The Life of a Custom Mowing contractor

[Hay Dude]

33MPH

 

[BleedingOrange]

33MPH

Ah, so that.s why you were in the passing lane. LOL

 

[Hay Dude]

Ah, so that.s why you were in the passing lane. LOL

LOL
No, it’s because I had to make a left turn.

 

[Hay Dude]

How fast does your tractor go on those paved roads? Every time I've driven on paved roads, I'm a lot slower then everyone else, and I'm always nervous about how quickly I can stop of I have to really fast.

It’s good to go slow. I try to most of the time, but now I’m battling very short days. There’s a lot to do before nightfall at 5PM.
Road-speed tractors DO save a lot of time. The difference between 20MPH and 30+ is a lot more than I ever realized in terms of production.
These tractors are not infallible, but they do have very good brakes-especially if they are properly maintained.

 

[LouNY]

Also almost all of the larger 4wd tractors if they do not have actual brakes on the front wheels will engage the front axle drive when both brake pedals are pushed together. Also brake connections are starting to show up on the newer tractors to connect to implement brakes via air or hydraulic.
Many the times I wished we had the high speed transmissions in our road hauling tractors but you had to get the front suspension systems to get the high speed trans. Often the thought was just more to wear out and go wrong. Also most of our road hauls are under 5 miles.

 

[Hay Dude]

Also almost all of the larger 4wd tractors if they do not have actual brakes on the front wheels will engage the front axle drive when both brake pedals are pushed together.

Mine all have that feature. Touch the brake pedal and the 4WD indicator light comes on. The Massey and the Challenger both have front cardan brakes.

Also brake connections are starting to show up on the newer tractors to connect to implement brakes via air or hydraulic.

All 3 of mine have hydraulic brakes for towing braked implements. The Massey has air brakes.

Many the times I wished we had the high speed transmissions in our road hauling tractors but you had to get the front suspension systems to get the high speed trans.

Yes, you have to get that or they claim theres a handling & control issue. It adds cost, but on the used tractors, it’s not much more.

Often the thought was just more to wear out and go wrong.

The accumulators lose pressure and theres more grease fittings. More Bushings, too

Also most of our road hauls are under 5 miles.

My roads and fields are so bad, even with suspended front axle, suspended cab and air seat, the ride can still be rough. lol

 

[deserteagle71]

Navy-owned hay baler

Hay Dude, I thought of you as soon as I came across this gem yesterday. Surely you need a baler to make a few small bales occasionally?? I'm sure you can get a great buy on it; it belongs to the Navy. Some years ago the Navy bought out all the ranches in a valley that's about 100 miles long and made it a "Supersonic Operating Area" so the fighters at the nearby Top Gun school could break the sound barrier at will without annoying a lot of people. Much of the equipment and buildings are just as they were before the Navy took over. This one is no doubt sitting in the field it last worked in.

A shot of grease into the zerks on these knotters and I'm sure they'll work just fine:

While we were checking out this old ranch there were Navy planes dogfighting overhead. Suddenly one of those F-18s came over at tree-top level with burners lit. The sonic boom just about knocked us to the ground.

 

[MoKelly]

That is so cool. I guess the area is not off limits or restricted and you can hang out just waiting to watch the fighters?

 

[deserteagle71]

That is so cool. I guess the area is not off limits or restricted and you can hang out just waiting to watch the fighters?

Correct. They make some neat contrails as they chase each other around the skies:

Only the training ranges where live ordnance is used are off limits.

 

[Hay Dude]

COOL!

 

[Gregster613]

Yesterday began a bit “frosty” as the sun finally got up in the sky in my rural township.
My TBN friend Indy Jay liked this picture I posted on another thread, so I thought I’d share here.
Nice sunrise and not one home in sight in my rural township. There’s so much open space here, they film movies here. One was “The Village” by M. Knight Shamalon. Not a home in sight. Just open space and barns.

View attachment 837156

As I go to the back of this mile long field, I caught a glimpse of a little buck here

View attachment 837157

These bales have been sitting a while. That’s 2 tons of hay there.

View attachment 837158

We have a good soaking rain coming Sunday so my strategy was to bring 30-35 bales out front so I won’t make a mess of the fields.
Once I got those bales out of the field and to the front, they can be loaded faster and without mud everywhere.

Beginning to get ready for logging and snow. I left the bale spear in the field, went back to the farm and got the log grapple. Conveniently, the 8’ high cap bucket can be “pinched” in between the forks and the single arm log grapple. Cruising from the farm back to my place with both.

View attachment 837159

I’m kind of curious/excited to get started on the logs at my customers site. Still have 250 bales to truck and a LOT of log chunks.

Yesterday began a bit “frosty” as the sun finally got up in the sky in my rural township.
My TBN friend Indy Jay liked this picture I posted on another thread, so I thought I’d share here.
Nice sunrise and not one home in sight in my rural township. There’s so much open space here, they film movies here. One was “The Village” by M. Knight Shamalon. Not a home in sight. Just open space and barns.

View attachment 837156

As I go to the back of this mile long field, I caught a glimpse of a little buck here

View attachment 837157

These bales have been sitting a while. That’s 2 tons of hay there.

View attachment 837158

We have a good soaking rain coming Sunday so my strategy was to bring 30-35 bales out front so I won’t make a mess of the fields.
Once I got those bales out of the field and to the front, they can be loaded faster and without mud everywhere.

Beginning to get ready for logging and snow. I left the bale spear in the field, went back to the farm and got the log grapple. Conveniently, the 8’ high cap bucket can be “pinched” in between the forks and the single arm log grapple. Cruising from the farm back to my place with both.

View attachment 837159

I’m kind of curious/excited to get started on the logs at my customers site. Still have 250 bales to truck and a LOT of log chunks.

Haydude, Those are some beautiful pictures and it most certainly appears to be a gorgeous place to live! Peaceful, quiet, and nature at almost every turn! Envy you man!

 

[Hay Dude]

Really tough day today. I have a property owner who doesn’t like to see any mud or ruts. Nearly impossible to avoid this time of year.
Its softer than peanut butter around here now. Rain keeps the top of the fields muddy.

I brought 34 bales out to the field entrance on Friday ahead of a big rain on Sunday.
Today, after a day of sun & wind, very little change, but the hay has to go, so I parked the truck on one of our little unmarked, bumpy rural back roads.

I loaded from the little bit of stone left at the entrance to the field, but after the second load, the stone entrance was little more than thick mud.

Takes a little skill to get them to load from one side only. Can’t push ‘em too far or it’s a problem cause you can’t access the other side.
Now I have a “clean-up on aisle 3” event to fix. Muddy mess. I will probably get some dump truck loads of crushed concrete and lay em down. Gotta keep the property owners happy and show them you care.

 

[Molalla1]

I wish I could have more like you with "grit". I raised my boys (1 RIP) who turned out the same . . . you keep on trukin' HD . . .

 

[Hay Dude]

I love it. The harder they say it is, or when they it can’t be done, the more I enjoy making them wrong.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

Do you store your bales outside?

 

[Hay Dude]

Do you store your bales outside?

The high moisture or weedy ones, yes.
Good, dry bales go inside as feed hay.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

High moisture? Like didn’t dry out? Who is the customer for the moldy and weedy ones?

 

[Hay Dude]

High moisture? Like didn’t dry out? Who is the customer for the moldy and weedy ones?

No, like rained-on hay or hay we didn’t gat baled up because it lost its’ color.
Customer: Mushroom growers.
They can’t be too high on moisture, or they reject them, too. (They probe them)
A little dusty or discolored from rain or sitting is acceptable.

 

[Molalla1]

Mushroom growers I suspect. You beat me to it HD.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

Holy crap, you found a way to sell bad hay. That’s pretty good.