Mower Settings for Lodged Hay

[Does’ Leap]

With all this wet weather, we have a huge crop of hay out there. Excessive winds over the last couple of days had lodged much of it. Any suggestions for cutter bar height and knife tilt for these conditions? In past lodged conditions, I have mowed tight to the ground with the knife set level attempting to get under the hay. It was tough going. Any input would be appreciated.

George

[Donn Hewes]

My two cents is there is no easy way to mow lodged hay, but here is what I “try” to do. First, if you can wait for it to dry out it will mow much easier. Of course getting the bottoms to dry out can be impossible. Second I never lower my shoes for anything. Any effort gained getting under stuff will be lost cutting more fines and tangled new growth. Finally in some cases I have tilted the cutter bar forward slightly, but I think the benefit of that is minimal. In many cases the real difficulty isn’t the cutting but the swathing and finding your way through all the grass. Grass boards tend to pile up these great mountains of hay and then leave piles, or they just plug because of the tangled bottoms of these fields. Donn’s spinning grass board will help solve this problem; but unfortunately it will sit as a Christmas tree ornament in the shop until I get stuck myself. Good Luck George.

[KMichelle]

Scythe ??

[Rivendell Farm]

The spinning grass board sounds intriguing. Does it work like one wheel of a wheel rake? Bob

[Donn Hewes]

No, It is designed like a vertical revolving Christmas tree, The grass would make it spin, I like the wheel rake idea also, I will have to think about that if mine doesn’t work. I had it half finished last winter, but it got shelved as there was no way to test it. Now there is no time to mess with it! Until I feel a need. While I think Scything is a beautiful art, and I use one to clean under fences; I would take a plugged mower and an old horse over a scythe for mowing hay. No offense I hope.

I a few things I thought of adding above but I imagine George is well aware of. First there is a ton of technique in mowing. As I teach lots of mowing I watch folks plugging for every possible reason in every possible condition. Each time they master a certain level of skill, the conditions get a little harder and they start plugging again. We can switch teams or switch mowers, but in most cases (but not all!) I am plugging one tenth or less than they are.

In the heaviest worst cutting, You need some momentum, still walking but a big confident walk. This can be hard if you can’t see where to go. At some point you learn to guess that spot amongst the wind blown hay. There are many tricks to the foot pedal. Knowing just when to give it a poke to keep you going. Bumping it through a patch of vetch, bedstraw. if I can get it down to one stop every 1,000 feet, then I will just chalk it up to resting the horses. Good Luck. I can’t decide whether to mow more hay today or go and try tedding the hay that has been laying on the ground for a week. Forecast only so, so. Donn

[Mark Cowdrey]

Although this probably doesn’t apply to the E-Z cut, with my McD 9 HG a sharp knife properly adjusted makes a difference. I mowed yesterday w a pretty well adjusted (I’m talking hold down tension here) cutter bar and a knife that seemed pretty good. I use under serrated knives and haybine guards. I took the knife out this morning anyway and sharpened it and touched up the sides of my guards so I had a nice sharp “scissor”. I do all this with a cut-off wheel on a 4″ angle grinder. The cut-off wheel is thin enough to get in tight w/o hitting the next knife section. I also tightened one hold down a whisker. The difference this morning was remarkable, you could here it in the way the knife ran.
Another option is to get a helper to “pitch back” the mown hay off the unmown, perhaps “combing” the lodged a bit.
Am I right that excessive nitrogen contributes to lodging? Seems like I heard that.
This weather is incredible.
Good luck all.
M

[Donn Hewes]

I don’t know how everyone else make hay plans, but I create imaginary scenarios on paper that I adjust slightly ever time in come in for a meal and check the forecast. How many days to mow? ted once? twice? How many days until this batch dries? I need to plan baling around the farmer’s market, the day job, and preferably when there might be a little help to move bales. This week lots of hay seems to want to be baled on Saturday. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts to make friends on FB! I will likely be here alone that day. My current plan if the hay dries as I expect it to (drying a lot tomorrow, but just not enough to bale) I will use the tedder in the afternoon to make a loose windrow. This way I might be able to keep the quality while the hay waits until Sunday to be baled. I could go ahead and rake it the rest of the way on Sat if it looks ready, or I could leave that for Sunday if it is still drying. It is a bit of an experiment, but something I have wanted to try with a rotary tedder.

I will keep you posted.

[Mark Cowdrey]

Donn,
How do you make a windrow w a tedder?
Mark

[Donn Hewes]

I agree with you Mark. In years past it seemed I never even had a wrench on my mowers and took every problem back to the shop. Today during a little horse rest, I was able to tighten a couple hold downs just a couple quarter turns. The adjustable hold downs are great for this. By tapping on the hold down while adjusting it is easy to make sure you don’t over tighten it. Then just turn the pitman a few revs to make sure it is all still free.

Lately I have been using a couple of super seven knives; these have a larger serrations (almost teeth) on the top. They have worked well with both haybine guards (218 RS) and old style with good ledger plates. I am into my second or third year with the same knives with out sharpening (self sharpening?). I do tune up the haybine guard as you suggest. Not that often but maybe twice a year.

In the last couple days we have really put the new lugs on the wheels to the test with wet ground and mowing the day after an inch of rain. Those wheels are great. No doubt about it. I just tried to weld a rod from the old style kicker tedder. not real optimistic, but maybe they will finish the hay they have down.

I just noticed the question about the tedder. I am using a four start rotary tedder that has two spline shafts on it. One is for half speed which is supposed to be a rake. For baling puroses I think it makes a poor rake, but for making a loose windrow it should be great. I am also using a home made forecart that has four speeds to the PTO shaft, so I can really make the tedder go eight different speeds!

• This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by Donn Hewes.

[Does’ Leap]

Yes Marc, nitrogen contributes to lodging! We applied 1.5 – 2 tons composted poultry manure to our hay fields this year. With all the moisture we’ve had, we have a forest of lodged, thick green forage. We baled Tuesday just before the rain and have been mowing since Wednesday night. We will finish up this morning with 11-12 acres down. It has been very challenging, but things have been going pretty well. I switched over to my 5′ mower with haybine guards b/c we have been mowing some hilly fields. My knives have the bevel and serrations on the top side of the knife section, but the flat side (bottom) has indentations (not quite serrated). Are these over-serrated? Both the haybine guard mower and the EZ cut have been performing well with very little clogging despite the tough conditions. I also carry a couple of wrenches to adjust the hold-downs while mowing.

I played around with mower height and pitch on Wednesday and I believe that low and tight, at least in my conditions, is the way to go. Setting the cutter bar up only increases the likelihood of rolling over your crop. Another key factor which Donn mentioned is ground speed. I was actually asking my horses to trot through especially thick sections, otherwise mowing is done at a brisk walk. On the edges where it is thinner we slow down. I vary the pace to both get the job done and conserve energy as we are mainly cutting with one team and a green sub thrown in to lighten the load.

Marc, I agree that sharpening is also very important. I have gone from sharpening with a grinder and cut-off wheel to using a variable speed Dremel with a cut-off wheel. Both work well, but I prefer the Dremel. This year I started using a 120 grit flapper wheel on my grinder and lapped the back side of the knife to get rid of the burr. It worked slick. The key is not to overheat the steel. I have never sharpened my guards though. How do you go about this?

How about what I call the “inner grass stick” right above the shoe? What is its purpose? Is it supposed to brush grass away so you you can see the path for you inner shoe? In these conditions I felt like it was collecting cut grass and contributing to clogging so I bent it off to the side. I’d love to learn it’s purpose before I remove altogether.

Donn, I agree that mowing technique and experience is key. We struggled mightily in the early days of mowing and have learned a lot and continue to learn/refine. A stout team of well conditioned, experienced horses also helps.

George

[Donn Hewes]

The plan for loose windrows would have worked great except! I raked and baled it yesterday. What perfect drying weather, and nice horse conditions, and green hay. Hoping to mow and rake today. Bale tomorrow and Monday.

George I am impressed with how many acres you have down. I will mow about the same by the end of today, but that is with two teams and seven foot bars. I only spending about two hours mowing each time I go out. That is a lot of mowing. Glad the mowers are working well. I have hit some heavy hay in spots, but nothing really lodged. I guess I could see how lowering shoes in those conditions would help. I sure would hate to do it though. When you lower them, what hole is the inner shoe on ( I think there are four)? I like to work in the third hole from the bottom, Up high. We were mowing on a windy day the other day and this can make finding you way a little tricky. This is were stub guards really help. If you believe in your line and keep going the stub guards will cut the grass laying where you clear space was supposed to be.

Not sure what that inner stick is called! It takes hay that will be cut and directs it over the bar instead of falling any where Like a grass board for the inside.

Keep up the good work everyone.

[Does’ Leap]

Hey Donn:

Yes, lots of mowing for a team. We mowed with two teams one year and it was great. My daughter took over the Canadian I purchased a few years back and is riding competitively with him. My wife and daughter have conspired against me driving him! So we are down to 3 working horses. It is a good fit for our farm except during haying when we all get worn down a bit.

What do you think about removing the inner grass stick? Unlike “the” grass stick, it doesn’t sweep cut hay to make a path. It has never bothered until this last round, but I think it played a factor is clogging.

How about touching up the guards? Any tips/advice?

We are baling the last of what we have down today and then hopefully finishing up first cut later this week.

George

[Mark Cowdrey]

George,
I was going to try to get a picture of my process for sharpening haybine guards but have not done so. Will try words.
The side of each “tooth” of the guard has a slim , fairly vertical but concave profile. With the knife removed, you can check the edge of the ledger surface of the tooth. If it is a shiny line, like a dull chisel, ax, scissor or any other cutting edge, it can be improved by sharpening. I use a 4″ angle grinder w cutoff wheel. I use the concave tooth profile as a guide both visually and to some degree, physically. I use short , regular strokes, standing in front of the cutterbar and working the sharpening process on each tooth from front to back, taking as little as possible to make the shiny line go away. I do not try to get the very back, as there is some impediment I cannot now recall. I do the outsides w the cutter bar vertical, the insides w it horizontal in lifted position.
Hope this helps.

Will be interested to hear how removing the inner grass stick works. I think you reasoning is sound.

I also usually mow about 2 hrs at a stretch, w a 5′ bar and walk up the worst hills. My team is mature but not in particularly good shape.

M

[Donn Hewes]

I sharpen the haybine guards just as Mark described. They are hardened steel and shouldn’t need that often, Once or twice a year? Also I use just a few light strokes with each side, just don’t want to heat them up. Mowing is getting interesting now. I still feel the last area of the mower that could stand any improvement is the grass board. I have a new idea in mind and hope to go out and work on one today.

[Jelmer]

Here are two late cents from Europe.

Lodged hay is also a problem here, in Germany there are a few examples of converting a sickle bar mower to a “double blades” bar.

In other words its like the I&J “precision cutting sickle”; but then on an old double blades bar on an old mower.

Added is a picture where a double blade bar (Fendt brand) is being built on a mower. The mower is a Mc Cormick D-10 (which I believe is a European model built after the #9).

• This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by Jelmer.

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