[Donn Hewes]

Hi Jesse, I am not really a veggie farmer but chore of grazing horses can be a challenge for any one. We will not typically work as long or a late as our veg farming friends, but on hay baling days we can easily be putting bales in the barn with horses at 7pm. The chores of grazing horses can be time consuming.

I like the economics and health factors of grazing horses. My horses get no grain and they still gain weight if not working every day, this makes turning out late and bringing early an important part of grazing horses. We will often do the chores of moving a fence earlier in the day to make it easier to turn out when the time comes. I save time and effort by grazing my horses with no water on pasture. This permits more moves of the fence. A single strand of poly wire with tread in posts. This can usually be moved and set up in 15 minutes. We typically make paddock sizes that will last 2 – 3 nights before moving again.

On days when I can’t work horses for a variety of reasons I really like the few minutes of contact with them as they go in and out. I can also lead up to seven or eight animals at one time. that means one trip with horses to pasture. Lately we have been grazing two groups due to mares with foals, mares in heat, and an intact donkey that can not be turned out with just everyone right now (two groups of four). This has doubled the work of grazing horses and we are feeling it on the late nights and long days of hay making.

No great answers here. I know there are folks that turn out on sacrifice paddocks at night and feed horses a full ration of hay year round. Other folks will graze the horses with out rotating. This would save a lot of time if that turn out was close to the barn. This could work well if there was 5 or 10 acres that weren’t needed for other grazing animals and the horses were being monitored for parasites. Clipping half the pasture at one time and then later clipping the other half could also help.

Just some random thoughts. It is an important question, and I hope more folks will answer with there methods. donn

[Donn Hewes]

Nearly perfect hay making today. It is fun on days like today. I had 4 hours of compt time in the book for the Fire Department tonight because I thought I would need them; instead Daniel tedded a couple acres with three mares while I raked about three with a mule and a Donkey. At 1 pm. we were hooked up and baling. Baled 225 nice green bales, and then after taking Connie back to her foal, we used a team of horses to bring the wagons into the barn.

Not even late for work! Canceled my time off. Nock on wood, but that is how hay making should be. make a few more tomorrow and I will be ready to do some clipping and cultivating for a couple days. I think my first cutting is about half done after tomorrow. I will make the rest in July.

[Donn Hewes]

The plan for loose windrows would have worked great except! I raked and baled it yesterday. What perfect drying weather, and nice horse conditions, and green hay. Hoping to mow and rake today. Bale tomorrow and Monday.

George I am impressed with how many acres you have down. I will mow about the same by the end of today, but that is with two teams and seven foot bars. I only spending about two hours mowing each time I go out. That is a lot of mowing. Glad the mowers are working well. I have hit some heavy hay in spots, but nothing really lodged. I guess I could see how lowering shoes in those conditions would help. I sure would hate to do it though. When you lower them, what hole is the inner shoe on ( I think there are four)? I like to work in the third hole from the bottom, Up high. We were mowing on a windy day the other day and this can make finding you way a little tricky. This is were stub guards really help. If you believe in your line and keep going the stub guards will cut the grass laying where you clear space was supposed to be.

Not sure what that inner stick is called! It takes hay that will be cut and directs it over the bar instead of falling any where Like a grass board for the inside.

Keep up the good work everyone.

[Donn Hewes]

I agree with you Mark. In years past it seemed I never even had a wrench on my mowers and took every problem back to the shop. Today during a little horse rest, I was able to tighten a couple hold downs just a couple quarter turns. The adjustable hold downs are great for this. By tapping on the hold down while adjusting it is easy to make sure you don’t over tighten it. Then just turn the pitman a few revs to make sure it is all still free.

Lately I have been using a couple of super seven knives; these have a larger serrations (almost teeth) on the top. They have worked well with both haybine guards (218 RS) and old style with good ledger plates. I am into my second or third year with the same knives with out sharpening (self sharpening?). I do tune up the haybine guard as you suggest. Not that often but maybe twice a year.

In the last couple days we have really put the new lugs on the wheels to the test with wet ground and mowing the day after an inch of rain. Those wheels are great. No doubt about it. I just tried to weld a rod from the old style kicker tedder. not real optimistic, but maybe they will finish the hay they have down.

I just noticed the question about the tedder. I am using a four start rotary tedder that has two spline shafts on it. One is for half speed which is supposed to be a rake. For baling puroses I think it makes a poor rake, but for making a loose windrow it should be great. I am also using a home made forecart that has four speeds to the PTO shaft, so I can really make the tedder go eight different speeds!

• This reply was modified 10 years, 5 months ago by Donn Hewes.

[Donn Hewes]

I don’t know how everyone else make hay plans, but I create imaginary scenarios on paper that I adjust slightly ever time in come in for a meal and check the forecast. How many days to mow? ted once? twice? How many days until this batch dries? I need to plan baling around the farmer’s market, the day job, and preferably when there might be a little help to move bales. This week lots of hay seems to want to be baled on Saturday. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts to make friends on FB! I will likely be here alone that day. My current plan if the hay dries as I expect it to (drying a lot tomorrow, but just not enough to bale) I will use the tedder in the afternoon to make a loose windrow. This way I might be able to keep the quality while the hay waits until Sunday to be baled. I could go ahead and rake it the rest of the way on Sat if it looks ready, or I could leave that for Sunday if it is still drying. It is a bit of an experiment, but something I have wanted to try with a rotary tedder.

I will keep you posted.

[Donn Hewes]

Carl, I don’t see why you couldn’t make a version of this that would work with a side backer or other harness. It would just take a little fiddling. Donn

[Donn Hewes]

We made about 250 yesterday. It had been being washed for a week and was very clean. Hoping mow today, but the forecast for tomorrow isn’t great. The baler is finally working right again, what a relief.

George how did you mowers do? What did you end up with for the adjustment? My hay fields are not as heavy as your it seems.

[Donn Hewes]

I should have said in the first post this was a system for D rings with three abreast. For other harnesses I have always been relatively happy with a two horse neck yoke and an offset tongue. Using a two pole system with three horses and other harnesses would create it own set of difficulties. I am not sure how I deal with that.

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Scott, the ratio of the long to the short bar on each side means that each animal is holding roughly (not exactly) the same amount. They can back up together. One of the features of this design is that there is room for the middle horse to be and few inches in front or behind, without weighting part or all of the system. With no jockey the center horse also gets that room as well.

With Lady in the middle she walked sightly in front of Connie and Polly, while we worked. I would have liked to gotten off and seen what that looked like, but I was alone. Next I will try Connie in the middle as she won’t walk up on anyone!

• This reply was modified 10 years, 5 months ago by Donn Hewes.

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Peyton, I have worked a little on one. The one I worked on was a nice mower and it was a later model. I am guessing it was a later model as it had an adjustable lead which was introduced to most sickle bar mowers with their first tractor models. Built in the 40’s perhaps. Both ends of the pitman are unique to that mower although it might be possible to convert the ball end. BW Mcnair has told me he has these pitman parts, but he has also failed to send them to me. No one else I have spoken with has them. I believe the guards are interchangeable, but I would have to double check that. Knife head and knife head ball I am not sure about, they were often slightly different from make to make. My Amish neighbor with the new idea wanted axle seals (leaking oil big time) but unfortunately these were not available that I could find. Good Luck, Donn

[Donn Hewes]

No, It is designed like a vertical revolving Christmas tree, The grass would make it spin, I like the wheel rake idea also, I will have to think about that if mine doesn’t work. I had it half finished last winter, but it got shelved as there was no way to test it. Now there is no time to mess with it! Until I feel a need. While I think Scything is a beautiful art, and I use one to clean under fences; I would take a plugged mower and an old horse over a scythe for mowing hay. No offense I hope.

I a few things I thought of adding above but I imagine George is well aware of. First there is a ton of technique in mowing. As I teach lots of mowing I watch folks plugging for every possible reason in every possible condition. Each time they master a certain level of skill, the conditions get a little harder and they start plugging again. We can switch teams or switch mowers, but in most cases (but not all!) I am plugging one tenth or less than they are.

In the heaviest worst cutting, You need some momentum, still walking but a big confident walk. This can be hard if you can’t see where to go. At some point you learn to guess that spot amongst the wind blown hay. There are many tricks to the foot pedal. Knowing just when to give it a poke to keep you going. Bumping it through a patch of vetch, bedstraw. if I can get it down to one stop every 1,000 feet, then I will just chalk it up to resting the horses. Good Luck. I can’t decide whether to mow more hay today or go and try tedding the hay that has been laying on the ground for a week. Forecast only so, so. Donn

[Donn Hewes]

Hi gang, my feeders are divided below the bowl so while two animals share the each bowl, their ropes are just long enough for a drink and there is nothing to wrap around. There is some water out of them, but it has never caused me any problem. Maybe you can shorten the ropes?

If I were home every day, a system that involved me watering them might work for me, but the water bowls have worked great for me for about the last 10 years. I don’t use them in the winter as they are not frost free.

[Donn Hewes]

My two cents is there is no easy way to mow lodged hay, but here is what I “try” to do. First, if you can wait for it to dry out it will mow much easier. Of course getting the bottoms to dry out can be impossible. Second I never lower my shoes for anything. Any effort gained getting under stuff will be lost cutting more fines and tangled new growth. Finally in some cases I have tilted the cutter bar forward slightly, but I think the benefit of that is minimal. In many cases the real difficulty isn’t the cutting but the swathing and finding your way through all the grass. Grass boards tend to pile up these great mountains of hay and then leave piles, or they just plug because of the tangled bottoms of these fields. Donn’s spinning grass board will help solve this problem; but unfortunately it will sit as a Christmas tree ornament in the shop until I get stuck myself. Good Luck George.

[Donn Hewes]

I have always used mostly 5/16th chain with a few 3/8 thrown in. I am hoping to order some hooks on Friday, after a Thur night approval! The heat treating turns out to be not a huge expense, but more for the short run (minimum charge). They will heat treat the whole thing which is good for the clevis parts as well. I have increased the over all size sligthly (1/2″ diameter) and that will accommodate a thicker handle, a slightly larger handle opening, and slightly deeper slots. I am definitely going to make one heat treated version. Mixed feelings about the slot size. Doesn’t seem to be a game changer either way. I guess I am leaning toward the 3/8 slot as I have used lots of hooks like that. After it is hardened it might not be so simple to just grab an angle grinder and open the slots. They really aren’t that easy to get an angle grinder in anyway. I will keep you posted.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 5 months ago by Donn Hewes.

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Jim, There is no pattern! I just girth hitch a bight of twine on one side of the bridle above the brow and then girth hitch lots of long pieces on that. Once I have enough I tie it to the other side of the bridle. I certainly have gnats in the ears but not so bad. I have one horse that is a good gauge as flies will drive her to distraction. This net works great for her. She started needing it last week and no one else has even been bothered yet. They are disposable and when I am feeling generous I make them all new ones each year.

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