OK HERE GOES NOTHING ...NEWBEE HAYER IN THE FIELDS HELP!!!

[sweettractors]

will it still be the same quality hay? Or does it lose some with rain I hear all kinds of horror stories

I don't think a 5 minute shower is going to leach out much TDN. You can ted hay when it has some order (moisture) but, it needs to dry out some before baling, so it wont mold in the bale. Ken Sweet

 

[BeeferMan]

Hay getting wet isn't a problem. Hay staying wet is a problem. So when you get one of those summer showers that dump some rain and then blow right by, and the sun comes out five minutes later and everything dries up - no problem.

Depends on how dry the hay was before the rain too - if it's green and just been cut, no problem at all. If it was almost ready to bale, could be more of an issue...

 

[newbee83]

well thanks to all of the great inaccurate weather men and women out there who said on monday clear skies and sunny until thurs AND LIED it rained on it again , what do I do from here???IT is about 8 acres of very thick timothy hay , very god hay in my opinion , but I feel like I am loosing ground quick
Also with this tedder I bought , It seems to to flip the hay completely around and land on the pto shafts and get all wedged up with hay I had to stop 5 times on 8 acres with my pocket knife and cut all the hay hout because it would bind up , is this normal? Shoud I buy a rotary tedder?

 

[sweettractors]

A rotary tedder is better in my opinion. About all you can do, is to catch 1 day of sun, Ted it that morning, rake after a couple hours of sun and bale it that same day. I am assuming it pretty much cured out by now? Ken Sweet

 

[BeeferMan]

Welcome to the world of making hay, you'll never look at a weather forecast the same way again...

I've never used a tedder of the style you describe, always used rotary tedders...

 

[schmism]

Your best bet may be to bend the ear of that farmer down the road with the cows,

or he'll be old and crotchety and wondering why a new 'city boy' is trying to cut hay.

The simpler version (the one i use) is when all the "real farmers" around me are cutting, thats when should be cutting. When they are tedding, thats when i should be tedding. when they are rowing thats when i should be rowing and when they are bailing... well you get the point..:thumbsup:


useing the above method it doesnt take long to "figure out" what they are watching for. weather wise, crop wise etc.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Start looking for helpers to get the hay into storage.... They'll want $50 and hour, an iPhone and a wifi available to be included in the employment package.

yep, my son thinks that way.

 

[newbee83]

Yea I think I am going to an auction this wknd to look for a rotary tedder, I have had nothning but problems with this tedder I have now. As for the weather they are saying sunny and 75 tomorrow but rain this afternoon....Should I go out about 8 at night and tedder it so it gets the very most out of tomorrows sunlight or let it lay because it will be wet >>Thanks id be lost without all the help:thumbsup:

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Around me, farmers that cut with a bine one day will ted the next morning and bale the afternoon of the next day.
I let my neighbor cut my hay, I went away one weekend, and when I got back it was gone, just like magic

 

[pitt_md]

Ok that 1 stroke a second helps a ton to know, Now as far as running the twine it looks like the wrap it like 2-3 time around the needle or finger i guess ??? Does this seem right? It first goes through two porcelin eyelets before this ? Now I am going to try to bale a total of about 30-35 acres this year, does anyone know approx how many bales this will yeild? I want to make sure I have enough storage.Thanks Again

This really is not that hard. The answer is it depends. You will figure it all out the first time around the field. Run your baler so it keeps the flow of hay going through it smoothly. To much will plug it up to little will be wasting your time. Your going to have to adjust your speed up and down depending on how much hay is in the windrow where ever your at.

I really hope you have better luck than I have been having with my hay. It was cut May 30th and since then it has rained a good amount everyday except two. Now the hay is only good for beef cattle (if that) and worth less than half of good quality bales. Now my main concern is getting it off of the field.