Haying 2013

[Does’ Leap]

We plan on mowing tomorrow and possibly on Wednesday as well if the weather holds through Saturday. It is still a little on the cool side starting in the low 70s and then a high of 75 on Friday. There is a big crop out there. Hope it dries.

George

[Ed Thayer]

I broke my mower yesterday clipping the vegetable fields and will have replacement parts in by tomorrow so we plan to cut tomorrow evening or Wednesday mid day. Started the Wisconsin on the baler and re checked its operation. McKormick Deering makes short bales but good enough for me. I am not selling it and the wife appreciates the lighter bales. My hay wagon is complete and the rest of my old iron is good to go.

Is there any disadvantage to laying down grass when it is till wet?

This is our first year making our own hay on our property and I am both anxious and excited. My biggest fear is breaking down and being stuck with nice hay on the ground.

Happy haying to you all.

Ed

[near horse]

Hi Ed,

I assume you mean wet like wet on the outside from rain/dew etc. IMHO – there are 2 “types” of water to deal with in curing hay. First is the stuff on the outside (rain, dew etc) which dries off pretty easily and quickly and should have little effect on your hay quality. Second is the internal moisture trapped in the formerly living cells. That stuff is more challenging to remove and is why we condition hay etc. So, as long as you tedd etc that moisture should be of little concern. Just my 2 cents from the west.

BTW – my horses get fat so easily I (and they) might be better off putting up some worse hay : )

Best advice – don’t get too stressed and have fun with Oz.

[Carl Russell]

Got it started…. This field was grazed in May, so it is light in places, but it is good feed. Hoping for some good drying between clouds and showers…

[Ed Thayer]

Mowed 1.5 acres tonight and ready for the sun to do its job. Will tedd tomorrow after work. Kicked a baby fawn out of its bed n the back corner of the field. Scared the crap out me when it bolted. Thankfully it ran away from the cutter bar.

Ed

[Jay]

I cut some Friday and some more yesterday AM. Great drying air then… Strong thunderstorm in the late afternoon and rain off and on today. Sky tonight says it might be better tomorrow… We’ll see. Jay

[Eli]

I would be cutting but I’m stuck in Madison for 3 days getting an education. My neighbor was going to try my hay if he got time but he hasent called me back yet so I don’t know if he did. He will use his 3020 JD and 9foot 990 IH wind rower so 10 acres won’t take long. I love making hay it’s the best time of year. Eli

[Carl Russell]

Making hay while the sun shines.

http://weather.rap.ucar.edu/progs/prog12hr.gif

[grey]

I love making hay but it is so nerve-wracking watching the weather. We’ve had a lousy spring for haymaking. A few dry days here and there with rain in-between. Most everything around here is past ready to mow – seed heads in most of the fields and getting stemmier every day.

[carl ny]

Sure hope the weather holds. I put down a 12 acre pasture,a 1 1/2 acre pasture,and a 4 acre meadow. we always take one cutting off the pastures and then graze it the rest of the year.

carl

[Eli]

Hay is cut they will rake tomorrow bale on Friday or saturday nothing like good neighbors. Eli

[Donn Hewes]

Hi all, I / interns have mowed about 5 acres tues and wed. Today we will be tedding half the day. Hopefully, we will be baling tomorrow and Sat. I haven’t finished the new PTO cart yet (bummer) I would have liked to used the rotary tedder today. Coming soon.

[Carl Russell]

Baling today…. mowed another small field (1 ac.) yesterday….. may be mowing another 3ac. tomorrow if this weather keeps up.

Carl

[mitchmaine]

you can have my tedder donn. dumped two acres beautyiful hay yesterday, the most glorious day god ever created. pure joy. north dry wind with the smell of freshcut grass. then i hauled the tedder out of the treeline and it had a flat tire. ok. so four hours later still trying. i pulled the tedder till the tire broke down, pulled the tube patched it and put it back together and it went down. so i tried doing it the right way and the greatest minds in our town have yet to come up with a solution for pulling the wheel noff this tedder. every mechanic within ten miles gotr the story and came running. now its a thing and we are re assembling this morning to either fix it or blow it up for scrap. and we still have to deal with the baler

[Billy Foster]

Hey Earl

I dropped a couple acres yesterday as well, yea the weather was perfect. Temp was warm enough to dry hay but not to warn that you couldn’t keep working the horses. I just so happen to be working on my tedder this AM as well. Mine is an old kicker style, you have rubber tires on your tedder…modern equipment aye brother. Today I will see if it was a bad idea to spread manure on this field, the grass was so thick, I couldn’t believe how much dry matter there was. I think I am going to need all three of these nice days to get it dried.

Well break is over, back to work.
Billy

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