knocked the oats down

[Don-Wi]

I dropped the crimper and center pan under the auger on our Hesston 1014+2 and cut the oats tonight for the combine that's coming on Monday. I'd say for a machine with an auger instead of the canvas belts, it worked pretty durn good.

I stopped to inspect it after the 1st round and while there was some on the ground under the swath, it really didn't seem all that much worse than it is from a regular old fashined swather.

The best part is- It's our own machine, instead of having to borrow a neighbor's machine only to have to fix it when the drive chain breaks and blows out the drive clutch underneath (guess how I know...)

I'll let you guys know about how many bushels we get- it's only a 5-6 acre field. Good thing I cut it though instead of letting them try to get it green- the grass was kinda thick on one end and on the other end the velvet leaf was starting to really come up. The corn that was in it last year got a very poor spray job so alot of velvet leaf went to seed. This year's corn doesn't look all that bad. Got some that is for sure 9-10 ft. tall. The rest is for sure 8 ft. if not more. I need to check it with a tape measure...

Donovan from Wisconsin

 

[Leroy]

Oats is not raised around me any more (If I was feeding livestock I would be raising it) but when it was raised you direct cut at all times, if weeds were comming you sprayed for them after sprays were avaible. With Alfalfa seed in the weeds were up and sprayable before the alfalfa was up and could use plain old 2-4-D. A neighbor a few years ago thought he could get away with on his wheat crop cutting and swathing it to dry faster to double crop soybeans, well the rains came and he lost the entire wheat crop. Never got his double crop beans in either. Everybody else had good wheat. Growing up the Red Clover second cutting was left go for seed and mowed, left dry, raked and then combined. Finaly decided to direct cut it and yield jumped by a fourth as that much was being lost by swathing it. Just can't under stand swathing any wheat or oats.

 

[Allan in NE]

If you've ever run a cylinder combine thru a weedy field of wheat or oats, you'd understand why they have to be swathed.

Especially sunflowers. They'll plug the combine tight. Plus the fact that some weeds like lambsquarter will put the seeds in the bin with the crop. Since the seeds ars still green, the crop will then heat.

Nightshade will absolutely tear a combine up and ruin it.

Swathing is a very common practice.

Allan

 

[RodinNS]

Agree with your points Allan, but out here on the coast, you don't swath anything you want kept dry. 2-3 days is it. Nearly all grain is direct cut here.

Rod

 

[paul]

You obviously live in an arid place Leroy, tho you didn't tell us.

Try what you are doing in a humid location, and you will have a disaster.

Just like baling hay. I hear of folks going out & baling alfalfa after dark when the dew comes in. WHAT??? What a disaster that would be.... We got to close up baling about 2 hours before sunset, or the hay will mold from all that dew.....

It's just a different climate, got to do things differently.

--->Paul

 

[Don-Wi]

Around here, not swathing it would be asking for trouble. Last year we got away with it because they came before the weeds really took over but it still heated in the bin pretty bad. Those small green weed seeds will really heat it up on you.

Nothing that we know of that can be sprayed on oats without killing it. My dad worked for a spraying ring this spring/summer too and he learned quite a bit, but they never did anything to oats.

Winter wheat is direct cut all the time here, but that does get sprayed in the spring to control the weeds. Almost any small grain except winter wheat and soybeans is swathed here. Wheat sometimes is though, if the weeds got it too soon.

Another reason to swath, is we need the straw. When they come in to direct cut it, they'll only clip the heads, still get all the green seeds, plug up the combine, snap a belt, and we won't get 1/4 the amount of straw.

and double cropping is almost completely unheard of, unless you take off the 1st crp hay then turn it under and put in late corn or beans. No way to do it after wheat.

Donovan from Wisconsin

 

[Iowa_tire_guy]

Allan, Sunflowers are swathed? That's interesting, never seen or heard that.

My opinion is that I would always rather run a combine picking up a windrow than direct cut. Just seems like it runs better.

 

[Anonymous-0]

2-4,D comes in several forms. All can be used on oats to kill broadleaf weeds, without killing the oats. There is at least one that can be used on oats, barley, etc. that is interseeded with alfalfa. Been years since I used it, but I believe it was the Amine form, rather than the Ester.

 

[Allan in NE]

No,

I'm talking about sunflowers in the grain field. As in weed. :>)

Allan

 

[Iowa_tire_guy]

Oh, been there done that. Even had them give trouble in the windrow, like shovel handles running through.

 

[RodinNS]

Don,

This may be a location thing again.... but we often spray oats. IF it's just a straight crop of oats then we hit it with a little over a 1/2 quart per acre of MCPA Amine 500. If it's seeded down to alfalfa, then a dose of 2-4DB. That will take care of most of the broadleaf weeds we have. Barnyard grass is the only bugger we have to deal with that we can't kill in oats. HoeGrass will kill it in wheat and barley.... but it also will kill the oats.

Rod

 

[Anonymous-0]

about 30 years ago some thought sunflowers would be a good crop to add to soybean ,corn rotation.
the sunflowers proved to be a real headache.
most farmers that grew them them did so only once.

 

[Don-Wi]

One year they did a direct cut, took them 2-3 days to combine a 4 acre field plus a snapped belt. Cost them more for the belt than they made from that small field... It was also a really wet season so they rutted up the field really bad so the field only lasted maybe 2 and we gave up on it and plowed her under.

They seem to think they can reasonably combine it standing every year but every time the try it they're constantly plugging up, putting wet oats on our bin, breaking down, and choking out the alfalfa we've got put in with the oats by only clipping the heads so the rest chokes it out. Once it's run down by the combine you just can't pick it up...

When we swath it, they run it in a very short time, no troubles that I've seen, and they get on to the next job. Only thing is they've got atleats a 20' grain platform, and we've got a 14' haybine that we used to knock it down so it may take them a few extra passes, even though in the end it's quicker for them.

Donovan from Wisconin

 

[Leroy]

I don't think Ohio could be called an arid place. Average rainfall is in mid 30's" per year and a lot of 90* humidity days. If the outs want to heat in the bin you are just trying to cut them before they are ready. And for the straw we always after combining took the cucle bar mower out and cliped those stubles, both wheat and oats, then after the green stuff if any dried we raked the straw then baled it. And the straw with the stubbles cliped on spread better in the barn than straw baled without the stubles. Sunflowers were raised for a few years around here but don't see anymore of them tho, I think it was a marketing problem tho as none of the elevators ever would handle them and where they had to ship then probably was a hastle. To windrow wheat or oats in this humid area would be a disaster.