haying

[Livewater Farm]

did our first haying today early for Vermont but we are making balage for our dairy good quality early cut 1000# bales double wrapped started with a small 3 acre field all equipment worked without a hitch mowed another 5 acres to be baled tomorrow rest of the week looks like good weather also hopefully in 3 weeks we will have weather for dry hay and we can rake and tedd with a team ,how are others doing any one getting started we make 700 wrapped bales and as many square and dry rounds as the weather permits mixed power 2 tractors 3horses
Bill

[Y 4 Ranch]

@Livewater Farm 18333 wrote:

did our first haying today early for Vermont but we are making balage for our dairy good quality early cut 1000# bales double wrapped started with a small 3 acre field all equipment worked without a hitch mowed another 5 acres to be baled tomorrow rest of the week looks like good weather also hopefully in 3 weeks we will have weather for dry hay and we can rake and tedd with a team ,how are others doing any one getting started we make 700 wrapped bales and as many square and dry rounds as the weather permits mixed power 2 tractors 3horses
Bill

We’re in the same boat, mixed wise, 1 tractor and 6 horses, started on Sunday. I try not to work on Sunday but this year we don’t have much choice for Minnesota. Hay looks very good if we can hold the rain off for a week or so. We hope to have close to 1200, 900# by fall.
Mike

[Donn Hewes]

Planning to start some mowing tomorrow. I will try to start a thread just for hay making pictures!

[Anonymous]

in Germany i´am in the last steps making hay. I think tomorrow we finished.
Mowing, teddering and make lines for the baler, all do with the horses. Only making balers, we do with the tractor.

[jac]

Hi Ralf.. great pictures.. tell us about your hitch cart please. That looks a neat set up for cutting hay..
John

[Livewater Farm]

Done with 1st cut here in southern vermont real good quality but half a normal crop no rain in may started 2nd cut this week yeilds seem to be twice as much as normal all our rain came first two weeks of june glover nice and thick 30% bloom hope to make up the shortage from earlier cut should be a good 3rd cut if I can get this all off by 2nd week of july made some dry hay used horses to tedd and rake will try to get pictures of my ground drive cart with rotary rake

Bill

[Andre]

I have around 50 acres of low land “wet” first cut left. I am getting about half the yield as I did the same time last year. How those mares doing for you?

[Donn Hewes]

I mowed about six acres with a haybine yesterday and almost finished another six today with two sickle bar mowers. Hopefully raking and baling tomorrow and Saturday. Found some very heavy mowing today. It is fun to mow that huge stuff but it makes it hard for the intern who keeps plugging the mower. You can see some pictures here. A lot of the pictures I took while I was mowing.

I also broke a pitman yesterday in an odd place. Broke the metal plate in half. New metal plate this spring. All the barings seem fine. All the cutting parts are sharp and spinning free. Mower worked fine after I fixed the pitman. Go figure. I was mowing down near an overgrown hedge row, perhaps I hit something with out knowing it. Here is a picture

[Ed Thayer]

Is that Connie in the pics, I thought she sold?

Very cool pics. Can you mow all day with the four up hitch?

Very nice looking grass. We had a poor first crop because of the early dry weather.

[jac]

Great fotos Donn.. the haybine is a new concept to me as i dont think they were ever exported here. How does it work.. is it discs that cut ? and does it condition the grass as well ?…
John

[Donn Hewes]

yes, that is Connie. I sold Suzie, ( a smaller belgian mare). Connie is a great horse, a little pushy, but an honest worker. I am struggling with her weight problem though.

I could mow all day with the four abreast on the haybine. At two acres per hour I usually don’t want to mow more than 4 to six acres at a time. The limit is how much can I rake and bale in a day. With two teamsters and a six foot mower and a seven foot mower I can mow even faster but the horses are working much harder.

Jac, the haybine is about 35 years old. They use rubber rollers to crimp the hay, and a sickle bar to cut it. This one is a seven footer. It speeds up the hay drying. This year I have been doing some comparisons between haybine and sickle bar mowers. The sickle bar is certainly more pleasant to use. This morning I tedded most of the hay from yesterday before I started mowing about 1 pm. Donn

[Andy Carson]

Donn, I enjoyed the haying pictures. I think I might try one out one of those corded fly nets you are using. I image they work pretty well for you as you have one on every animal… If you dont mind me asking, where did you get yours?

[Donn Hewes]

I think the fly nets work great. I still use a little spray when the flies are worst, but when the animals are moving they keep a lot of flies off. I know Mid West Leather sells them, but I think they are pretty common and lots of folks have them. I think they are about 40$ now. They take a lot of abuse and last for a few years. Donn

[Donn Hewes]

Well, for a few days it was the ideal hay making weather. Yesterday we baled 401. Today we baled 201. tomorrow we will probably bale another 200. But it is getting HOT. Connie seems to be doing slightly better in the heat today. I took her fly net off to see if that would help her cool at all. I gave every one a little break today as we had more hay raked, but I left it for tomorrow. Lady, the black Percheron, came in to the barn today with a little swelling on the top of her neck. Another reason for the slightly lighter day. The mules still went back out a five PM to mow a little more for Monday. Gotta love those mules in the heat. Here are a few more pictures.

[jac]

Hey Donn thats some really great fotos.. is the tedder home built ? neat operation you have there and wonderfull scenery…
John

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