Conditioner or not

[sgm98z]

I'm a newbie to making hay. I'm wondering whether I need a discbine with a conditioner or can I get away with the 3 point type that just has discs and no conditioner. I have about 30 acres of existing grass hay (mostly orchard and brome) and the budget's limited. I guess I'm wondering how much drying time I'll be adding without the conditioner. Appreciate your feedback.

 

[Farmer495]

Never owned a conditioner. Put hay up with disc mower, tedder, rake baler.

My record was 22 hours from mowing to baling dry hay.

Decent weather I can mow one morning and be baling it the next afternoon as it is. Tedder dries it faster!

Having the disc mower now, I'd keep it, if it needed replaced, I've noticed used disc mower conditioners seem to be WAY cheaper than they used to be, same or less price than a 3pt. I've noticed the bigger farms moving to large 3pt and front mount mowers with no conditioner.

 

[5030]

You won't know until you try it and mother nature screws you.

 

[Trillium Farm]

Whether you need a conditioner depends on the type of hay & the weather, if grasses you'll not need a conditioner in MOST cases, if legumes you will need a conditioner in MOST cases.
If mother nature is lenient you can cut, rake & bale when ready, but that's a rarity. If you want to make good hay you must have the tools for your crop, weather & customer (if selling)

 

[RickB]

You cannot add drying time. You either have enough between rain events or you do not. Give yourself every advantage you can, condition your hay crop.

Yes, I know what you meant. There are very few chronically successful haymakers in the Northeast that do not condition their hay.

 

[Tx Jim]

I agree with RickB. Although one can cut/bale grass hay without conditioning grass hay will normally dry faster if conditioned because swath is fluffier after being run through conditioner allowing more air to flow through swath.

 

[leeave96]

IMHO in PA you need a conditioner to both fit into your haying window and/or preserve color if you’re selling the hay.

 

[deserteagle71]

I agree with RickB. Although one can cut/bale grass hay without conditioning grass hay will normally dry faster if conditioned because swath is fluffier after being run through conditioner allowing more air to flow through swath.

^This.

I grew up in Pennsylvania on the back of a tractor all summer long. When you are trying to put up timothy that's 3-4' tall in Pennsylvania's humidity it can take forever to dry unless it is conditioned. Otherwise the hay that is next to the ground just stays green and wet, covered and insulated by the top layer. Conditioning minimizes contact with the ground, the hay is fluffed up and gets good air flow throughout the swath.

Now here in Nevada conditioners are not necessary because of the scorching hot sun and 6% humidity. It took me a while to get used to farmers bailing hay at 2 or 3 in the morning here just so the hay wasn't so dry it would shatter.

 

[LouNY]

We run the conditioner on our discbine almost all the time, in the Northeast
between the moisture in the hay, the air and in the ground you need every advantage possible.
Also many conditions now are using flails instead of conventional type rolls.

 

[MichiganIron]

Really depends on the type of crop. With Alfalfa, or Alfalfa mix, you probably will need a conditioner. Grass hay, you can probably get by without a conditioner most of the time. Even with a conditioner, Alfalfa, or any legume, is going to be difficult to dry properly without a conditioner.