Mower conditioner windrow size

[Bkpigs]

Was just thinking, what is the purpose for making a tall narrow windrow out the back of the mower? I use a sickle mower for hay so no choice on windrowing. The only times I can think of needing a tall windrow would be for choping haylage or when the ground is wet and you need to expose the ground to dry before spreading the hay back out to dry.

 

[mEl]

Useing a windrower and making narrow high windrows saves the raking operation , one less time to handle the hay. I have seen many farmers out there beating their hay to death, dust flying as they rake.

When we were farming we used a Case 655 self propelled windrower (Hesston I believe) and kept the forming shields in tight to form a high windrow, We also left a high stubble to hold the crop off the ground so air could move through it.

The food value is in the leaves and little is lost by cutting high and our hay dried very well without touching it except when saturated by rain and then we reluctantly rolled it. Food value is lost every time you beat hay up.

 

[JMS/.MN]

Tall narrow windrow dries slower but sheds water better (less hay is exposed to rain). Good for haylage cuz you get a nice mix of dry and wetter. Not so great for baling, cuz of the mix.

 

[DeltaRed]

Every area is different.In 'wet' areas youhaveto
'lay it flat' to get it to dry.In the dry/arid
areas,most all hay is windrowed for 'direct' baleing
in 3-4 days.As was said each time you 'handle'
it,quality/food value is compromised.That means less
money for poorer quality hay.

 

[redforlife]

If you can avoid raking, it saves you a trip over the field. Is what makes no since to me is when people take a wheel rake and rake two of these windrows together to make one. I really don't know what they think they are saving. I guess half the windrows are gone and only have half of them to go over. I like to mow, rake and bale all my hay. It dries faster and therefor not taking as big of chance on it getting rained on. You can't hurt grass hay. Alfalfa can get to dry but the night air will tuffen it back up so you really don't lose any leaves if you rake at night or in the morning right after the dew comes off. Bale it those times too, although you might have a really short window to bale between dry and wet.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

UP here where its cool and humid if I lay the hay into a tall narrow row out of the mower it would rot in place before drying at all. Have the mower setup to leave it nice and wide then go over it with the tedder to get the bottom dry, then rake it up just before baling.

 

[Allan in NE]

I rake two 16' windrows together to keep the baler full. With 300 acres of hay to get in the bale, haven't the time to be puttzin' around with small windrows.

Allan

 

[mkirsch]

You must live somewhere with long, hot, dry days if you can just drop hay into a windrow and bale it the same day.

Here we need to spread it out in a swath with the haybine on Day 1, mix it around with a tedder on Day 2, rake it into windrows on Day 3, then roll it over one more time on Day 4 before baling.

The dew doesn't come off before 10AM here, and if there's no dew in the morning it will be raining by noon.

 

[Mike (WA)]

Most dairy quality alfalfa comes from hot, dry country, where the hay gets too dry if you don't put it into a baler-width swath. The goal is not to rake it at all, because you'll lose the leaves. They generally let it get dry in the swath, then bale at night so as not to lose leaves in the baling process.

 

[JRSutton]

same here in MA.

Although you forgot to add: "pray for no rain" in
between each of those days you listed.

 

[farmerwithmutt]

When i cut i used a 7 ft new holland left stubble and the
windrow was the same width as the baler and using a
mosture tester we could cut in morning and bale that
night.usually i cut in pm because hay was high in protien
(dont forget protien is a measure of nitrates) in am and low
in pm but sugar would be low in am and high in pm

 

[NEIADan]

We are fortunate to have that humid air through much of the summer. We cut with a 12 ft machine that uses steel corrugated timed rolls that crushes the stem every 1.5 inches. Windrow is narrowed to about 3 ft. 1-2 hours later we ted the windrow. This allows time for the surface moisture to dissapate and the stubble to dry enough to support the hay on top. We can rake and bale in 24 - 48 hours.

The key to quality is the use of a tedder. Alfalfa is still a living organism until it is down to about 65% moisture. By placing it into a tight windrow mimics a night time respiration where the plant is not burning calories out of the plant. Upon fluffing and spreading that windrow out on dry stubble that plant will bring that plant tissue down to the key 65% level quickly thus saving on lost energy from the plant respiration. No machine has ever saved me as much crop as the tedder.

 

[Brendon-KS]

I have cut hay in many parts of the country as
part of my job, mostly west of the Mississippi and
mostly all with a 16-ft SP windrower. The style
of windrow is largely a regional thing. In Idaho,
the operators tended to want a taller, narrower
windrow to reduce bleaching. But, in California
they want it laid out in a thin, 6- to 7-ft wide
swath. With these commercial operators it all
gets double raked since large square balers would
be inefficient if taking only a single windrow.
After windrowing they would let the hay dry down a
bit then rake it together, often at night or early
in the morning, then bale when it was dry. In
these regions in the west a tedder would be
unheard of.

 

[showcrop]

Here in NH like most of the northeast the ground is usually so wet that if you spread it wide your tires would be pressing a lot of it down into the ground. So we put it into a narrow swath and leave it to for the ground to dry for about five hours and then tedd it out. We usually have to tedd three times, unless we get a fairly long dry spell.

 

[Bret4207]

I do about the same as showcrop. We need a fairly narrow windrow so the adjacent ground will dry and then ted the hay at least once before raking, often 2-3 times in a bad year. Alfalfa isn't an issue here as it winter kills way too easy on our clays, so tedding damage is not that big an issue.