Made some big bales this weekend

[Hay Dude]

Heres a few pics from this weekend. Fabulous baling conditions. Dry, Sunny & breezy.


Just getting this field started. My son in the raking tractor up ahead.

Finishing up with the Hesston 4910

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, the Krone Big Pack 4x4 XC got to make a few bales.

 

[herm0016]

i need to learn more about hay. why cut now when the grass is short, first cut is lower quality, so you let it grow more for 2nd? I see people getting first cut here on fields that have maybe 8 or 10 inch tall growth, and half of it is seed stalk. is it to get rid of the seed stalk early? I only have a few acres but want to get as much as possible out of it to feed the sheep in the winter. we went through maybe 4k lbs jan - april this year.

 

[sea2summit]

So jelly of those balers.

 

[EddieWalker]

Really nice looking hay field!!!! As far as I know, nobody is making those giant square bales where I'm at in East Texas. If they are, they are not advertising them for sale. If I had a place to store them inside, I think they would be a lot nicer then round bales.

 

[lman]

i need to learn more about hay. why cut now when the grass is short, first cut is lower quality, so you let it grow more for 2nd? I see people getting first cut here on fields that have maybe 8 or 10 inch tall growth, and half of it is seed stalk. is it to get rid of the seed stalk early? I only have a few acres but want to get as much as possible out of it to feed the sheep in the winter. we went through maybe 4k lbs jan - april this year.

1st cutting is not short around here, about waist high. Good alfalfa will make 4 cuttings.
You're in the wrong part of the world.

 

[Hay Dude]

Heres a starter 4x4x8. Not as tight as I’d like it to be. I dont like to crank the pressure on the baler early.
Sorry the pictures suck. I take them trough dirty cab glass.

 

[Hay Dude]

So jelly of those balers.

It took a lot of work on a lot of days when people were on vacations to make the jump from round balers to big square balers.
Its a lot of expense and a lot of sacrifice.
Its nothing to spend $15,000 on one every 3 years.

 

[redman135]

Hay Dude, are big square balers significantly more expensive than round balers?
Bright side, a square baler is continuous running vs a round baler's stop start running.

 

[WM75Guy]

Really nice looking hay field!!!! As far as I know, nobody is making those giant square bales where I'm at in East Texas. If they are, they are not advertising them for sale. If I had a place to store them inside, I think they would be a lot nicer then round bales.

I see them being hauled on Hwy 19 going both ways. The horse trainer that owns North Texas Equestrian Center in Wylie bales his own large square bales on his place near Palestine for his use only. That is the only person I know actually baling them anywhere close.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Hay dude, I am curious I never see a tedder in your pictures or maybe I missed it. Are you able to get your hay dry without tedding? Down here in most places you need at least 3 good dry sunny days and you probably better run a tedder thru it twice or it ain't gonna be dry, the hay I put up this week ran about 8 to 10% moisture. What % moisture do you all like to see?