Anybody Ever Try to Feed Goldenrod?

[farmersamm]

I'm just sitting here watching the hands on the clock, so let me beat the drum I've been beating for 3 decades. 3 DECADES.

DON'T CUT THAT STUFF DOWN TO THE DIRT. There isn't a disc mower made that comes with high cut skids from the factory from what I've seen.

Leave some in the field. In the long run it's better for your bottom line.

Even the Extension people, and others, are starting to pick up on the truth. I'm always amazed at how much this area stinks from 2-4-D in the Spring. They're puttin' that stuff on like water..............because they're ruining their fields. Not even thinking that the stuff kills good legumes along with weeds.

Don't believe me?

Don’t cut it too close

The introduction of disc mowers has allowed forages to be cut close to the ground — much closer than sickle bar mowers.

hayandforage.com

Native Hay Meadow Management - Oklahoma State University

An outline of proper management practices when handling native hay meadows to achieve maximum long-term production potential.

extension.okstate.edu

Here in Oklahoma, Blue Stem is one of the most reliable producers..........even mildly drought tolerant. It's a shame to ruin it..............or what's left of it. Lot of people put Bermuda on what was once excellent Blue Stem ground.

I'm not a howling Greenie................I just like doing things with less hassle, and less outlay.

 

[rockcreek4630]

View attachment 88226

I finally got my mower running........................too late to beat the crap that's grown up through the Johnson Grass. This was a beautiful field at the beginning of September. It appears to be Goldenrod. I'm a day late, dollar short.......is what it is I guess. Gonna roll it up, and see just how bad it feeds.

On the flip side, I've seen them eat just about anything once it's in the roll. Or..............eat around it..........and you find it in the bottom of the feeder when you go to change bales. Dunno how this is gonna pan out(sigh)

Also........a disc mower question

This is the first time in my life I've run a disc mower. For 30yrs I've run the old Hesston Hydro Swing.

I'm experiencing problems. The mower will cut some stuff, but leaves the finer stemmed grasses just pushed over. I'm not thrilled about this.

I'm thinking it's a blade problem, and have replaced all of them.

View attachment 88227

I'm thinking that the blades are just beating the crop, not cutting it. I've had similar problems with a Bush Hog with dull blades. The thing will cut heavy woody brush, but just skim over grass. Been the same thing with the disc mower. It cuts Sumac, Blackberry bushes, and Persimmon saplings just fine, which is what I bought this mower for...........reconditioning one of our hay fields. But it's supposed to be cutting the good grass too.

Find out today if the field's dry enough to work. Got rained out on Tuesday night.

I have high cut skids on the mower, but I don't think they're contributing to the problem. What's being cut is at the skid shoe height, just problems with either not cutting, laying it down, or ragged tearing, of the crop. CROP he says A fine word for garbage.

This is the worst mess I've ever dealt with. Looks like an abandoned lot

I'm not sure I'm gonna like this thing. If you have trouble with a sickle machine you see it immediately. It's all shoved into a windrow, and any problems show up on the clean ground. You know if you have a bad section, or guard..........leaves a strip. This doggone thing.......you don't know crap unless you keep climbing off the tractor to see if it's actually cutting.

You are going to have to experiment with cutting as high as you are I would say you need to slow your rpm down. Things to think about is the higher you are the less stable the plant is so your curtain on your mower pushs the plant over the the disc's creat a lot of wind and keep it pushed over. So I would start with rpm then tip the head so the blade tips are down a little.

 

[farmersamm]

Doooooods!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm excited, I mean EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At almost 70yrs old, it's hard to get excited.

Didn't know what to expect from this machine, never even got close up to a disc mower before.

THE NEW BLADES DID THE TRICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stupid me, and good on y'all who told me to lose the old ones.

Not a stalk left standing in the field, and even took out a few Cedar saplings at around 24" height. This thing is AWESOME.

I'm running in stuff that's between 7" tall in the slick spots, and about 3 feet tall in the good ground. IT CUT EVERY BIT OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bought the Krone blades, not aftermarket............and I'm glad I did. They are just a bit shiny on the leading edge after running over a lot of trashy stuff.

The storm we had, made the good grass green up, so now you can actually see it in the Goldenrod. I'm thinking I might have as much as 70% good grass in this mess..................and the mower put every bit of it down!!!!!!!!!

The high cut shoes scoured perfectly, and judging by a heavy gouge on one............saved me from a rock. It's all working out!!

I set the top link slightly tilted upward when sitting still, figuring that it would level out when the machine is pulled through the field. Seems to have worked out.

The new blades literally suck the crop up from the ground. It even pulled up grass that had been knocked down when I was opening up lands, and running the tractor in uncut crop. It must be like a cyclone under there.

With the shoes, I don't even have to lift the cutter bar at headlands. They ride over the cut material without disturbing it.

All told, it's been more than 2yrs we've been down............closer to 3yrs. It's all coming together, and it's some sorta great!!

Forgot the camera, and wasn't gonna hike 1/4mi back to the house. I'll get the pics when I finish out tomorrow.

The only downside to the mower...........and it's more related to the Oliver...............you have to leave the driveshaft disconnected when in transport position. Olivers tend to spin the PTO when not engaged.........it's an Oliver thing. I don't want the thing to try to turn the driveshaft when the mower is in transport mode. Luckily I caught it turning the mower when it was up in the air before I left the yard the other day. To get around it, I just disconnect the shaft, and carry it on bungee straps attached to the 3pt lift arms until I get in the field.

I'm sort of an old geezer, and all of this is new to me. I want to thank the members for suggestions, and LACK OF NASTY COMMENTS. It's all been respectful attempts to help me out.

I feel the mower will definitely do what I bought it for..........renovate this, and the other field. All of my negative comments about it were mostly from ignorance.

 

[flying belgian]

Doooooods!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm excited, I mean EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At almost 70yrs old, it's hard to get excited.

Didn't know what to expect from this machine, never even got close up to a disc mower before.

THE NEW BLADES DID THE TRICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stupid me, and good on y'all who told me to lose the old ones.

Not a stalk left standing in the field, and even took out a few Cedar saplings at around 24" height. This thing is AWESOME.

I'm running in stuff that's between 7" tall in the slick spots, and about 3 feet tall in the good ground. IT CUT EVERY BIT OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bought the Krone blades, not aftermarket............and I'm glad I did. They are just a bit shiny on the leading edge after running over a lot of trashy stuff.

The storm we had, made the good grass green up, so now you can actually see it in the Goldenrod. I'm thinking I might have as much as 70% good grass in this mess..................and the mower put every bit of it down!!!!!!!!!

The high cut shoes scoured perfectly, and judging by a heavy gouge on one............saved me from a rock. It's all working out!!

I set the top link slightly tilted upward when sitting still, figuring that it would level out when the machine is pulled through the field. Seems to have worked out.

The new blades literally suck the crop up from the ground. It even pulled up grass that had been knocked down when I was opening up lands, and running the tractor in uncut crop. It must be like a cyclone under there.

With the shoes, I don't even have to lift the cutter bar at headlands. They ride over the cut material without disturbing it.

All told, it's been more than 2yrs we've been down............closer to 3yrs. It's all coming together, and it's some sorta great!!

Forgot the camera, and wasn't gonna hike 1/4mi back to the house. I'll get the pics when I finish out tomorrow.

The only downside to the mower...........and it's more related to the Oliver...............you have to leave the driveshaft disconnected when in transport position. Olivers tend to spin the PTO when not engaged.........it's an Oliver thing. I don't want the thing to try to turn the driveshaft when the mower is in transport mode. Luckily I caught it turning the mower when it was up in the air before I left the yard the other day. To get around it, I just disconnect the shaft, and carry it on bungee straps attached to the 3pt lift arms until I get in the field.

I'm sort of an old geezer, and all of this is new to me. I want to thank the members for suggestions, and LACK OF NASTY COMMENTS. It's all been respectful attempts to help me out.

I feel the mower will definitely do what I bought it for..........renovate this, and the other field. All of my negative comments about it were mostly from ignorance.

Good for you. I never raise mine around the corners either.

 

[farmersamm]

BTW......................... When I changed out the blades, one of the pockets was ruined. The blade bolts are like carriage bolts............fit in a slot to keep them from turning when tightened. Pretty much like the bolts that hold the sickle guards on my Hesston. I made a tool for the Hesston that holds them in place when tightening.

Anyways.......................I'm about 50mi from the nearest Krone dealer, so I wasn't gonna go running off for a new bolt. Besides........it's the pocket in the turtle that was damaged.

Grinding a coupla flats on the blade bolt will allow you to hold it with an open end wrench. Make sure to orient the flats so that the bulk of the head is to the rear. This allows for enough meat to counter wear when the blade is moving. While it's not written in stone, I ground the flats to fit a 27mm wrench. I hate metric, but when in Rome................................

The machine work on the NH650 baler was all metric...........you gotta just figure a thou is a thou is a thou. Just numbers.

 

[rick n ohio]

View attachment 88226

I finally got my mower running........................too late to beat the crap that's grown up through the Johnson Grass. This was a beautiful field at the beginning of September. It appears to be Goldenrod. I'm a day late, dollar short.......is what it is I guess. Gonna roll it up, and see just how bad it feeds.

On the flip side, I've seen them eat just about anything once it's in the roll. Or..............eat around it..........and you find it in the bottom of the feeder when you go to change bales. Dunno how this is gonna pan out(sigh)

Also........a disc mower question

This is the first time in my life I've run a disc mower. For 30yrs I've run the old Hesston Hydro Swing.

I'm experiencing problems. The mower will cut some stuff, but leaves the finer stemmed grasses just pushed over. I'm not thrilled about this.

I'm thinking it's a blade problem, and have replaced all of them.

View attachment 88227

I'm thinking that the blades are just beating the crop, not cutting it. I've had similar problems with a Bush Hog with dull blades. The thing will cut heavy woody brush, but just skim over grass. Been the same thing with the disc mower. It cuts Sumac, Blackberry bushes, and Persimmon saplings just fine, which is what I bought this mower for...........reconditioning one of our hay fields. But it's supposed to be cutting the good grass too.

Find out today if the field's dry enough to work. Got rained out on Tuesday night.

I have high cut skids on the mower, but I don't think they're contributing to the problem. What's being cut is at the skid shoe height, just problems with either not cutting, laying it down, or ragged tearing, of the crop. CROP he says A fine word for garbage.

This is the worst mess I've ever dealt with. Looks like an abandoned lot

I'm not sure I'm gonna like this thing. If you have trouble with a sickle machine you see it immediately. It's all shoved into a windrow, and any problems show up on the clean ground. You know if you have a bad section, or guard..........leaves a strip. This doggone thing.......you don't know crap unless you keep climbing off the tractor to see if it's actually cutting.

When running a disc mower the shorter you make the top link the closer to the ground it will cut.if it's to long it makes a cut like your describing.

 

[DRussell]

Doooooods!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm excited, I mean EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At almost 70yrs old, it's hard to get excited.

Didn't know what to expect from this machine, never even got close up to a disc mower before.

THE NEW BLADES DID THE TRICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stupid me, and good on y'all who told me to lose the old ones.

Not a stalk left standing in the field, and even took out a few Cedar saplings at around 24" height. This thing is AWESOME.

I'm running in stuff that's between 7" tall in the slick spots, and about 3 feet tall in the good ground. IT CUT EVERY BIT OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bought the Krone blades, not aftermarket............and I'm glad I did. They are just a bit shiny on the leading edge after running over a lot of trashy stuff.

The storm we had, made the good grass green up, so now you can actually see it in the Goldenrod. I'm thinking I might have as much as 70% good grass in this mess..................and the mower put every bit of it down!!!!!!!!!

The high cut shoes scoured perfectly, and judging by a heavy gouge on one............saved me from a rock. It's all working out!!

I set the top link slightly tilted upward when sitting still, figuring that it would level out when the machine is pulled through the field. Seems to have worked out.

The new blades literally suck the crop up from the ground. It even pulled up grass that had been knocked down when I was opening up lands, and running the tractor in uncut crop. It must be like a cyclone under there.

With the shoes, I don't even have to lift the cutter bar at headlands. They ride over the cut material without disturbing it.

All told, it's been more than 2yrs we've been down............closer to 3yrs. It's all coming together, and it's some sorta great!!

Forgot the camera, and wasn't gonna hike 1/4mi back to the house. I'll get the pics when I finish out tomorrow.

The only downside to the mower...........and it's more related to the Oliver...............you have to leave the driveshaft disconnected when in transport position. Olivers tend to spin the PTO when not engaged.........it's an Oliver thing. I don't want the thing to try to turn the driveshaft when the mower is in transport mode. Luckily I caught it turning the mower when it was up in the air before I left the yard the other day. To get around it, I just disconnect the shaft, and carry it on bungee straps attached to the 3pt lift arms until I get in the field.

I'm sort of an old geezer, and all of this is new to me. I want to thank the members for suggestions, and LACK OF NASTY COMMENTS. It's all been respectful attempts to help me out.

I feel the mower will definitely do what I bought it for..........renovate this, and the other field. All of my negative comments about it were mostly from ignorance.

Leaving the PTO connected, even when in the transport position shouldn't hurt the machine.

 

[flying belgian]

Leaving the PTO connected, even when in the transport position shouldn't hurt the machine.

Yeah but then with blades spinning besides hitting the neighbors mailbox, you will chop it up.

 

[farmersamm]

When running a disc mower the shorter you make the top link the closer to the ground it will cut.if it's to long it makes a cut like your describing.

Absolutely. A U Joint can't operate properly if the angle is too great. There are specs published that pertain to total angles allowable on a split, or single, driveshaft.

Increase the angle beyond safe tolerance, as with the cutter bed raised at a 90*, will shortly destroy the U Joints.

I think, correct me if I'm wrong, that this is an issue that plagues guys that put monster lift kits on pickup trucks. Changes the driveshaft angles.

Anyways.........should finish cutting today. Then y'all get to see the Franken Rake (an old Kelderman that's been modified for narrow transport width)

 

[farmersamm]

I quoted the wrong guy. My apologies. The reply was meant for flying belgian.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

BTW......................... When I changed out the blades, one of the pockets was ruined. The blade bolts are like carriage bolts............fit in a slot to keep them from turning when tightened. Pretty much like the bolts that hold the sickle guards on my Hesston. I made a tool for the Hesston that holds them in place when tightening.

Anyways.......................I'm about 50mi from the nearest Krone dealer, so I wasn't gonna go running off for a new bolt. Besides........it's the pocket in the turtle that was damaged.

View attachment 88289

Grinding a coupla flats on the blade bolt will allow you to hold it with an open end wrench. Make sure to orient the flats so that the bulk of the head is to the rear. This allows for enough meat to counter wear when the blade is moving. While it's not written in stone, I ground the flats to fit a 27mm wrench. I hate metric, but when in Rome................................

The machine work on the NH650 baler was all metric...........you gotta just figure a thou is a thou is a thou. Just numbers.

27mm is almost a perfect 1-1/16" if that makes you feel any better. Only a few tenths, that's .0004" difference.

Metric isn't so bad once you figure out that over half the sizes cross over. Last time Harbor Freight had a free tool offer, I got the Metric wrench set, and all I've used it on so far are SAE bolts. I choose the metric set because the 10mm is one of the few there's no SAE equivalent for.

 

[farmersamm]

Finished the little field. It's been/is the test bed for all the repair/modification work before moving on to the bigger place in the other county. That place is about 2 1/2 miles from the house................you want to be sure everything is trouble free before running down there.

Had a close encounter of the crap kind. I'm still not used to a mower that can't be steered like my center pivot machine. Takes more movement from the tractor to make small moves with this mower.

Cutter bed, and blades, checked out ok. No strange noises from the gear train. These apparently are fairly tough machines.

As expected, the hay is pure crap...............but not absolutely a loss. There's quite a bit of grass mixed in with the trash. For a late cut on a neglected field, it's not that bad I guess. Is what it is. The important thing............all of the Cedar saplings, Blackberries, and other trash, is down.

Rake it all tomorrow, and be able to really see just how bad it is. Get a better idea what's there when it's in the windrow.

I've never run a rake before either................this oughta be fun K'kins is takin' her Mother to Tulsa tomorrow. I'm thinkin' she doesn't wanna be around for the festivities.

 

[farmersamm]

I feel that the caddy is an intrinsically dangerous piece of equipment.

When raising the mower while cutting, the mower will bounce badly...........lifting the unweighted wheel almost entirely off the ground. The only thing keeping the whole thing upright is the drawbar on the tractor. Same when in the transport position over rough ground with side angles.

I have a few hundred pounds of tractor weights on hand that I've removed from my tractors. It might be wise to make a bracket to carry those on the left side of the caddy. But........if the drawbar is doing the job........(shrug)

I might note..........the drawbar would have been inadequate without the total rebuild I did on it some time back. The supports coming off the PTO housing were cracked, the bar pin under the transmission was severely worn, and the roller thingy that allows the bar to pivot, were pretty far gone from years of use.

Other than this small issue.................................I'm pleased as punch with the entire setup.

 

[GermantownGreen]

Doooooods!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm excited, I mean EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At almost 70yrs old, it's hard to get excited.

Didn't know what to expect from this machine, never even got close up to a disc mower before.

THE NEW BLADES DID THE TRICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stupid me, and good on y'all who told me to lose the old ones.

Not a stalk left standing in the field, and even took out a few Cedar saplings at around 24" height. This thing is AWESOME.

I'm running in stuff that's between 7" tall in the slick spots, and about 3 feet tall in the good ground. IT CUT EVERY BIT OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bought the Krone blades, not aftermarket............and I'm glad I did. They are just a bit shiny on the leading edge after running over a lot of trashy stuff.

The storm we had, made the good grass green up, so now you can actually see it in the Goldenrod. I'm thinking I might have as much as 70% good grass in this mess..................and the mower put every bit of it down!!!!!!!!!

The high cut shoes scoured perfectly, and judging by a heavy gouge on one............saved me from a rock. It's all working out!!

I set the top link slightly tilted upward when sitting still, figuring that it would level out when the machine is pulled through the field. Seems to have worked out.

The new blades literally suck the crop up from the ground. It even pulled up grass that had been knocked down when I was opening up lands, and running the tractor in uncut crop. It must be like a cyclone under there.

With the shoes, I don't even have to lift the cutter bar at headlands. They ride over the cut material without disturbing it.

All told, it's been more than 2yrs we've been down............closer to 3yrs. It's all coming together, and it's some sorta great!!

Forgot the camera, and wasn't gonna hike 1/4mi back to the house. I'll get the pics when I finish out tomorrow.

The only downside to the mower...........and it's more related to the Oliver...............you have to leave the driveshaft disconnected when in transport position. Olivers tend to spin the PTO when not engaged.........it's an Oliver thing. I don't want the thing to try to turn the driveshaft when the mower is in transport mode. Luckily I caught it turning the mower when it was up in the air before I left the yard the other day. To get around it, I just disconnect the shaft, and carry it on bungee straps attached to the 3pt lift arms until I get in the field.

I'm sort of an old geezer, and all of this is new to me. I want to thank the members for suggestions, and LACK OF NASTY COMMENTS. It's all been respectful attempts to help me out.

I feel the mower will definitely do what I bought it for..........renovate this, and the other field. All of my negative comments about it were mostly from ignorance.

Next on your project list is to adjust, rebuild the PTO, it will shut off when you bring the lever back. Watch Chris Losey That Oliver Guy , he has a great vid on adjusting the PTO clutch.
Great job, nice story to see success !
GG Wes

 

[wingnuttx]

Appears to me in the initial photo that that cutter is pushing a good bit of the grass down rather than cutting it. Probably an issue with the cutter or possibly too low of PTO speed. May have trouble raking that grass. Wingnut

 

[farmersamm]

Appears to me in the initial photo that that cutter is pushing a good bit of the grass down rather than cutting it. Probably an issue with the cutter or possibly too low of PTO speed. May have trouble raking that grass. Wingnut

Yes.............it was doing a pretty poor job prior to replacing the blades.

 

[farmersamm]

I posted the mods on the Kelderman hay rake some time ago. Nobody seemed to understand anything about it. Was either my fault, or the mods simply are something never seen before. Google "Kelderman hay rake" to see how these things came from the factory, back in the day. You'll see that they do NOT fold up for transport. With wheels raised, they're still doggone near impossible to get through a 20' gate.

As built, these rakes will not fold up this narrow. Took some doing to redesign the lift mechanism.

This pic BTW, SHOWS THE MAX FOLDUP AS THESE THINGS CAME FROM THE FACTORY.

There was a bunch of noodling, and head scratching on this one. Force vectors come into play big time when dealing with pulleys, length of lift arms, etc. Happily, it all turned out. For something like this............you start out with your winch capacity, and work from there.

Some of the point loads, on the rake arm that is left with the wheels on, is bordering on max for the design. When I did this, I ordered a bunch of replacement winch cable. The load is enough that any fraying, kinking, as the rake sees use...........is very dangerous. I anticipate replacing the cable every season.

I made the first test pass with all 10 wheels mounted. There's no sense of scale in the pic.................but the windrow is quite large. I felt that it was larger than the NH650 can handle without problems. I'm not 100% sure about this, but the baler, prior to the rebuild, didn't like wide heavy windrows. I feel it's better to be safe than sorry. I ran for the remainder of the time with 8 wheels.

I'm really happy with the stubble height. Couldn't really see how it turned out until the hay's raked off the ground. It's coming out at the target 4-6" range.

Ran out of daylight due to the late in the day start.

Was surprised at the actual amount of grass in amongst the weeds. You couldn't tell until it was raked. Other parts of the field are more heavily infested..............do some pics of that area when I finish out tomorrow.

Anyways.................nothing's fallen apart yet

 

[farmersamm]

Next on your project list is to adjust, rebuild the PTO, it will shut off when you bring the lever back. Watch Chris Losey That Oliver Guy , he has a great vid on adjusting the PTO clutch.
Great job, nice story to see success !
GG Wes

I got into the PTO some years back. Pics are on another hard drive.

I saw the video, as all of his others, it was excellent.

I only replaced one friction disc that was worn. I'm sure the others in the pack weren't 100% flat, which probably contributes to the PTO running when disengaged. Replaced some worn parts on the spider, and put 'er back together.

I've owned the tractor for 30yrs, and it's always done this. The only time it has been a problem is with the disc mower. The baler, and both of my Hesstons (1014, and 1010) provide enough static resistance to keep it from spinning when disengaged. Come to think of it, the old Rhino bush hog will slowly spin too.

 

[farmersamm]

Hey...............before I forget about it.

The winch is only for transport. The original hydraulic cylinder setup is used for raising/lowering in the field.

 

[farmersamm]

The rake works well WHEN IT WORKS WELL. Before I get into the ugly..............you can see how close I'm running to the previous windrow. This allows me to take less material, and keep the next windrow to my liking. I'll be running a literally remanufactured baler over this mess. I'm not sure how it'll run, so I don't want to start off by cramming it with huge windrows. I need to break the belts in,, and monitor the new bearings, and redesigned bearing housings. In addition........the sledge pivot has been entirely remanufactured. So, there's going to be a lot going on inside that baler. Like I said...........this small field is the test bed.

The new shoes on the Krone did a nice job leaving uniform stubble height across the entire field.

Now it's UGLY TIME

Doesn't make your day when you look out the back window..........and see this.

The entire arm came off the carrying beam. The arms are held in place by a compression collar. Apparently these collars are not too good at doing their job. Sure.........a guy can check them constantly (which I guess I've learned that I have to do), but this ain't right. This will require a redesign.

As luck would have it. I have a winch on the rake.......the one used to raise the arms to transport position. O'l Sammy got a bright idea to use it to recover the arm.

Two picks, and we's back on the road again

Finished out, and decided to put the rake in "inter field" mode. I built the lift mechanism so that I can partially lift the arms WITH the wheels still on. Saves taking the wheels off, and putting them on the storage rack.

Fit through the narrow gate fine. I'm even thinking I can road it in this position.........only needing to move onto the shoulder when a large truck is approaching.

Anyways, to close this phase out....................I'm guardedly pleased with the rake. My mods work without a glitch, but the rake, as manufactured, leaves a bit to be desired.

If you look out across the field, you can see a few hay mountains. These happened when running over wads of downed Blackberry bushes. This I can live with. They ball up, and prevent crop flow out the back of the rake.

But..........by the end of the day, the rake arms started to go out of adjustment. The adjustment is via clamp bolts. The bolts are creeping during the day. This started to reduce the rear opening of the rake, and I had a ton of hay mountains just as I finished up. This too will have to be redesigned. I plan on switching it to a pinned adjustment. Involves a bit of surgery.

Sure, you could say that a guy just has to keep an eye on the problem areas. That's fine I guess......................I'm doing good to still be able to sit on the tractor. They want to fuse 2 vertebrae it's gotten so bad. I ain't in the mood to be hopping on/off tractors. Besides..........I prefer things to work as they should. It's all fixable with a little magic. It's what welders are for.

I believe these rakes still go for peanuts at auction. I'd give them a C+ I guess. As I do the redesign, I'll try to post it up. This might make one of these appealing to those who aren't bucks up, and need an affordable rake that can be made really nice with a little sweat equity.

Got some items left on the punch list for the baler. Try to get it out in the field tomorrow.............or maybe the next day. It's not like the garbagio hay is time sensitive. ROFLMAO.