OP
whitmerlegacyfarm
Silver Member
Checked the cut hay this even still very wet underneath. Guess i will let go till tomorrow n hopfully it will b redy ti rake when i get home n then bale later evening
Hay got rained on. When to rake
- Thread starter whitmerlegacyfarm
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Bigfoot62
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4 acres is not much to rake. Since it's grass hay, I stick to my original advice, let it dry before you windrow it. If you have a tedder, that's different. But, you're saying rake, so I take that to mean a rake that will windrow the hay. Grass won't dry in a windrow. Leave it lay until it dries, then rake and bale.
I don't claim to be any kind of super-duper expert, but I've been doing this for years. Cut and baled (rolls) about 85-90 acres over the last two weeks. It was all grass hay, mostly bahaia and bermuda.
BTW, none of it's molded and my barn hasn't burned down.
OP
whitmerlegacyfarm
Silver Member
Ok good deal thanks. If i rake it say 3 or 4ish tomorrow n allow 3 hrs in the windrow. Then have neighbor round bale it? Is that suffient time?
5030
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The 4 best tools I have in my hay toolbox are:
1. My nose and fingers. I like to smell the forage prior to bailing and I want to 'feel' it. It needs to be crispy but green and that applies to gras as well as leafy legumes as well
2. My Delmhorst digital moisture tester with probes. I use a Delmhorst, I have for years. They aren't cheap but then hay is a business for me. I have a multi probe head, that is, I have a probe for checking small squares, a probe for large squares and rounds and most importantly, a 'bucket' probe.
A nice added feature of the Delmhorts is it's portable. Nothing better to make a liar out of a blowhard at a hay auction. I've been to a few and I've let the air out of a few sellers as well. You can really screw a seller down on price on average hay that the seller thinks is exceptional with a digital meter, especially one with a loud alarm for a pre set moisture threshold like the Delmhorst has.
The bucket probe has a coaxial cable the screws into the meter head and the business end has a flat plastic plate with pointed stainless pins and a spring loaded handle. You take a sample of the forage from the windrow, put it in a clean dry plastic bucket and compress the sample with the probe. The spring in the handle gives a consistent pressure. The probe reads the moisture in percent on the digital readout. You can sample various spots in the field and get a good idea of how dry it is.
3. My IR thermometer. I can tell exactly within a half degree the forage temperature in the layer under the top layer, next to the ground plus I can tell how much the bailed product is climbing in temperature after bailing and with some experience it's easy to guess the RM of a bale.
4. Onboard moisture sensors. I have onboard, continuous moisture sensing in all my bale chambers with a readout in the tractor. That readout is also coupled to a Harvestec automatic metering system to meter Greensaver via spray nozzles on the forage as it gets bailed, at my discretion. So long as the monitored moisture remains below 10%, the acid application stays off. Over 10, an alamr beeps and I switch on the Harvestec unit and allow it to begin monitoring moisture. If the moisture exceeds a pre set threshold, the Harvestec begins to pump Greensaver to the nozzles placed on the windguards of the bailers. The Greexsaver is then metered according to the pre-set thresholds in the Harvestec unit.
At first I had some reservations about proprionic acid application as it pertained to acceptance in feed by domesticated animals but I have a good frien who owns a large dairy operation and harvests his own forage. he's used acid appkication for years with no feed problem. So long as the acid is applied at the correct ratio (to RM content), the acid becomes a non issue.
I've also found that initial acid application in bailing clover over wheatstraw is a plus. Clover over wheatstraw is a very hard crop to round bale because it wants to fall apart when starting a bale. A little Greensaver when starting a bale causes the bale to form easier and stay in the bailing chamber.
Forage crops can be successfully brought in with no external aids and a bit of good luck but it helps to have the tools to make the job go easier.
1. My nose and fingers. I like to smell the forage prior to bailing and I want to 'feel' it. It needs to be crispy but green and that applies to gras as well as leafy legumes as well
2. My Delmhorst digital moisture tester with probes. I use a Delmhorst, I have for years. They aren't cheap but then hay is a business for me. I have a multi probe head, that is, I have a probe for checking small squares, a probe for large squares and rounds and most importantly, a 'bucket' probe.
A nice added feature of the Delmhorts is it's portable. Nothing better to make a liar out of a blowhard at a hay auction. I've been to a few and I've let the air out of a few sellers as well. You can really screw a seller down on price on average hay that the seller thinks is exceptional with a digital meter, especially one with a loud alarm for a pre set moisture threshold like the Delmhorst has.
The bucket probe has a coaxial cable the screws into the meter head and the business end has a flat plastic plate with pointed stainless pins and a spring loaded handle. You take a sample of the forage from the windrow, put it in a clean dry plastic bucket and compress the sample with the probe. The spring in the handle gives a consistent pressure. The probe reads the moisture in percent on the digital readout. You can sample various spots in the field and get a good idea of how dry it is.
3. My IR thermometer. I can tell exactly within a half degree the forage temperature in the layer under the top layer, next to the ground plus I can tell how much the bailed product is climbing in temperature after bailing and with some experience it's easy to guess the RM of a bale.
4. Onboard moisture sensors. I have onboard, continuous moisture sensing in all my bale chambers with a readout in the tractor. That readout is also coupled to a Harvestec automatic metering system to meter Greensaver via spray nozzles on the forage as it gets bailed, at my discretion. So long as the monitored moisture remains below 10%, the acid application stays off. Over 10, an alamr beeps and I switch on the Harvestec unit and allow it to begin monitoring moisture. If the moisture exceeds a pre set threshold, the Harvestec begins to pump Greensaver to the nozzles placed on the windguards of the bailers. The Greexsaver is then metered according to the pre-set thresholds in the Harvestec unit.
At first I had some reservations about proprionic acid application as it pertained to acceptance in feed by domesticated animals but I have a good frien who owns a large dairy operation and harvests his own forage. he's used acid appkication for years with no feed problem. So long as the acid is applied at the correct ratio (to RM content), the acid becomes a non issue.
I've also found that initial acid application in bailing clover over wheatstraw is a plus. Clover over wheatstraw is a very hard crop to round bale because it wants to fall apart when starting a bale. A little Greensaver when starting a bale causes the bale to form easier and stay in the bailing chamber.
Forage crops can be successfully brought in with no external aids and a bit of good luck but it helps to have the tools to make the job go easier.
Here is what I have done (often sorry to say). Yes I have some different equipment.
After the sun comes out for a few hours, I rake the hay just a little bit (1/2 the normal width windrow. My NH55 rake is set up to a high angle so the hay is moved laterally and not roped or twisted. This opens up some bare ground that will itself dry very quickly.
When the bare ground is dry, I go back and slide the hay over onto it. The rake is set up to turn the hay row over onto its back (bottoms up). That gets dry hay onto dry ground and the bottom hay on top for drying. Then I set up the rake to fluff it upwards into a tall windrow onto the remaining dry ground patch. No double windrowng here (1 into 2 which I would do if it had not rained. Then wait for dry measurments. I also have the Delmhorst meter. Its very reliable.
I also have a Kuhn rake/tedder combo unit. You can switch from tedder to rake in a minute. As soon as the sun comes out I will use the tedder to broadcast it out into the field. This can knock the seeds and leaves off, though. This will dry very quickly. I just re-rake it and bale it when its crisp.
Another trick I do when its been soaked for a few days is run it back through the mower conditioner. The rolls will spin off a lot of water and dew. Seems to work when the mower is set to windrow as well as swath it straight out. In all cases, getting it off of the wet ground is the best solution. My customers don't even notice the slightly different color of the bleached hay. It still smells fresh and their horses gobble it up. (I know, turkeys gobble, but the horses are color blind: as long as it smells good they will eat it).
After the sun comes out for a few hours, I rake the hay just a little bit (1/2 the normal width windrow. My NH55 rake is set up to a high angle so the hay is moved laterally and not roped or twisted. This opens up some bare ground that will itself dry very quickly.
When the bare ground is dry, I go back and slide the hay over onto it. The rake is set up to turn the hay row over onto its back (bottoms up). That gets dry hay onto dry ground and the bottom hay on top for drying. Then I set up the rake to fluff it upwards into a tall windrow onto the remaining dry ground patch. No double windrowng here (1 into 2 which I would do if it had not rained. Then wait for dry measurments. I also have the Delmhorst meter. Its very reliable.
I also have a Kuhn rake/tedder combo unit. You can switch from tedder to rake in a minute. As soon as the sun comes out I will use the tedder to broadcast it out into the field. This can knock the seeds and leaves off, though. This will dry very quickly. I just re-rake it and bale it when its crisp.
Another trick I do when its been soaked for a few days is run it back through the mower conditioner. The rolls will spin off a lot of water and dew. Seems to work when the mower is set to windrow as well as swath it straight out. In all cases, getting it off of the wet ground is the best solution. My customers don't even notice the slightly different color of the bleached hay. It still smells fresh and their horses gobble it up. (I know, turkeys gobble, but the horses are color blind: as long as it smells good they will eat it).
5030
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I've been telling my equine customers that for years...lol
I have an old International pull behine steel wheel crimper that I use (like you use your mower) ocassionally.
Haying is a game, but fun.
Dill
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Kinda late to the thread here, but here's what I do. If we get a shower, usually a pop up thunderstorm in the summer. I ted the hay out as soon as the sun is going to be coming back out. If I know the storm is coming and have time before, I'll rake the field into windrows and a ted after the shower. If it gets too wet and looks like ****, I'll just round bale for my cows. While horses are color blind most customer's aren't and want green hay.
I even had chopped a couple fields back on the field after the hay got rained on for a week straight. I just don't have good enough mulch hay contacts to bother baling it up.
I even had chopped a couple fields back on the field after the hay got rained on for a week straight. I just don't have good enough mulch hay contacts to bother baling it up.
OP
whitmerlegacyfarm
Silver Member
Got it baled today everyone. We got 6 round bales off it. I ended up starting to rake around 2. Then bot 3 hrs later i raked again n double up the rows. Was nice n dry n the horses seem to like it too. I guess it didnt go to bad for my experience with hay makin. I use a sickle bar n then a real old wheel driven rake. Work very well. N then my neigjbor round balef it. Thanks all for the help.
