[Donn Hewes]

Hi Eli, Are you using a D ring harness? If not I wouldn’t go to the trouble of the double tongue. I have always worked well with an offset tongue for three horses. To fully utilize the d ring a double tongue is really needed. For myself I don’t think the double tongue would enhance training a young animal, but others might feel differently.

[Donn Hewes]

What does it mean when you start mowing with a four day forecast of good weather and when you go to bed there is a 40% chance of rain for the the next day. I wake up this morning and it is showers likely before 10 am.! Radar looks light showers are on the way. I think there will be a lot of rained on hay today. I think I will do my chores and then watch tv. Oh, I would have to go buy one first. Maybe I will bake a pie.

Reason for edit: raining now – I know a donkey that needs hoofs trimmed.

[Donn Hewes]

Here is a very brief accounting of myself. We used two teams to mow this morning, about 4 acres in 1 1/2 hours. The ground was still wet under the hay and that made it a little harder going. Mowers worked fine, but the horses didn’t like it. 2″ deep hoof prints, ugh.

I figured out that this hay would not be dry and baling tomorrow, so I didn’t ted today. Instead we set two teams to raking the bedding hay from last week in the afternoon. I snaped a bolt out of an evener that had been on one of my forecarts for a few years. The mule and the donkey handled the broken evener like a non event; but it is a good reminder to check all those eveners we use day after day. The rolled steel eveners with bolts in them are nice for day to day use as they are a little lighter and cheaper than the good pipe and welding ones. Ultimately the welded pipe eveners and neck yokes are more reliable.

Thought I had my baler fixed last week, but again today it was not tieing nots in one peice of twine. I finally got it to work after I had taken the horses back to the barn. I sure hope it works tomorrow. Apparently I have several parts that are worn enough to need replacement. That is what makes fixing it or adjusting it difficult. Good luck everyone, have fun and be safe.

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Carl, These horses didn’t seem to be working too hard, but I think with two horses working harder you would have more of the momentary hesitations that make it not work as well. I also know that my cart has some weight to it and as soon as I start up a hill I am sure I will need the extra horse. I was driving it up a hill on the road the other day (steepish) with out a tedder) and you could tell all three were working. Not a good sign for tedding up hill.

Yes, Carl you can get on or off from either side! Pretty hard to beat those unwanted road signs

[Donn Hewes]

Today is another big test. I will mow about 4 – 5 acres this morning and hope to ted it an hour or two later. Big day as we plan to rake with another team while I ted for tomorrow. Then bale the bedding hay later this after noon. A lot to do in one day.

Here is a link to the video

[Donn Hewes]

The best thing would be to find some one near you with a working mower. Even if it is not a Case I think it will give you the idea of what is needed. I would take a picture, but my mowers are all set up with dolly wheels and that won’t help as much.

Dolly wheel pictures are on my web album: picasaweb.google.com/mulemandonn

[Donn Hewes]

Ground drive baling is a difficult thing. The problem is GD systems are designed with out a lot of “wasted” power, or power in reserve. A gas powered or diesel powered machine is cruising a long easily, and then when it hits a big slug of hay or whatever it throttles up and just goes right through it. Or it should. unfortunately, it is difficult to plan hay making so we always have the perfect windrow. These changing conditions will often lead to plugging the baler. Over the years I have seen several of these systems at either the APFD or HPD. I have never owned one or tried one on my own.

Having said that the John deere baler converted to ground drive is probably the most efficient system if some one is determined to GD Bale with horses. To pull a wagon and bale at the same time with a GD baler could well take 8 good horses. Another thing to consider. Four could pull the baler and drop the bales on the ground.

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Peyton, You want to use the side backer harness with regular draft collars. If you have been pulling it with a tractor do you have a bracket that the evener attaches to? The evener on a mower is not mounted on the tongue like it would be on many other pieces of equipment. There is a bracket that bolts to the tongue and allows the evener to swing a few inches below the tongue. You really want one of these brackets. is there any chain or rod coming forward from the cutter bar head when it is pulled by the tractor? If not this will throw off the timing and lead adjustments.

Timing and lead could well explain the problems plugging. It is also possible that the outer shoe ledger is dull and grass builds up right at the outer shoe. The inner shoe usually plugs from a slight over steer to the left. good stub guards can help make it not plug on the inside like that.

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Peyton, The critical number is not the distance in front of the evener. As jay suggested, just use a length that already works for on another piece of equipment. here is how i would proceed.

First, do you have the draft rod, or need to make one? That is a rod that connects the cutter bar head, to the hitch just behind the evener. If you don’t have one you will need one before you finish the tongue. Guessing at the length of the draft rod would be all right, unless some one here comes up with a length for it.

Second, the critical length on a mower tongue is the part between the mower body and the hitch. That is because the hitch on these mowers is designed to swing forward and back to allow the cutter bar to float up and down over uneven ground. This will only work if the hitch is placed in the right spot (to the inch).

Solution: Don’t cut your tongue to its finished length. Leave 6 to 12 extra inches if you can. Bolt it in the mower body. Raise the front up to a good working height. Most mowers like their tongues pretty high as it will make the pitman shaft nearly parallel with the ground. Next hang the evener bracket with the draft rod connected at both ends. To locate this hole you need to put the cutter bar on the ground as if it were mowing. Now the bracket can be moved forward and back until it is hanging vertically, not leaning forward or back. also slide it up and down until it has enough room to swing freely. (not all the way up tight!)

once you have this hole drilled and the bracket bolted on; use a lock nut or cotter pin so this bolt isn’t tightened so the bracket can’t move, you can measure and cut the rest of the tongue for your desired length to the neck yoke. That is the best why I can think of to cut a good tongue length. Good Luck.

[Donn Hewes]

I believe you can put any haybine guards on a JD mower, as the hole spacing is the same, 3″. The knifes are different with slightly closer holes in each section and different ball placement on the knife. I know folks have used a McD knife by making a new pitman stick.

[Donn Hewes]

I think it is funny how cheap the complete knifes are considering how much the parts cost. I can buy a 6′ knife for about $75, That is a small discount. The ball head is over 30. The knife sections and bolts is about 40 and the knife back is over $10. The ones you buy have rivets and they must be able to put them together fast!

[Donn Hewes]

GW, That is a great video. How many hours to pick up eight acres and put them in the barn? How many loads. and how far to the barn was it? Nice work. Donn

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Jody, That is a nice looking set up! What is the row spacing on those peas? Was that machine made for horses or converted?

[Donn Hewes]

Hi George, Kristan seems pretty game for mowing and other stuff. The truth is stacking bales on the wagon is pretty fun. My wife usually claims it as her own and kicks interns and others off the wagon unless she has to make cheese or something. I have not tried it in years (as the only driver of the four on the baler), but I remember it as a very fun job. The pace of the bales is just perfect.

I also refer to Maryrose as my “BaleBabe”; better than a kicker any day! The wagons can be slippery and any slop makes it take a little practice to keep the bales from falling off. We had baler problems yesterday also. The knotter – a neighbor came and baled a large wagon load, but now I have to help him unload three or four of his wagons, ugh.

[Donn Hewes]

Hi George, Yes i do remember that. It is a funny thing because a good mower can mow a tremendous amount of this “trash”, but I think there must be a limit. Lots of these farmers a mowing for the silo. This leads to an even greater desire to be able to mow when it is wet. great feed if they can get it in. it makes it fun to work on the mowers as they are taking a beating!

I had a farmer asking about the easy cut the other day; do you still run that on one of your mowers? One with and one without by any chance? Donn

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