Rough week of haying

[Robert_in_NY]

Wish I lived closer... $15 an hour sounds good... especially cash.
My wife and I plus one friend load onto a 14' trailer(150 bales per load) and unload 300+ bales of hay into our barn. It takes two trips and driving time is about 45 minutes out of a total of 3 hours.

My grandfather had a saying and I tell my kids it now: "when you are taking break from doing that... go do this!" Never one to slow down.

Good luck.

Lloyd

I don't mind the kids taking breaks when they need one. I try to treat them with respect and not be too demanding and hope they appreciate that and work hard as a result. I just am starting to think these kids need to be taught how to work before I can expect them to manage themselves properly.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Grandpa always said;

One boy, whole boy.
Two boys, half boy.
Three boys, no boy at all.

They don't get to be folklore without some ring of truth in them. My son blames air conditioning. We don't have it and the heat really doesn't get to us like those "city" boys.

I love it, that about sums up my experience perfectly.

 

[aczlan]

And except for the tractor tire the only other repair I have to make is one wagon tire is showing excessive wear so I have a new one ready to go on as soon as I get a chance in the next couple days and one wagon needs a corner welded on the rack.

The fun never ends. We are waiting to hear back from the repair shop who is seeing if it is feasible to repair the motor for the elevator and the fab shop who is working on a new tongue/bottom stand for the elevator (both of which gave us lots of grief for our first cutting)

We were out your way today. I had a test this morning in Amherst, then we went to see the falls.

Aaron Z

 

[Robert_in_NY]

The fun never ends. We are waiting to hear back from the repair shop who is seeing if it is feasible to repair the motor for the elevator and the fab shop who is working on a new tongue/bottom stand for the elevator (both of which gave us lots of grief for our first cutting)

We were out your way today. I had a test this morning in Amherst, then we went to see the falls.

Aaron Z

Amherst is a nice area but way too busy for my liking. My neurosurgeon is in Williamsville and that traffic is frustrating so I try to schedule my appointments early when traffic is light. Did you go to the canadian side or the american side of the falls? Oddly enough I have never been to the american side, I have been on the Canadian side more times then I can remember. It is so nice up there but I have been there during the winter, spring, summer and fall so I have got to experience all the seasons. Winter is amazing as the mist freezes in the trees and when the sun comes up you hear the ice falling off the limbs and crashing to the ground as it melts.

I don't have a pull type elevator but I have two skeleton elevators I own and I use the one that belongs to the people who own the barn I store hay in. Luckily the motors have been good. My problem is I have to rebuild the adjustment on the end to adjust the tension on the chain on one of them. So if one does fail I have a spare :thumbsup:

 

[Robert_in_NY]

The tire guy showed up today and replaced the tube with a firestone tube. What I have learned from this experience is that I need to buy a tube and store up in the loft so that I never have this problem again. It is an expensive item to just store ($60) and hope it doesn't dry rot before you ever need it but I am hoping storing it in a bag in a dark loft will let it hold up for a while. I am also thinking of replacing the other back tire so that they stay matched up and if that tire is in decent shape like it appears I will store that in the loft as well for if I ever have a catastrophic failure. If I had a tube for the tire I could have had the tire fixed Saturday morning but since no one could get a tube that day I had no choice but to borrow a firends tractor.

And currently the tire is still holding the tractor up.

 

[art]

The tire guy showed up today and replaced the tube with a firestone tube. What I have learned from this experience is that I need to buy a tube and store up in the loft so that I never have this problem again. It is an expensive item to just store ($60) and hope it doesn't dry rot before you ever need it but I am hoping storing it in a bag in a dark loft will let it hold up for a while. I am also thinking of replacing the other back tire so that they stay matched up and if that tire is in decent shape like it appears I will store that in the loft as well for if I ever have a catastrophic failure. If I had a tube for the tire I could have had the tire fixed Saturday morning but since no one could get a tube that day I had no choice but to borrow a firends tractor.

And currently the tire is still holding the tractor up.

Tubes don't store well and normally will crack where folded. Tires, while we see plenty of those dry rot too! Seems nothing is perfect, including trying to find good help!

Dropping them on the ground with a quater turn and a nice truck for pickup works well for eliminating help problems!

 

[aczlan]

Amherst is a nice area but way too busy for my liking.

I agree... I like the traffic jams out in my area, someone taking a piece of equipment to a field.

Did you go to the canadian side or the american side of the falls? Oddly enough I have never been to the american side, I have been on the Canadian side more times then I can remember. It is so nice up there but I have been there during the winter, spring, summer and fall so I have got to experience all the seasons. Winter is amazing as the mist freezes in the trees and when the sun comes up you hear the ice falling off the limbs and crashing to the ground as it melts.

Just the American side. We didn't bring our passports, so we couldn't go over to the Canadian side. Got some intresting pictures though. We stopped at the water inlet on 190 on the way out and I got a picture of the power authority boat that is out of the water for repairs and an odd trailer that I need to post a picture of.

I don't have a pull type elevator but I have two skeleton elevators I own and I use the one that belongs to the people who own the barn I store hay in. Luckily the motors have been good. My problem is I have to rebuild the adjustment on the end to adjust the tension on the chain on one of them. So if one does fail I have a spare :thumbsup:

We have a paddle type one with 2 chains and like it. We have someone we sell hay to who has a skeleton type one and it is very finicky about having the hay on just so, or the hook rips out of the bale and it comes down (it might need taller hooks or tighter bales). With ours, as long as the bale is on, it will go up.
The motor was an ancient totally enclosed one that has been around forever and has been sitting in the elements for the past few years... It has handled the abuse well and it was time to rebuild it.

Aaron Z

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Tubes don't store well and normally will crack where folded. Tires, while we see plenty of those dry rot too! Seems nothing is perfect, including trying to find good help!

Dropping them on the ground with a quater turn and a nice truck for pickup works well for eliminating help problems!

I keep looking to go automated but haven't found a system that really works well for me and that won't cost a fortune. Currently I bale and some of my customers pull the wagons and others I have to deliver the wagons. When it is threatening rain I can store the wagons in either customers barns or my friends. Dropping the bales on the ground would then require me to run through the field again picking them up and I would still have to get them somewhere as I don't store all the hay. So to go automated right now would actually take me longer and take away any profit. Once I build a new barn on that property then it would be easier as I can buy a used NH 1037 or such and drop the stacks in the barn to clear the field then deliver the hay to customers as time allows but I am not in the position to be able to afford to build a barn there yet and wanted to buy another 70 acre parcel there first that I currently hay so that I can use that as my hay farm and keep all the equipment there instead of roading it to other fields. Plus if I go with a stack wagon I would fear a break down so I would think about buying a cheap 1002 or such just to have for an emergency as if I have 1000 bales on the ground and no wagon to pick them up then I would miss these days of wishing I could find good help :laughing:

Thanks for the tip about the tube. I wish the tire shop would stock at least one tube but the guy told me they don't stock much at all there (and their a decent size shop). They have to order everything so there isn't any hope for weekend repairs.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I agree... I like the traffic jams out in my area, someone taking a piece of equipment to a field.


Just the American side. We didn't bring our passports, so we couldn't go over to the Canadian side. Got some intresting pictures though. We stopped at the water inlet on 190 on the way out and I got a picture of the power authority boat that is out of the water for repairs and an odd trailer that I need to post a picture of.


We have a paddle type one with 2 chains and like it. We have someone we sell hay to who has a skeleton type one and it is very finicky about having the hay on just so, or the hook rips out of the bale and it comes down (it might need taller hooks or tighter bales). With ours, as long as the bale is on, it will go up.
The motor was an ancient totally enclosed one that has been around forever and has been sitting in the elements for the past few years... It has handled the abuse well and it was time to rebuild it.

Aaron Z

I like those style of elevators as well. They do a great job of moving hay up to the loft with out having to mess around with hay coming back down. I tend to have to put a second bale behind the troublesome bales to get it to push the other one up but it works and I don't usually store too much hay. Usually around 3-500 depending on the year.

 

[slowzuki]

Oh to only store that little hay. We're storing less and less but still put about 4000 bales in the loft last year.

I'm in a similar spot for the accumulators / options. Our haying partner? I guess bought a thrower and wants all the wagons racked for thrower use. We only have indoor parking for two wagons. I don't like unloading thrower wagons, and I don't like the hit in capacity.

I'm really looking for cheap bale baskets to come up. Only 100 bales per basket but they tow well behind a pickup, dump instantly at the conveyor or barn door or customers yard. Talked to another hay guy and he used nh bale wagons, got a really large one. He delivers directly from field to customers when he can, otherwise he unloads on a tarp at the edge of the field and has old transport tarps to cover stacks. He always comes and moves them within a week or there is some loss.