Who’s cutting hay?

[Hay Dude]

Did some cutting late into the day yesterday. Exhausted from pushing hay.

Made a bunch of bales over the weekend. I think we made 90 4x4x8’s, but I can’t remember now.

Working until dark trying to fix things. Go home, eat, bed, up at 5.

 

[eagle628]

30 acres of really good dry hay down. Stuffer finger comes loose. Parts ordered, parts don't ship. Cob jobbed together. Cob job fails, improved, holds. Bolt for feeder trip comes off. Feeder doesn't feed. Throat plugs solid, overruning slip clutch on PTO driveline fails. Hay pulled out of throat, slip clutch welded together. Dusk falls, pickup roller chain comes off, fails to be located. Meanwhile payloader is overheating and newly rebuilt truck alternator is not charging. Incredibly, only a couple acres left unbaled and not too many bales abandoned in field. Maybe it won't rain too much overnight.

 

[Hay Dude]

30 acres of really good dry hay down. Stuffer finger comes loose. Parts ordered, parts don't ship. Cob jobbed together. Cob job fails, improved, holds. Bolt for feeder trip comes off. Feeder doesn't feed. Throat plugs solid, overruning slip clutch on PTO driveline fails. Hay pulled out of throat, slip clutch welded together. Dusk falls, pickup roller chain comes off, fails to be located. Meanwhile payloader is overheating and newly rebuilt truck alternator is not charging. Incredibly, only a couple acres left unbaled and not too many bales abandoned in field. Maybe it won't rain too much overnight.

Amazing, isn’t it? I have about 60 acres down and there’s rain in the forecast almost every day for the next week. Equipment is stressed and breaking, but fairly manageable.
I ran my automatic greasing system too low and it now has air in the lines. Will take mucho hours to resolve. Can’t bale anything until fixed. My fault, but wow. A real mess.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Lynn, aka cat fever, I know nothing about alfalfa. It really looks beautiful. Do you fertilize? What does your guy charge to bale the big rectangles (if you don't mind me asking)?

What do they sell for locally per bale?

Thanks for sharing.

 

[sea2summit]

Amazing, isn’t it? I have about 60 acres down and there’s rain in the forecast almost every day for the next week. Equipment is stressed and breaking, but fairly manageable.
I ran my automatic greasing system too low and it now has air in the lines. Will take mucho hours to resolve. Can’t bale anything until fixed. My fault, but wow. A real mess.

I’ve been trying to get a broken part of a male PTO shaft out of the female side for two days now. Thought I had it yesterday when I welded a pipe on the broken piece but apparently some spal got on the male side so I’ve been trying to clean that up today. I can now get a male shaft in with a hammer so I’m close.

 

[cat fever]

Lynn, aka cat fever, I know nothing about alfalfa. It really looks beautiful. Do you fertilize? What does your guy charge to bale the big rectangles (if you don't mind me asking)?

What do they sell for locally per bale?

Thanks for sharing.

Kyle I haven't fertilized for a couple years but I will this fall. The last couple years my baler guy has been charging 16 bucks a bale, not sure about this year.

Prices are all over the map but I'm going to charge 110 bucks a bale to start. I think I'm far less than anyone else we'll see.

 

[cat fever]

Finished cutting today. Here's a few pictures. The hawk was keeping a close eye out for dinner.
The hay was very thick this year although I did have some freeze damage towards the top of the field.

 

[Hay Dude]

Cut another 55 acres friday and Saturday morning. Tedder will get a heck of a workout. Rain coming

We got this 15 acres baled up yesterday before rain hit at about 5pm. Now we have constant rain scheduled for every day. Made 25 bales of mulch hay. Broke a stuffer bolt with a loud bang. Replaced stuffer shear bolt, but from that point on, the knotters started giving me trouble….4 and 5 string bales instead of 6.

 

[cat fever]

Here's what it looks like all cut. Whoever invented fields that are wider on one end should be shot.

 

[mo1]

30 acres of really good dry hay down. Stuffer finger comes loose. Parts ordered, parts don't ship. Cob jobbed together. Cob job fails, improved, holds. Bolt for feeder trip comes off. Feeder doesn't feed. Throat plugs solid, overruning slip clutch on PTO driveline fails. Hay pulled out of throat, slip clutch welded together. Dusk falls, pickup roller chain comes off, fails to be located. Meanwhile payloader is overheating and newly rebuilt truck alternator is not charging. Incredibly, only a couple acres left unbaled and not too many bales abandoned in field. Maybe it won't rain too much overnight.

That makes me feel happy that all I had to deal with was a flat tire on the mower-conditioner, a stripped intermediate drive shaft on the mower-conditioner, and then a flat tire on my tractor when moving around round bales. Thank goodness that much of the equipment has the standard 6-on-6" bolt pattern hubs and has tires close enough in size to something else so that a wheel can be "borrowed" from another piece of equipment to keep going.

 

[Hay Dude]

Just developed a rapid drip leak on the front output shaft gasket. Leaking trans fluid pretty bad. Looks like a day to remove, clean & replace. #$&%@* tractors always break when you need em

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Just developed a rapid drip leak on the front output shaft gasket. Leaking trans fluid pretty bad. Looks like a day to remove, clean & replace. #$&%@* tractors always break when you need em

S.O.P. standard operating procedure , hopefully it won't be a mother. Good luck.

 

[cat fever]

Hay is baled and most is sold/gone already. 110 bucks a bale was apparently cheap, I told that to the guy who bought 50 bales and I think he couldn't wait to get me paid fearing I'd reconsider and raise the price. He buys from me every year so I don't mind giving him a break.
Only got 75 bales, better than last year but I really thought I'd get about 100.

 

[Hay Dude]

Lynn,
Beautiful scenery! I love the wide open vistas of the west and the clean open skies.

Maybe you got less bales, but the guy who baled them cranked up the pressure in his baler?

I do that sometimes when I want heavier bales, but less of them.

Nothin but rain here…..

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Hay is baled and most is sold/gone already. 110 bucks a bale was apparently cheap, I told that to the guy who bought 50 bales and I think he couldn't wait to get me paid fearing I'd reconsider and raise the price. He buys from me every year so I don't mind giving him a break.
Only got 75 bales, better than last year but I really thought I'd get about 100.

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How many cuttings a year do you usually get out there in Idaho?

 

[sea2summit]

It’s been raining for the last four weeks….I think one field that I just got has gone to seed and died! Dang it.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

It’s been raining for the last four weeks….I think one field that I just got has gone to seed and died! Dang it.

It's just about time to start fighting army worms, if the rain don't foul up a cutting they will if you aren't on top of them.

 

[Hay Dude]

It’s been raining for the last four weeks….I think one field that I just got has gone to seed and died! Dang it.

It happens. We have had a real bad summer for rain here, too.
Hope your conditions improve. We have had to make a lot of sacrifices here-working late hours to get fields cut & baled.

 

[cat fever]

How many cuttings a year do you usually get out there in Idaho?

Those with enough water rights can get 3 cuts. I will get another cut but it will be small, like less than 10 bales. The water dries up pretty fast when it starts getting warm/hot. Most of my water is snow melt and a few small springs that come down from the mountains.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Those with enough water rights can get 3 cuts. I will get another cut but it will be small, like less than 10 bales. The water dries up pretty fast when it starts getting warm/hot. Most of my water is snow melt and a few small springs that come down from the mountains.

Forgive me since I know very little about Idaho, but I'm assuming rainfall is minimal.