Biggest Hay Weekend in the USA!

chetlenox · May 27, 2008

My soil sample from this winter asked for 85 lbs/acre nitrogen and 73 phosphorous. I did close to that after my first cutting, and man did that cost a pretty penny! ~$1500 for my little 14 acres. I'll hit it with a little more after my 2nd cutting, and we'll see how it goes. I don't graze my pasture, just sell the bales, and the customers are all about the digestable protein numbers. I don't know much about horses, but I guess it makes sense. The more protein in the hay the less they've got to supplement with grain feed (or so I'm told).

I'm a little curious how the hay from my first cutting tests out. I sent it to the boys at A&M last Tuesday, so I'm hoping to know by the end of this week.

Chet.

Robert_in_NY · May 27, 2008

I started cutting hay today. We have 4 days of nice sunny weather (today started out with a very short, light rain though) and my customers are begging for hay so now is as good as any to start. I cut my Alfalfa a little early to keep a few mustard plants from going to seed. I also opened up a couple of fields of a mixed hay (10 trips around both), one field is 20 acres, the other is 5. Tomorrow the tedder will hit the fields, rake the next and bale friday (if all things work as planned).

I sure do love the smell of fresh cut alfalfa.

jwcinpk · May 28, 2008

WTA said:
We're selling ours for 6.50 a bale right now off the farm. These darn feed stores are getting over 10 now. It got to over 12 a bale this winter.

Here's pics of the "new" equipment we just got.

This is the NH 116 swather:

It's in good shape NOW. It already had a lot of new parts on it, including brand new cutters and almost all the moving parts on the right side. The left cover is missing and the conditioners have seen better days but it's good to go now. We had to grease everything the mechanic at the dealer missed, fill up the hydraulic and motor gearbox and shim a lot of the gears the right way but I am glad we did it all ourselves instead of waiting on that mechanic.

THis is the new baler.

I haven't checked the serial number yet but I think it is less than 5 years old and it's been pretty well taken care of. The sheet metal by the left side gauge wheel was messed up and the wheel bent but we fixed all that and got it all ready to go. I have some of the header taken apart right now replacing some broken teeth. I'll have it all done tonight.
The dealer put two rolls of twine in it and after what I've seen I'm wondering if it is strung right. I've never used a string machine before, only worked on a few. I have a manual coming in the mail for it so hopefully I will be able to read it before I start baling.

I had to make a drop hitch on my drawbar for this baler. The pictures in my tractor manual all show one on it to put it at that standard 15 inch height but mine is 18 inches and the dealer said they don't sell the drop drawbar in this country. I don't know why, but I made one. I cut a regular old receiver hitch with the right drop height and welded it on so now I can run the baler level. On my drawbar like it was I couldn't get the pickup teeth down low enough without flattening the baler tires.

Keep us posted on how you like the inline baler vs the traditional square baler. I've just about made up my mind to buy new and it's down to MF 1837 and NH 570. Right now I'd say the inline is my first choice. No more rocking the baler around to swing it out. I know I could get the hydraulics, but it costs extra.

WTA · May 28, 2008

I think this inline will be perfect for me. My windrows aren't usually that big that I can't run over them so I don't see a problem. I just have to be smart about how I rake it from now on. Last year I was flipping 2 rows into one on the last raking and that won't work. Not in the Bermuda anyway. The rows end up being so thick I was dropping bales about 3 feet apart. It's hard to get the tension consistent that way.