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Hay - First cutting
- Thread starter bczoom
- Start date
DaveNay
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bczoom said:Anyone else getting theirs in?
We baled Sunday, Monday and will finish tonight.
Of course it's 90+ degrees with no wind everytime you're baling which makes such a pleasant project.
I cut about 6 acres last Tuesday. Then it rained on Wed and Thurs. Friday was beautiful, so I was able to rake it so it would dry. Saturday, it poured again. Sunday was 94 and sunny with a 12-15MPH steady wind. Raked it again. Monday morning I raked it for the third time. Monday afternoon, we got it all baled and put away, then it rained 20 minutes later.
It's definitely not the best quality hay I've ever seen, but it'll do. Now I gotta get the other four acres done soon, so it's not out of sync with the rest.
What a messy weather week you had.
It rained here Friday so it wasn't cut until Saturday. Between the tedder and hay crusher, it was able to get the hay dried in 1 field by Sunday so we did that one.
We got another field done yesterday. Tonight will be the last one. It's 90+ right now but at least there's a breeze... for now.
It rained here Friday so it wasn't cut until Saturday. Between the tedder and hay crusher, it was able to get the hay dried in 1 field by Sunday so we did that one.
We got another field done yesterday. Tonight will be the last one. It's 90+ right now but at least there's a breeze... for now.
DaveNay
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bczoom said:
Last Tuesday, just before I started cutting, the forecast was 20% chance rain on Wed and Thurs.
I stopped before doing the entire field because I just wasn't confident for some reason. Got back in the house, and the chance has shot up to 80%. Only three hours difference!
I had a few choice words to say regarding their forcasting abilities. I have a weather rock that's more reliable than they are. (They is a generic term here, I check about 4 or 5 different predictions all the time)
I do have to say though that my new tractor and haying equipment worked like a charm, with no problems at all.
Glad to hear that!DaveNay said:
We had about 1.5 per 100 bales break but that was normally due to hitting a wet spot. We consider that good.
There was one incident
There was 4 of us in the field. A 6 year old girl driving the tractor (a Ferguson 165), her mom on the wagon stacking and 2 of us throwing the bales onto the wagon.
While driving down a hill, she hit the lever on the dash which disengaged its "high-power" option. When you do that, the tractor coasts (like an automatic tranny in a car). Well, off it went down the hill. Luckily, the other guy was able to hop on the tractor and stop it. It was a bit nerve-racking as I'm watching the rear tires rubbing against his shirt as he's trying to hop on. Another 100 yards and it would have gone over a wooded embankment.
That does get old when it breaks. I'm going to bet it's the one underneath so you have to lay on the ground to replace...DaveNay said:No broken bales, but we did break the shear bolt on the baler on a particularly heavy spot.
I consider that a feature, not a problem though.
DaveNay
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Just finished putting up another ~400 bales....last part of the first cutting. This batch is premier stuff. Cut it Thursday evening, raked it Sat evening and baled it today. Sunny with high 70' low 80's every day, with 40% or lower humidity. The hay stayed nice and green, but is perfectly dried.
Another 5 week, and we'll be ready to do it again!
Another 5 week, and we'll be ready to do it again!