Rain comming, Hay down

[powerscol]

Is it better to leave the hay flat with rain coming, then tedd and windrow, or should I windrow tonight and tedd after the rain Tuesday.

 

[MMagis]

Definitely do NOT rake before the rain. Leave it down, and tedd after the rain.

 

[Thomas]

Let the hay lay after rain tedd etc. ....if sun should shine let hay lay spell longer to dry.

 

[powerscol]

Thanks folks - weather looks good/sunny and somewhat hot for 5 days after the storm passes. I should have 3 days of sun before I can get to a tedder.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Definitely do NOT rake before the rain. Leave it down, and tedd after the rain.

Let the hay lay after rain tedd etc. ....if sun should shine let hay lay spell longer to dry.

I disagree. If hay has already dried some, tedd the hay at low speed before rain. This will leave it loosely windrowed. After rain the open space between rows will dry quick and you can retedd slow, slightly offset, to fluff the hay into those dry areas.

 

[MMagis]

He was asking if he should rake first, not tedd first.
And I don’t see the point of tedding before rain, when you KNOW you’ll have to do it once or twice afterwards. Seems like a waste of time and fuel, neither of which I have excess of.

 

[farmer2009]

Let the hay lay after rain tedd etc. ....if sun should shine let hay lay spell longer to dry.

That's what I prefer also. Just don't let it get too dry. Then it can be hard to bale with a round bailer. Square bales you want dryer.

I've seen high leaf loss with more than one pass with Tedder. You end up with all stems and a reduced TDN.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Is it better to leave the hay flat with rain coming, then tedd and windrow, or should I windrow tonight and tedd after the rain Tuesday.

He was asking if he should rake first, not tedd first.
And I don稚 see the point of tedding before rain, when you KNOW you値l have to do it once or twice afterwards. Seems like a waste of time and fuel, neither of which I have excess of.

Hard to say about what he meant. ... Also, there are other variables like how dry at query, how much rain expected, bleaching the hay by rain and sun, is it prime horse hay or just for cattle, etc. - Using the tedder as a rake by running it at lower rpm can be used in a tailored fashion to form fluffy coarse windrows. There are times in hay prep that this is a valuable tool. :confused3: ,,,,,,In the instant case the hay, roughly pre consolidated by tedder can be spread and fluffed onto sun dried ground, where the grass is springing back up, after the rain.

 

[Farmer495]

If it rains, it gets wet.

I don't do anything until after the rain stops.

Ted the field out whether it is windrows or in the swath.

If real heavy crop, ted a second time later.

Never rake wet hay..."here" it doesn't dry in the windrow the same speed it does flat....

 

[powerscol]

Well 1/2 inch rain later it is wet and soggy - but sun is out this morning Color still looked good. Some of the bottom hay was still somewhat dry, not wet like the top.

It was cut with a sickle mower and mostly flat - I had to hand spread a lot of balling. (see other post) I can rent a tedder Saturday (reserved it before the rain came).

What is sad it was within a day of being ready - some was yesterday morning before the rain. I will check it tonight and possibly windrow tomorrow or Friday with my side deliver rake (Ford 503) to at least turn it over, then if needed tedd Saturday, and rake and bale Sunday.

Supposed to be in the low 80's with 8 to 12 mph winds starting tomorrow, so should dry fast.

 

[MMagis]

You plan to rake into windrows before tedding? If you’re going to tedd it, it needs done now. The point of the tedder is to spread the hay out, allowing it to dry faster. Once in windrows, only the outer hay is going to dry. Everything else will stay wet.

 

[powerscol]

It got rained on a second time, this time 1/2 inch in about 30 minutes. This morning it is a real mess as the rain drove it deep into the existing grass. Not much left on top to work with. I may have some mold already, but will wait until I tedd it Saturday. The green color is gone and now it is an ugly gray and the clover leaves are all black and falling off the stems. They were a beautiful blue green. I did not rake into windrows but left it flat. As I cut right next to the fence I was going to wind row it in so I could get the tedder to fit. Ill know more Saturday - two days of sun should tell.

Fortunately I have enough hay put up to feed the horses through the winter, so I am not hurting. I may just leave it, and mow it in when dry and turn the horses out in the pasture as I normally do this time of year.

 

[MMagis]

Your environment is obviously different than it is here, but I wouldn’t expect any mold yet. Ideally, you could get it tedded now. If not, it’ll probably still be edible but obviously the quality won’t be as good. But it’s not as bad as a lot of horse people would make you think. It doesn’t have to be “green” for a horse to eat it.

 

[farmer2009]

You'll be surprised how much the Tedder will bring up out of the grass. If it's set right. If you could get on it as soon as the ground hardens with a Tedder you might bale Saturday.

 

[powerscol]

Thanks folks. It dried a good bit today, so tomorrow will tell. Ground is still saturated. I just wish the wind would pick up a bit. It's been pretty calm today.

 

[powerscol]

I was not able to rent the tedder, so pulled out my rake and have gotten the imbedded hay up and out of the grass. So far each day I have turned it once at the end of the day. Were getting there. I think by Tuesday everything will be dry enough to bale. I found a few very green spots and pulled and spread by hand. It sorry looking stuff, but should be OK to eat.

Lesson learned - my judgment on drying and weather is a bit off I should have waited as this week has been perfect.
Second lesson learned - I need a rotary rake

 

[farmer2009]

Lesson learned - my judgment on drying and weather is a bit off I should have waited as this week has been perfect. Second lesson learned - I need a rotary rake

You'll learn farmers are professional gamblers. If you only knew how much hay there is out there that gets wet and animals still eat it. Out of 450 bales this year only 130 didn't get wet. Now it's cow hay. Most got wet the day it was cut. Cut it and let it rain on it while it's still green. Only has to dry once that way. And the 130 that didn't get wet only half of it was tedded. Non of the rained on hay was tedded. Talked to a guy here local and said he only had 10% of his hay cut first of July, we were done bailing. He was waiting on clear weather. He had lost more in the field than we did in the rain. He wasn't happy to hear that people were bailing while he was weather watching. I don't know when he finally bailed his. July set record rainfall amounts.

Good luck with the rotary rake. You couldn't pay me to own that headache. If you're looking for a rake that fluffs. Go with a v-rake with center wheel. It'll lift and fluff. Air flows great through those windrows.

 

[mattv1]

awesome that you can rent a tedder.

I couldn't find one within hundreds of miles to buy, let alone rent. Good luck!

edit - read 2nd page..

sucks you couldn't rent a tedder in the end. just keep flipping it. Hopefully it doesn't rope up too badly.

 

[powerscol]

"Hopefully it doesn't rope up too badly".
Now you wish me luck

It did rope badly, so bad in fact it jammed the rake several times behind the stripper (thus wanting a rotary rake that will not do that). I got it flipped several times since Saturday, and will bale tonight, Ill try and take a picture of the results.