Haying tips?
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jimg
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Was this online and do you have a pointer?Robert_in_NY said:
Wildcat Ranch
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Robert_in_NY
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jimg said:
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]By Neil Tietz, Editor, Hay & Forage Grower
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Leaving only 2 of stubble when mowing maximizes the yield of alfalfa with little sacrifice in quality. But it may cause stand loss in grasses, warned a researcher at the W.H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute, Chazy, NY. Speaking at the recent Four-State Dairy Nutrition and Management Conference in Dubuque, IA, Everett Thomas pointed out that physiological differences make cutting height more critical for grasses than for alfalfa.
é„*lfalfa stores its nutrient reserves in its taproot, so cutting it shorter really shouldn稚 have much effect and indeed it does not, said Thomas. 釘ut grass stores the nutrients for the next cut in the bottom 2-4 of the plant. So if we cut too close, weæ±*e not only removing the crop, weæ±*e removing part of the nutrient reserves for the next crop.
In a 2007 greenhouse trial at the institute, cutting first-year reed canarygrass 2 high killed every plant, but plants cut at 4 regrew to 16 in 21 days. Also, recent orchardgrass stand-loss problems in Pennsylvania and Maryland have been traced to cutting that grass about 2 high, Thomas reported. University of Maryland recommendations now say to leave 3-4 of stubble, he added.
Grass cutting height has become an issue with the popularity of disk mowers, he said. å…¸his is something that we didn稚 pay attention to 10 years ago. We didn稚 need to because people had sicklebar mowers and they didn稚 mow at 2? So changes in technology have caused new problems that weæ±*e having to deal with.廿BR>
In his alfalfa cutting-height research, Thomas found that the yield gain from cutting at 2 instead of 4 more than compensates for a modest quality loss. 鉄o what weæ±*e saying now is, unless farmers need that last bit of quality, mow alfalfa at about 2? leaving 5-6 of stubble in that last cut in the fall to hold snow, he said. é„*lso, adjust the mowing height to field conditions.
Alfalfa-grass mixtures are a judgment call. 的f alfalfa is your predominant forage, I壇 probably cut it like alfalfa, maybe 2-2ｽ? If it痴 mostly grass, then raise your cutting height, Thomas advised.[/FONT]
I guess my flapper is on right by looking at those. Is that heavy spring there supposed to hold it down under pressure though? Mine just rises and falls under it's own weight.
In looking at mine it looks like that first table conveyer chain is missing a couple of teeth on it. SOmeone has replaced them with just regular links. I'll get some new ones and see how well it moves them across then. I'm pretty sure messicks has them available.
In looking at mine it looks like that first table conveyer chain is missing a couple of teeth on it. SOmeone has replaced them with just regular links. I'll get some new ones and see how well it moves them across then. I'm pretty sure messicks has them available.
jimg
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Thanx Robert
redneckford
Platinum Member
WTA---That cross feeder chain, the lock release lever, the bale turn lever on the bale chute, and the first table lever have to be all adjusted to your preferred bale length---once all them are set and the "proper" springs or installed on the lock release lever(lever by the cross feeder) and the first table lever (lever return spring) you can pick up 52 Louisiana grass bales in about 12-15 minutes---if "any" of this is out of adjustment or the wrong springs used it can make your tractor problem seem like a cake walk. Couple old 56/6600 Cab tractors without all that emmission control (with new style A/C Compressors of course) sure would make your life less stressful. If one breaks drive the other one. If both break at the same time go get a cup of coffee at Star Bucks cause the good Lord is trying to tell you not to mess with hay that day!!
Renze
Super Member
Robert_in_NY said:
.... Hmm... Most of us would NEED to mow that energy in the first 4" to make their cows produce milk.....
I have never seen a dairy farmer cutting 4" long !!! Average cutting length is 2" here.
To stop the effect of slow regrowth, you can add minerals by means of fertiliser or organic manure...
Maybe this is the difference between extensive american farming, and intensive European farming ???
slowzuki
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Re the lever I'd bet its for the tie layer. It helps keep the top of the stack together.
Wildcat Ranch
Bronze Member
WTA, That lever is for your auto-tie. When you yank the lever, do two spikes come up through the second table? The way my manual shows it, you put two bales up onto the second table then pull the lever so that the spikes come up though the two bales on the second table and that lever comes up in the center of the first table. Then, when it lifts the one bale in the center, it will push your two bales sideways. Lift two more down the center and then release the lever so the the pins retract and cap it off with two more bales. The picture is not too fancy but it will give you an idea of what I'm trying to explain.
redneckford
Platinum Member
WTA---- when a bale is picked up by the bale chute it falls on the cross conveyor and moves to the right (always talk in direction of travel of equipment) and then it suppose to stop after it leaves the cross conveyor chain.When the next bale is picked--up and falls onto the cross conveyor it moves to the right and pushes the other bale causing it to hit the lever at the end of the first table which activates the first table cylinder(a one way cylinder) putting the 2 bales on the second table. Right beside the cross conveyor is a lever that locks the end lever, the end lever can not trip unless that long curved lever is held down by the second bale, if that lock is not working properly the first bale will run across there and trip the lever putting only one bale on the second table. Tension on those springs and the proper bale length is essential to proper operation. with all that adjusted correctly they work like a dream.
I had no idea this thing had the auto tie feature. I asked my dealer to show me how to work it but it was something like this is the PTO, these here are your hoses kinda crap is all I got. I'm glad I'm a good mechanic though and have you guys around to ask stupid questions to.
It does have those two spikes there and now thanks to you I know how to use that. I would guess I need to run a row like that in the middle of the load right? It will help to hold the stack together when I drop it then.
I had the lever on the cross conveyor adjusted right. That wasn't too hard. My problem was the conveyor chain itself. I brought it to my shop last night to fix a couple broken welds and get it all greased up for the end of the month and discovered why the bales weren't going across the conveyor. The chain was just too loose and the teeth were laying over on it when it tried to grab a bale. I fixed that. It's not super tight now but tight enough where the teeth can't lay down more than 10 degrees or so. It should grab them now.
SOmething else I discovered about these machines is they have a LOT of places that hold water if it gets rained on. Mine was filthy when I got it even though the dealer cleaned it. There was accumulated crud all over underneath it that was rusting stuff out. It's a good idea to completely blow these things out when you're done using them and drill some drain holes in places that hold water so nothing rusts out. I'm doing the holes today. I am going to cut off that reinforcement on the left side of the pickup that runs along the bottom today too and weld on a new one. All I have that is close to it is a piece of two inch square tubing for trailer hitches. The thick stuff. That should do nicely. The one on it is pretty thin and about half rusted out. I need to go find a bigger and stronger wheel to mount on it too.
I guess one final adjustment question: This one concerns the back end and using the push offs. Right now when I lift the back table, even empty, it hits the ground and almost lifts the tires off the ground. It has the big aircraft tires on it and they are the right size and inflation pressure. I'm guessing this isn't right. I found out a while ago the drawbar on my tractor is too high for American implements. It's European standard 18 inches. Believe it or not the American standard height drawbar is only available in Europe though and this one is only available here. I already had to modify the hitch on a lot of my equipment and welded on a drop hitch to make it 14 inches to the drawbar to fit my baler but this wagon hitch doesn't fit in it. It will only mount on the top at 18 inches. Should I modify the front hitch on the wagon to drop it so my back end doesn't drag the ground? or does the manual even specify the correct height for it? This might be why the pushoffs were pretty bent up on it before.
It does have those two spikes there and now thanks to you I know how to use that. I would guess I need to run a row like that in the middle of the load right? It will help to hold the stack together when I drop it then.
I had the lever on the cross conveyor adjusted right. That wasn't too hard. My problem was the conveyor chain itself. I brought it to my shop last night to fix a couple broken welds and get it all greased up for the end of the month and discovered why the bales weren't going across the conveyor. The chain was just too loose and the teeth were laying over on it when it tried to grab a bale. I fixed that. It's not super tight now but tight enough where the teeth can't lay down more than 10 degrees or so. It should grab them now.
SOmething else I discovered about these machines is they have a LOT of places that hold water if it gets rained on. Mine was filthy when I got it even though the dealer cleaned it. There was accumulated crud all over underneath it that was rusting stuff out. It's a good idea to completely blow these things out when you're done using them and drill some drain holes in places that hold water so nothing rusts out. I'm doing the holes today. I am going to cut off that reinforcement on the left side of the pickup that runs along the bottom today too and weld on a new one. All I have that is close to it is a piece of two inch square tubing for trailer hitches. The thick stuff. That should do nicely. The one on it is pretty thin and about half rusted out. I need to go find a bigger and stronger wheel to mount on it too.
I guess one final adjustment question: This one concerns the back end and using the push offs. Right now when I lift the back table, even empty, it hits the ground and almost lifts the tires off the ground. It has the big aircraft tires on it and they are the right size and inflation pressure. I'm guessing this isn't right. I found out a while ago the drawbar on my tractor is too high for American implements. It's European standard 18 inches. Believe it or not the American standard height drawbar is only available in Europe though and this one is only available here. I already had to modify the hitch on a lot of my equipment and welded on a drop hitch to make it 14 inches to the drawbar to fit my baler but this wagon hitch doesn't fit in it. It will only mount on the top at 18 inches. Should I modify the front hitch on the wagon to drop it so my back end doesn't drag the ground? or does the manual even specify the correct height for it? This might be why the pushoffs were pretty bent up on it before.
slowzuki
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Do you already have the 2" drop drawbar that a lot of larger tractors have?
Tires are a good option if you want to or can go bigger. Maybe you can swap them from your mower if those have a larger radius.
What I would do is raise the table to drop height and remove the hitch from the tractor with a floor jack. Then, lower the hitch until the end forks are just on the ground. Is the change an inch, 2 or 5 inches? If its more than an inch or 2, something else is wrong.
BTW: On my 1012, those pushoff feet are pulled back in by springs. If the channels they ride in are rusted up, one or both may not retract fully. If that happens and you lower the table, they will get bent. And thats a Major pain in the buttt. I now just throw my used oil all over the channels. I use a leaf blower to dust off the machinery after each cutting. This one needs special attention around the cross conveyer because the hay will block the levers and links that trip all the operating steps, especially when it gets wet from being rained on.
What I would do is raise the table to drop height and remove the hitch from the tractor with a floor jack. Then, lower the hitch until the end forks are just on the ground. Is the change an inch, 2 or 5 inches? If its more than an inch or 2, something else is wrong.
BTW: On my 1012, those pushoff feet are pulled back in by springs. If the channels they ride in are rusted up, one or both may not retract fully. If that happens and you lower the table, they will get bent. And thats a Major pain in the buttt. I now just throw my used oil all over the channels. I use a leaf blower to dust off the machinery after each cutting. This one needs special attention around the cross conveyer because the hay will block the levers and links that trip all the operating steps, especially when it gets wet from being rained on.
I just measured the hitch on it and it's 19 1/4 inches to the top of the drawbar. If I put the wagon on my super M (14 inches) it would ride perfect.
From what I am reading online right now I have a cat 2 3 point and a cat 3 drawbar. It's all nonstandard stuff it looks like. There is even a sticker on the back of the tractor that says the lift arms are nonstandard length. Oh well. I should have shopped around more.
I just looked at swapping my tires with the swather. That sounds like a great idea because the swather is just about 3 inches low in the front and the wagon is 4 inches or so high. The tires on the swather won't fit on this wagon though. The bracket holding the sides on would get in the way right behind the tires.
I'm just going to fabricate an adjustable hitch for the wagon I guess. Or maybe just leave it alone. It's actually sitting level on the frame right now. I sure can't find anything wrong with the rear table.
New Holland said that the drop hitch for it is only available in Germany or something so I made my own for it. I cut the drop part off a trailer hitch I had here and welded it on to the drawbar. The problem is the wagon is the only implement I have that won't fit on the bottom hitch now. I can't even get the pin in it because of the way the wagon hitch is made.
From what I am reading online right now I have a cat 2 3 point and a cat 3 drawbar. It's all nonstandard stuff it looks like. There is even a sticker on the back of the tractor that says the lift arms are nonstandard length. Oh well. I should have shopped around more.
I just looked at swapping my tires with the swather. That sounds like a great idea because the swather is just about 3 inches low in the front and the wagon is 4 inches or so high. The tires on the swather won't fit on this wagon though. The bracket holding the sides on would get in the way right behind the tires.
I'm just going to fabricate an adjustable hitch for the wagon I guess. Or maybe just leave it alone. It's actually sitting level on the frame right now. I sure can't find anything wrong with the rear table.
New Holland said that the drop hitch for it is only available in Germany or something so I made my own for it. I cut the drop part off a trailer hitch I had here and welded it on to the drawbar. The problem is the wagon is the only implement I have that won't fit on the bottom hitch now. I can't even get the pin in it because of the way the wagon hitch is made.
aczlan
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just throwing out ideas here, but would it work to put a drawbar across the lower arms of the three point hitch??? that would allow you to set the drawbar height wherever you wanted. the disadvantage is that then it could float up if the tongue had up pressure on it.WTA said:
HTH
Aaron Z
Wildcat Ranch
Bronze Member
My drawbar is pretty low with the 16.9 x 24 rear tires and the table still lifts the bale wagon up a little. I need the drawbar to be 4-5 inches taller so the pickup can sit level and not hit the ground.
The manual says to tie the 4th row for your starting pile (if you don't have anything to back up to) and then when you drop the pile, you take the bales off the top and stack them so that it looks like stairs going to the top. After that, you tie the fifth row.
WTA, Sounds like your drawbar is a big issue for all you equipment. Why not either get a drop drawbar made of make one yourself that is universal for all your equipment?
The manual says to tie the 4th row for your starting pile (if you don't have anything to back up to) and then when you drop the pile, you take the bales off the top and stack them so that it looks like stairs going to the top. After that, you tie the fifth row.
WTA, Sounds like your drawbar is a big issue for all you equipment. Why not either get a drop drawbar made of make one yourself that is universal for all your equipment?
Here's some pictures of what I got: It's still rough looking but I'm going to repaint it as soon as I am sure everything is working right and all the rust is fixed.
This is my tractor that has been giving me fits the last couple months. It seems like they finally fixed it now.
This is one of the front forks that bent on me unloading the last stack. I'm going to straighten it out and weld in some reinforcements this afternoon so it doesn't happen again.
I don't know if you can see this in the picture but notice how the cross conveyor seems tilted down to the left. Not sure if this is normal. It works just fine. Nothing appears bent.
Here's the rusted out piece I have to replace. And my stupid attempt at using a really cheap wheel to hold it steady. The wheel broke the first time I used it. I'll go find a better one to weld on as soon as I replace the rusted metal.
I can weld pretty decent when I want to. Theres lots of cracks to fix. Someone else did the rusty weld there with an arc welder it looks like. I have a miller mig.
Here's the drawbar I modified. This is an ugly weld I know. I was out of gas on the welder and didn't realize it at first. The other side looks much better. I'm about to grind it all out on this side and redo the weld just to feel safer. It's just an old drop trailer hitch I had and cut to weld on it. It works great for everything but this wagon because as you can see the wagon hitch just won't fit in there.
Here's a pic of the whole thing. It's a little rough but I'm sure happy with it for what I paid and all.
This is my tractor that has been giving me fits the last couple months. It seems like they finally fixed it now.
This is one of the front forks that bent on me unloading the last stack. I'm going to straighten it out and weld in some reinforcements this afternoon so it doesn't happen again.
I don't know if you can see this in the picture but notice how the cross conveyor seems tilted down to the left. Not sure if this is normal. It works just fine. Nothing appears bent.
Here's the rusted out piece I have to replace. And my stupid attempt at using a really cheap wheel to hold it steady. The wheel broke the first time I used it. I'll go find a better one to weld on as soon as I replace the rusted metal.
I can weld pretty decent when I want to. Theres lots of cracks to fix. Someone else did the rusty weld there with an arc welder it looks like. I have a miller mig.
Here's the drawbar I modified. This is an ugly weld I know. I was out of gas on the welder and didn't realize it at first. The other side looks much better. I'm about to grind it all out on this side and redo the weld just to feel safer. It's just an old drop trailer hitch I had and cut to weld on it. It works great for everything but this wagon because as you can see the wagon hitch just won't fit in there.
Here's a pic of the whole thing. It's a little rough but I'm sure happy with it for what I paid and all.
My problem mostly is that I switched from using a great old super C with a fast hitch and a MM 4 star with a regular 3 point. I wish I still have that super C. It's coming back when the new owner goes to the happy hunting grounds though. He promised me!
I'm just really used to low drawbars. All of the equipment I had when I was running those tractors was made for low ones. All the new hay equipment I got is mostly new holland except for the Hesston baler. I thought it would all be ok with this tractor but that's what I get for thinking. The drop hitch I made works great now with everything but the wagon. I'm just having trouble finding the correct height drawbar for it now. I thought about the 3 point drawbar but I'm scared the trailer will flip up on me. I do have one. I'd also have to get a much longer PTO shaft if I use it to fit my "nonstandard" length lift arms.
I'm just really used to low drawbars. All of the equipment I had when I was running those tractors was made for low ones. All the new hay equipment I got is mostly new holland except for the Hesston baler. I thought it would all be ok with this tractor but that's what I get for thinking. The drop hitch I made works great now with everything but the wagon. I'm just having trouble finding the correct height drawbar for it now. I thought about the 3 point drawbar but I'm scared the trailer will flip up on me. I do have one. I'd also have to get a much longer PTO shaft if I use it to fit my "nonstandard" length lift arms.
