Anyone built a Hay Conditioner Crimper ?? Here is my thought on a design......

[DaveOmak]

My alfalfa is a very thick, lush, irrigated and fertilized crop.... Drying time, first cutting this year, 11 days.... Alfalfa was thick... 1.4 tons/acre first cutting.... I'm planning on cutting at 32 day intervals and I want to reduce the days drying as much as possible..... No worries about the alfalfa being jammed into the soil.... I have skaha soil... Okanogan Valley... I am looking for a way to speed up the drying by a day or two so I can get the bales in and irrigation on..... I can't afford a conditioner... I'm building my own stuff..... Below is my neighbor making the first cutting this year.... I'm getting a drum mower soon and the swathes will be much narrower...... If I can get the new swathe width to dry in 3 days, I can get 1-2 extra cuttings a year...... That is all I am trying to do....
What my plan is..... cut, condition and turn with a wheel rake to dry, turn again and bale... Irrigation is expensive and I need to make the most of the growing season......Any positive help will be appreciated......

 

[stuckmotor]

Why make life difficult for your self and how much are you trying to save? I remember the little
Old towed conditioners that had a drawbar hitch that connected to the back of a sickle mower.
Look around and purchase one for less than the cost of materials to build your own.
Old 10ft swathers with conditioners sell for scrap metal price.

I'll have to go with Buck in this one. Even if it does work, I'm afraid it'll get so much grit on the hay that it grinds down the teeth of what ever eats it. You might try running an ad for one of the old pull type crimpers.

 

[RickB]

My alfalfa is a very thick, lush, irrigated and fertilized crop.... Drying time, first cutting this year, 11 days.... Alfalfa was thick... 1.4 tons/acre first cutting.... I'm planning on cutting at 32 day intervals and I want to reduce the days drying as much as possible..... No worries about the alfalfa being jammed into the soil.... I have skaha soil... Okanogan Valley... I am looking for a way to speed up the drying by a day or two so I can get the bales in and irrigation on..... I can't afford a conditioner... I'm building my own stuff..... Below is my neighbor making the first cutting this year.... I'm getting a drum mower soon and the swathes will be much narrower...... If I can get the new swathe width to dry in 3 days, I can get 1-2 extra cuttings a year...... That is all I am trying to do....
What my plan is..... cut, condition and turn with a wheel rake to dry, turn again and bale... Irrigation is expensive and I need to make the most of the growing season......Any positive help will be appreciated......

View attachment 324035View attachment 324036

Here's positive help:
I'm positive you have a bad idea there.
If you can't condition your hay properly, then buy or build a tedder.
As you say, irrigation is expensive.
You can't afford to throw a crop away by intentionally disrupting the drying process, which is exactly what your current plan will do.
The collective opinion you came here for is nearly unanimous for a reason.
Sooner or later you will agree, but at what cost?

 

[stuckmotor]

Here's positive: I used to turn my windrows with a wheel rake and I thought it did a satisfactory job.
Here's a suggestion that's not meant to be negative. If you're good enough a fabricator to build a conditioner, you must be a good enough mechanic to keep a used mower/conditioner in good shape. You could probably buy one for less than the price of a new drum mower.

 

[R W]

I have a photo and the main details of a homemade hay conditioner/crimper which worked well.
Send a personal email if you would like to check it out.

 

[stuckmotor]

RW,
Could you post it so we can all check it out?

 

[flusher]

I have a small acreage alfalfa fields.... I want to crimp it so it will dry faster..... My thought is pictured below.... Pull behind the tractor, after cutting, to crimp the stalks....

Any thoughts on this idea would be appreciated, before I invest the time and money.....

Is there any other design you have seen that might/would work ??

I was thinking the crimp bars should be spaced about 2" at the tips.......

The cutting swath is about 4 1/2 feet with a drum mower so the alfalfa won't be really thick......

I will have to use this after the drum mower is removed and a 2nd or 3rd trip around the field will be required....

View attachment 323922

I appreciate your looking and advice......

Dave

Won't work. You'll just contaminate your hay with dirt and pebbles and it's unlikely that your "anvil" idea is workable, i.e, the stalks won't be crimped properly for efficient drying. Consider this--if your idea were valid, someone would have developed it long ago as a product offering. Find a used crimper on craigslist, etc. and save yourself a major disappointment.

 

[buickanddeere]

Won't work. You'll just contaminate your hay with dirt and pebbles and it's unlikely that your "anvil" idea is workable, i.e, the stalks won't be crimped properly for efficient drying. Consider this--if your idea were valid, someone would have developed it long ago as a product offering. Find a used crimper on craigslist, etc. and save yourself a major disappointment.

He is poor and can't afford irrigation or proper equipment because he insists on doing things like grinding his crop flat into the dirt.

 

[RickB]

He is poor and can't afford irrigation or proper equipment because he insists on doing things like grinding his crop flat into the dirt.

Must be the neighbor's 945 or 946 Deere and New Holland tractor.

Gotta say I never heard of irrigating alfalfa with permanent plastic risers & sprinkler heads.

 

[rankrank1]

FWIW: I would not bother building your idea. I do not think it will work and is only likely to make your hay more dirty.

If you are determined to continue cutting with your current cutter, then I personally would look for an old pull behind Myer Conditioner. They were the only Conditioners of that era to have their own pick up reel so they actually did pick up they hay and were much less prone to wrapping like the ones from other manufacturers. The pick up system made the product more expensive to purchase back when these things were new so they are not as common as other cheaper brands of the same era due to costing more - and we know how cheapskates always bought what was cheapest.

Anyway, there was a Myer Conditioner on Craigslist about a year ago 3 hours from for $200. Sorta wish I had made the trip and bought it now, but I did not. While they are obsolete it would have been neat to have.

Anyway, Alfalfa is one crop that greatly benefits from conditioning. A haybine (or mower conditioner) can be had for reasonably cheap and will operate with a fairly small tractor if you are willing to go that route and sell your drum mower. A discbine is more modern, will cost lots more, and you need a big tractor to run one; but maybe worth it if your acres justify it.