeere said:
He is poor and can't afford irrigation or proper equipment because he insists on doing things like grinding his crop flat into the dirt.

buickanddeere, evening...... I can't tell if that comment was intended for me, or flusher...... either way, that comment was rude and inconsiderate....

One more aside..... I doubt if you grow and harvest forage crops..... It is not recommended but common to see a tractor or swather drive over newly cut hay/alfalfa when harvesting small fields.... 20,000 # tractor would do more to grind the hay into the dirt than a 50# roller/crimper.... and believe it or not, the hay isn't ruined and full of dirt and gravel.....

DaveOmak · Jun 23, 2013

RickB said:
Must be the neighbor's 945 or 946 Deere and New Holland tractor.

Gotta say I never heard of irrigating alfalfa with permanent plastic risers & sprinkler heads.

RickB, evening..... Yeah, it's the neighbors.... I trade welding and other stuff and we help each other out.... The permanent irrigation is very common here on small acreage hay fields... When you look at how much time it takes to move hand carry, or rolling irrigation, this is a real time saver..... I can switch irrigation sets in 1 minute.... my neighbor takes 20-30 minutes..... 7 days/week... That saves about 3 hours/week..... hay loss from the risers is maybe 30#'s / acre / cutting...... I figure my 3 hours time is worth more than $3 worth of hay... but then again, I'm fairly lazy and don't care to hand carry pipe daily....

Dave

DaveOmak · Jun 23, 2013

Trying to embed a u-tube...... I guess driving on hay is OK..... doesn't seem to hurt it much..... So.......

http://youtu.be/80aiHLBqgQ4

RickB · Jun 23, 2013

Driving on cut hay is a necessary evil; that's not hard to understand. Lots of guys use tedders in part to overcome the results of that traffic. Mashing it down intentionally with a heavy roller with ribs on it won't lessen drying time. Please move ahead with your project as firsthand experience seems to be your only hope.

buickanddeere · Jun 23, 2013

DaveOmak said:
buickanddeere, evening...... I can't tell if that comment was intended for me, or flusher...... either way, that comment was rude and inconsiderate....

One more aside..... I doubt if you grow and harvest forage crops..... It is not recommended but common to see a tractor or swather drive over newly cut hay/alfalfa when harvesting small fields.... 20,000 # tractor would do more to grind the hay into the dirt than a 50# roller/crimper.... and believe it or not, the hay isn't ruined and full of dirt and gravel.....

We always drive between the rows. b.t.w. I just seeded down a field for hay production. Looking into the purchase on a large square baler to reduce labour costs and increase storage/shipping density. Horse hay may pay big bucks in 60lb bales and the hobby women complain at that weight. Few people with $$$ to keep a pet hair burner now.

CliffordK · Jul 13, 2013

Around here most people are doing grass hay and not alfalfa.

Anyway, a lot of people like the disc mowers because they leave the grass spread out. Windrowing it from the start may in fact increase the drying time by decreasing air and sun exposure. At least that is the theory I've heard.

I agree with what others said. Hunt down a well used conditioner, or even a self propelled swather. The sickle bar is supposed to work fine with good hay. But, if you are intent on fabricating, you might be able to fabricate disc or drum mower head to work with it.

If you choose to cut then condition, perhaps find an old pickup head from a combine, then run your alfalfa through the conditioner. Although, you're probably better off conditioning when the crop is green rather than waiting a day or so as you don't want the vegetation to fall off of the stalks.