Rain comming, Hay down

[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.