The Farm. Haying and Cattle Thread

[deere4040]

Okay. So the picture of the platform is from the other tractor?

I see what you’re looking at. Yes. The broken skid plate is on the 4040 open station and the 4430 was on the round baler has a cab.

 

[deere4040]

Going to be a long week. Time to hammer down. Currently 65 acres of 1st on the ground with another 26 acres of 2nd going down today or tomorrow. Rounds and squares. Acquired another of my uncles tractors. One less to hook and unhook.

 

[flying belgian]

That is a nice looking fleet. Consider putting a canopy on them to protect you from the sun. Three benefits....rops, skin cancer and finally a little comfort from sitting in the shade.

 

[used red MN]

Okay. So the picture of the platform is from the other tractor?

Yep, that’s why you see grass on the ground the lower right of the picture. And you would also see the curved edge of the cab floor that seals against the bottom of the curved SG door. And cab tractors have the tan foam pad sound deadening interior like on the side console and if it is torn off it’s usually not pretty green paint left but a mix of remaining foam pad and glue strips.

 

[deere4040]

24 acres cleared. 5 hours. 730 small squares and 71 - 4x4. 66 acres on the ground. Had the drivers yesterday. Through out the day we had 3, 4, or 5 tractors running simultaneously.

 

[paul]

I’m a one man band, the 15 acres I cut Saturday and hope to bale by Wednesday in all 90 degree and high humidity weather is enough for me! Most round bales, the neighbor wants his 3 acres in small squares.

All my hay is silly triangles, odd shaped wet ground, long inefficient field roads and water ditch banks and the like. Everything takes time, dead heading back with the mower and rake, more corners than straights, picking up bales one at a time, etc.

Paul

 

[deere4040]

20 acres cleared. 1000 small squares and 77 rounds. 6.5 hours. 46 acres on the ground.

 

[stoughtonfarmboy]

I’m a one man band, the 15 acres I cut Saturday and hope to bale by Wednesday in all 90 degree and high humidity weather is enough for me! Most round bales, the neighbor wants his 3 acres in small squares.

All my hay is silly triangles, odd shaped wet ground, long inefficient field roads and water ditch banks and the like. Everything takes time, dead heading back with the mower and rake, more corners than straights, picking up bales one at a time, etc.

Paul

I bale a few small 2 to 4 acre fields in the neighborhood. Two are nice rectangles. The others are a lot of corners and a few trees to go around. Enjoy the rectangles.

Ken

 

[deere4040]

20 acres cleared. 610 small squares and 41 rounds. 51 acres on the ground.

 

[flying belgian]

20 acres cleared. 610 small squares and 41 rounds. 51 acres on the ground.

Gitter done

 

[paul]

Made 135 small squares for the neighbor, wow it’s a small very irregular field. Got enough rain the light ground on 1/3 of it produced too this year. They put a little effort into it controlled the weeds the last 2 years, and having me mow it 2x a year is good for the grass. The first two years I mowed it for them was 58 and 65 bales…. The low corner back then was thistles and leafy weeds, ankle high bit of grass. Now it’s all grass and tall and thick.

Raked some of my hay and mowed some more, another time sucking triangle and a nice 4 acres - but I found a loop of wire and my disc mower just gobbled that up. Took 2 water breaks in the 95+ day to get the turtles cleaned out.

A good day. Tomorrow round bale my hay.

Paul

 

[deere4040]

2nd cutting. 26 acres cleared 986 bales 4 hours. 25 acres on the ground and now fighting smoke. We are in the high end of the scale with hitting max values after 4pm. Yesterday was lucky to have gotten what we baled with how humid it was when smoke took away the sun. You could smell the hay in the field.

 

[deere4040]

2023 all over again. Month and half later and humid this time. Visibility less than quarter mile.

 

[paul]

This morning that smoke rolled in here too, southern MN. Wow. Cleared off a bit this afternoon, but so humid and no breeze at all. Not sure the hay will dry, I cut it back on Sunday, but no drying weather. Drove across the lawn at 1:00 in the afternoon and tires got wet from the dew yet.

Paul

 

[paul]

hooked up the round baler, went out to bale the thinner drier windrows, and a pop up shower the size of a township went over. Rained less than a tenth, but it rained for 15 minutes soaking everything that already wasn’t drying out. The rain shower literally popped up over the farm and dissipated again as it moved on.

It’s not a conspiracy theory when it actually happens is it?

Beyond frustrating for the silliness.

Well, when I get done feeling sorry for myself grease up the Tedder to use and tear all the windrows apart.

F,arming is fun they said. Be your own boss they said. Work with nature as god intended they said.

Huh.

Maybe the heat and humidity and smoke got to me a bit?

Paul

 

[flying belgian]

hooked up the round baler, went out to bale the thinner drier windrows, and a pop up shower the size of a township went over. Rained less than a tenth, but it rained for 15 minutes soaking everything that already wasn’t drying out. The rain shower literally popped up over the farm and dissipated again as it moved on.

It’s not a conspiracy theory when it actually happens is it?

Beyond frustrating for the silliness.

Well, when I get done feeling sorry for myself grease up the Tedder to use and tear all the windrows apart.

F,arming is fun they said. Be your own boss they said. Work with nature as god intended they said.

Huh.

Maybe the heat and humidity and smoke got to me a bit?

Paul

Paul as you know I'm East of you. I saw those clouds over your place and thought oh, oh. The neighbor had me lined up to do some round baling for him. I don't know when he cut it but I baled it this afternoon and it was plenty dry. His was all grass hay. Some road ditch and some buffer strip along a county drainage ditch. Every place in the road ditch there was a thistle or weed he raked around it. That was some of the nicest hay I baled all year.

 

[paul]

Mostly trying to bale my pasture. It’s a bit low ground, the grass hay some is a bit tall and over ripe, while most is that second growth coming in green and thick. My pasture is good ground but heavy low ground, guess it’s holding its surface moisture so the grass on the bottom is almost wicking up.

So it’s having a tough time drying.

I should have tedded it the second day, but the forecast looked good and the humidity really hadn’t set in yet when I cut it. Typically grass dries down easy around here.

That tiny shower bullseye over was the straw that snapped me.

We’ve all been there.

Paul

 

[deere4040]

25 acres cleared. 5 hours. 720 small squares and 56 rounds. Zero acres on the ground. 40 square short because some idiot forgot to put twine in.

 

[ss55]

25 acres cleared. 5 hours. 720 small squares and 56 rounds. Zero acres on the ground. 40 square short because some idiot forgot to put twine in.

That is a long hay rack, 24 foot?

 

[deere4040]

That is a long hay rack, 24 foot?

Something like that. Using the round bale supports I can get 4 full grapple widths. Really missed an opportunity at consignment auction this year. There was a 30' round bale wagon. flat deck. went over $5000. I really wanted that to add to the line up. The unique thing with this blue bale wagon is it is 10' wide so I can put 3 rows of rounds on it then a double row on top and before the tongue broke had a small wood wagon with an additional 8 rounds when we pull from the far fields.