hay baling questions

[chetlenox]

If the field has weeds most of them go with the first cut... that may be where this 'advice' comes from.

Yep, that's my take as well. And I definitely sell the first cut for cheaper for that reason (as well as the fact that the Winter Rye that makes up my first cutting doesn't have the total digestable protein that the later Coastal Bermuda does). But what some folks that own horses and only feed the highest quality hay don't realize is that there is many people that like to feed lower-cost stuff to their horses and then supplement with grain feeds. People really like my first cutting bales at $4/bale, and it sells quite briskly out of the barn. On top of that, once the $4 stuff sells out, the same customers usually keep on buying the more expensive (I'm looking at $7/bale this year) 2nd and 3rd cutting hay. Just usually fewer bales at a time.

Like I mentioned before, I really don't know what I'm doing yet (I've got all of 4 cuttings worth of experience), but I'm learnin' quick!

Chet.

 

[WTA]

Boy this did turn out to be a lot of good advice. I'm glad I asked here.

We picked up the baler and swather last night and got them all ready to go. I'm still waiting on my owners manual to arrive for the baler but I think I have it figured out. All except the string routing and how you attach the end of the string in the machine. Thankfully the dealer put in two rolls or string that I didn't ask for and set them up for me this time. As with everything else, I'll figure it out eventually.
The swather I had to finish up a few small repairs on because I couldn't wait any longer on the dealer mechanics. I kept telling them I could do the job they were trying to do in a matter of minutes rather than days. I have a machine shop here and 20 years worth of tools built up from being a mechanic myself. One thing they were fighting with yesterday was the hydraulic motor on the front of the swather. The Female PTO connection has apparently never been slid all the way onto the shaft before and as a result was boogered pretty bad only a half inch into the splines. They started to file it out but that would have taken till next week at that speed so I just took it as is and fixed it when I got home. It took 10 minutes with a mini die grinder and a carbide burr. There were some sprockets not shimmed right and a couple other things still but we got it all running great now and it's ready to go.

On the baler I discovered it has a hydraulic header lift which I love. The hydraulic bale tensioner is driven by it's own hydraulic pump with a regulator and pressure gauge on it. I think right now the gauge is saying 2000 psi at operating speed. Does anyone know what pressure is a good starting point to begin with on that?

About the only question I have about the swather is on the back right side there is a crank handle that looks like it is for the conditioner adjustment. It doesn't appear to do much. I need to look into that farther.

Thankfully my tractor has a cab and AC. The mosquitoes were horrible last night when I test ran the swather. My boys were walking along side it while I was at PTO speed in the lowest gear I had and got eaten alive but not one touched me through the cab. I almost forgot, When I ran that thing at 540it was really moving fast. I've run self propelled cutters before and they were nowhere near that fast so I slowed it down a bit to 2000 tractor engine RPM. 540 is about 2500 engine RPM. It may be ok at that high speed but I figured if it can cut good at a slower speed then why not.