Haying 2013

[Ed Thayer]

We have been waiting too. Looks like the end of the week is going to be drier and less humid. We are processing chickens on Saturday so it could be a busy weekend.

We still have several acres to mow. Second crop is coming in nicely with all the rain we have had.

Ed

[mitchmaine]

hey ed,
the second crop is coming along fine here. only its down underneath the first crop.
noaa says fair weather Friday on. good luck!

[Does’ Leap]

I am going to start mowing tomorrow as the weather looks good through Tuesday. I hope to finish up first cut this round so I can start the second soon after.

George

[Jay]

We will probably cut some more tomorrow. We got 10 acres of light to moderate nice hay (neighbor’s field that we haven’t used before) in last weekend. Mowed Fri with discbine, tedded Sat with the horses and then raked Sun early PM with 3 teams and the baler followed. All in the barn by dark 400+ bales. Sure felt good to have the 3 teams going… Jay

[Ed Thayer]

cutting today, weather looks good through Wednesday.

Ed

[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.

[Does’ Leap]

I mowed 4 acres on Thursday and it was rough going. It is a fertile field with 5’+ orchard grass along with several patches of lodged hay and areas of of vetch. Under the thicket of hay the second crop was coming in along with some brown, almost rotting, grass due to the heavy moisture and lack of light. I started mowing around 10:45 and the mower clogged frequently enough that I never had to consciously rest my horses. It wasn’t terrible, but I have had better mowing experiences. Luckily, it got progressively better.

Today, I mowed another 3 acres to finish this particular meadow. Same hay, same conditions and I plugged my mower once the whole time. The biggest factor seemed to be the moisture level inside the sward. One good day of sun and things really dried out.

We are going to fit in some more mowing tomorrow in between tedding and will start baling Sunday.

George

[Carl Russell]

Baled the nastiest hay in all my years today. Cut it on the fourth, almost add hay on the seventh, then sat in windrows until we started redding it yesterday…… Anyway, after such a wet year I figure it won’t hurt to put some nutrients back in the gardens in the form of mulch hay….. Making lemonade….. Anyway it sure is nice to have some good weather.

Baler ran great, and horses plugged along through the heat, Tedder this am, raked by 3, then baled 85….

Carl

[Eli]

I baled about 50 bales and only got stuck twice had the 560 farmall on the baler no wagon the hay is perfectly dry but the field is wet. I tryed mowing the rest of the field with the super C but I broke the pitmon. Tomorrow I will have the rest round baled. Then get ready for second crop which I hope to involve the horses more. Eli

[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.

[mitchmaine]

hey donn,
seems like the more sophisticated that our tools get, the less accurate the weather prediction is.
I don’t know why that is. I used to work for this old fisherman. he always knew what the weather was going to do. I watched him do it for eight years and he was always right. not that it mattered, cause we fished every day no matter what it was doing. I can’t seem to do it. sorry about your hay. I have a batch down and good weather predicted til weds. penny asked if I was going to mow this morning but I think i’m going to take it one cut at a time. we bale this lot tomorrow and who knows what tomorrow will bring. good luck there.
mitch

[Eli]

Donn we have a friend who is a weather man at a Greenbay tv station and I have a few Aminh friends, this year my Amish friends were more accurate with the weather. I told both about my forecast experance both just smiled. Yesterday I sold 26 round bales to county because they were not good enough to feed they will be housed as cover hay to grow grass. Good luck. Eli

[near horse]

I hate to be a spoil sport but our weather has been okay for haying but we too have the 10 day forecast for dry and 75 to 85 and wake the following AM to the sound of a passing shower! Even I can predict the current weather as it happens.

We cut a 5 acre piece that gave ~ 375 bales of good hay and an 8 acre that gave about 500 with at least 30-40 bales of junk. We have a weed called ventanata or wind/wire grass that’s a winter annual and spreads pretty vigorously. Not a leaf on it just a thin wiry stem and some nasty tiny seed heads and nothing will eat it. Baler had its moments but overall made bales.

While we do have some good haying weather, don’t forget that we’re a one trick pony, getting a single cutting each year. Best to you all.

[Eli]

According to my daughters calculations we have enough hay for 120 days now I think she used 30 lbs a horse a day we have 8 but one is a baby. We should have enough pasture until late fall if the weather had cooperated we would have 26 more round bales but what do you do. Eli

[mitchmaine]

hey Geoff,
curious about your weather out there and haymaking. what is your typical summer rainfall? do you rely on winter snowfall for the water for your crop? is irrigation out? interested in anything you might say on making hay on the high plains. eastern Washington, right? the Palouse?

[Author]

Posts