[Rivendell Farm]

Welcome to the forum. You will be able to gain much valuable knowledge here from those with experience in what you’re hoping to do. You will also find that very little in the farming life is simple. I wish you the best in your endeavor. Bob

[Rivendell Farm]

My experience with scythes has taught me the importance of having the right scythe. The Austrian scythe, the type in Tim’s video, is much easier to use than the other type I’ve tried, which might be called an American scythe. There’s a book called The Scythe Book by Peter Vido and David Tressemer that will give you all the information you need to properly use and sharpen a scythe. They work well for trimming under electric fences, too. Bob

[Rivendell Farm]

Donn- Making hay can be very enjoyable or excruciatingly frustrating. The hay that takes the most time is always the worst hay. I would happily send you some of our 90 deg. plus, dry weather in exchange for even a few drops of rain. Bob

[Rivendell Farm]

Our barn has a hay car that runs on a track at the peak of the barn. The hay was lifted off the wagon in the center of the barn, then the person in the mow pulled a rope, via a pulley at the track end, that moved the car and suspended hay into position. After dropping the hay, the one inch lifting rope was used to pull the car back to the center. Upon reaching the center it automatically released to drop to the wagon for another load. This is all in the past tense, because it has been ages since we put up hay this way. It does make nicer hay than a baler does. Hope this is some help. Bob

[Rivendell Farm]

I didn’t ted the hay, and I seldom get the time to do it, unless it gets rained on, then I have to ted to get it to dry. I mowed it with an old 489 New Holland haybine and a non-equine tractor. One time I tried just mowing and conditioning part of a field, then mowing, conditioning, and tedding another part. I couldn’t notice much difference in drying time. There are so many variables, though, that there are no absolute answers. Tedding may make a difference with more legume in the stand. Humidity was low. Ground was very dry with conditions more like you’d expect in July. It took three days of clear blue sky to dry it. That is, I cut in the morning of day one, did nothing on day two, then raked in the morning of day three, and baled in the afternoon. The round bales came out a nice green and quite dry. As Gene Logsdon says, “The answer to any question about farming is ‘It depends’.” Bob

[Rivendell Farm]

I couldn’t resist posting some pictures of my May hay here in southern Michigan. It’s the earliest we’ve ever baled hay, started cutting May 14. Usually it’s early June before the weather cooperates and the hay is ready to cut. This year we may finish first cutting in May. Bob

[Rivendell Farm]

Here is a quackgrass control idea I don’t actually recommend, but I know of someone who used it. He was summer fallowing a large field, hoping to get it clear of all weeds and debris so he could use a rock picker on it. The constant dragging resulted in too many quack grass roots on the surface. They still clogged up the rock picker. Being an innovative thinker, he tried raking the roots into windrows with a side delivery hay rake. The next logical step was to bring out the baler. Yes, he actually baled the quackgrass roots to get them off the field. He did say it was awful hard on the baler. Bob

[Rivendell Farm]

There is no magic bullet to control quackgrass without chemicals. I have had good luck with a combination of summer fallow and buckwheat plowdown planted at about one bushel to the acre, but it takes a few years of the right rotation to beat it back. The disc chops up the connecting roots between plants, allowing each root piece to start a new plant. A springtooth drag, on the other hand, should be able to flip the roots out of the ground so they dry out if conditions are right. Years ago I had a weeder like Mitch described. It worked best when used on annual weeds just after they germinate and have only a couple leaves, great for weed control in corn before the corn even emerges. But it won’t do much against quackgrass. Bob

[Rivendell Farm]

Here in Michigan the temperature has been running about 30 degrees above normal, highs in the mid 80’s. Hard to imagine what 30 degrees above normal would be like in July. My horses still have most of their winter hair and easily get overheated while plowing. Bob

[Rivendell Farm]

I’m not sure what you mean by a harness rack. I just have harness hooks that hold one harness each, maybe in a way too jumbled for an OCD-kid. But they’re cheap and easy to use, allowing easy transfer from hook to shoulder. Back when I started I made one out of a section of a small tree trunk with a short branch sticking out on one side nailed to a barn wall to hang the harnesses on. Hard to visualize from that description, I guess. Maybe you’re looking for something to display the harness horizontally along the wall…
Bob

[Rivendell Farm]

Sickle Hocks: I hope you have an energy efficient computer so you don’t have to sit in the dark all evening to save up enough power to read and post on this forum. Most of us use way more electricity than we need, but 210 watts isn’t much. I’m impressed you can get by with that. Bob

[Rivendell Farm]

I’ve had good luck with Backwoods solar as well. Around here the Amish are starting to use solar panels to charge the deep cycle batteries in their buggies. I’ve been told the recommended panel size if 50 watts. In addition you’ll need a small charge controller so the battery doesn’t over charge. An Amish business in Northern Indiana sells a solar charging kit for around $200. Bob

[Rivendell Farm]

Geoff – I wish I could find one like that here in Michigan. It seems like the tubes on the grass seeder should work as long as they drop the seed behind the discs. Bob

[Rivendell Farm]

Hi Russel
I don’t know about serial numbers, but I like the single guards on my No. 9. The stub guards are nice on the inside end of the bar to prevent plugging with the already cut grass from the last round. Bob

[Rivendell Farm]

Mitch, we’ll be sure to stop by. Bob

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