The Life of a Custom Mowing contractor

[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.

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

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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.

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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.