[J-L]

The only thing I’ve seen is in ‘Haying With Horses’. Not really a plan though.

I have a few buck rakes that are in tact enough to take pictures of and measurements from. I plan on rebuilding at least one myself and need to do it anyway. I will try and remember to do it some time this fall, but feel free to prompt me because my memory isn’t the best.

Wes

[J-L]

Welcome. I am using horses haying in south west Wyoming in Bridger Valley.

This is a good source of info with some experienced folks.

[J-L]

My computer got wiped out as well. The trick that got me was the inclusion of Microsoft in the message. Clicked on the message to fight the threat and wiped everything out!
I have no idea where it came from, but the tech that worked on my computer said it got a bunch of folks so it may be common on a lot of places.

[J-L]

Ben, where are you at?

You can email me at lupher@bvea.net, I am mowing, raking, and hauling hay with horses and mules. Use them feeding in winter too. Teams harnessed daily.

[J-L]

I see that now, first glance looked like a 3 point rig. Bet it would work great. I have used the tractor mounted 3 wheel rake and got along okay. This should too.

[J-L]

We’ve had some 50 and almost 60 degree temp shifts in a day. Frost ten days ago with high 80’s in afternoons. Been keeping an eye out for pneumonia in my cattle, so far so good. Our rainy spell was a total of .10″, other than that not a drop for more than three months. Super dry.
Mowed 20 acres of hay yesterday and today (10 each day). Looks like we will put up about 40-50 round bales, give or take, on 30 acres. Last year I put 137 up on the same patch.
The good part was that my new I&J mower is a champ. My son and I put our mowers in the grass at 9:30 this morning and had 10 acres down by 12:30. He was on my #9 with a 6′ bar and I was on the 7′ I&J with the motor.
We swapped teams on mowers and I worked my young Shire mares on the #9 for an hour or so to finish out the piece. Funny thing was the #9 boogered them more than the motor. The inside mare did NOT like the sound of that knife. Took us ten or 15 minutes to get lined out. Take three steps, stop and think…take three steps, stop and think…etc. In the end she came around and did great. I just love mowing with a new team when you can see them turn the corner and figure it out. Rewarding.
I burned about a gallon of gas mowing what I did this morning. The noise is probably just a bit less than the #9 surprisingly. I talked to Jonathen Lawton a few times about this mower (he has two) and he encouraged me to get it. Glad he did.

[J-L]

You need to know it’s made to go on a 3 point hitch on a tractor. They don’t just roll along and have to have some support.

[J-L]

Forgot to say, primary crop is kids. Pay for them with the cows.

[J-L]

Different world here Denise. I run on a total of 1400 acres (some years 2000 depending on a section of forest having some rain). I ranch it full time and run 150 of my own cows plus 135 on shares for family members. It makes up the larger share of our income, but it would be extremely hard to do without my wifes town job with benefits, as well as my kids providing labor (sorry Mr. Obama, my kids ride horses herding cattle, drive tractors and teams, lift bales of hay, etc. before they are in middle school).
Even with all that help and extra income we are not very well off financially, but love what we’re doing and spend a lot of time together. Good life.

[J-L]

Tough spot George. I would ask myself one question; how much will you enjoy your farming with a tractor? If you can stand the thought of it then I guess going with the tractor would be okay. If not?
I’m kind of in the same spot. I have a lot of ground to cover for putting up my hay (nearly 300 acres), and it’s tough to try and do with horses and mules. I have been upgrading my equipment at every opportunity with an emphasis on my horses. I just did get a motor driven I&J mower to go with my JD4 and McD9 mowers. I know I can’t do it all with my teams at this time (have to bale and do some cutting with tractors), but can’t stand the thought of not using them as much as I can.
With a power cart and a 9′ swather or even a mower behind you can do a lot of work in a day.
I guess my vote is for you to stick with your ideology, get your power cart.

[J-L]

Thanks Dan, I am interested in both. My computer is down but my email address is lupher@bvea.net. It should be back up soon. If you’d rather I would talk to you on the phone if you want to email or PM me your number. Appreciate the help.

[J-L]

Good looking team there! Hay isn’t up enough to mow here yet for a couple weeks. Have mowers ready, going to leg up my horses with some wagon work soon.

[J-L]

Been wondering myself. Hell of a bad fire. The west is super dry compounding the beetle kill. We are all nervous here. Glad he is okay, too bad about his dad’s place (and for all of the losses).

[J-L]

Hello from Wyo. What part of MT are you in?
You will be surprised at what you can get done with your mules. The more jobs you use them for, the better they get.

[J-L]

I have two that are made by the Kosch Co. in Nebraska. Nice metal grass boards.

[Author]

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