Square Baling 1st Cut Thin Hay

[Bill VA]

Video square baling some first cut, but pretty thin hay. Yield was down as we did not fertilize this year. Picked up a gear to help keep the pickup full.

Tractor is a JD 5055d, the baler is a JD 348 with 42 pan kicker. Home made wood kicker wagons.

Tried wearing a long sleeve shirt and gloves for the first time ever to keep the sunburn to a minimum. The shirt was a lightweight fishing shirt that is
designed to breath, yet resist UV. My grandfather never wore a short sleeve short. He and other old timers claimed it was cooler. My experience was
it was not to bad.

Enjoy!
Baling Hay

 

[jm.]

Just shy of 4 a minute or one ever 16 seconds or so. Not bad could have raked more in the windrow but you adjusted the travel speed and was knocking it out.

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 16:25:56 06/19/22) Video square baling some first cut, but pretty thin hay. Yield was down as we did not fertilize this year. Picked up a gear to help keep the pickup full.

Tractor is a JD 5055d, the baler is a JD 348 with 42 pan kicker. Home made wood kicker wagons.

Tried wearing a long sleeve shirt and gloves for the first time ever to keep the sunburn to a minimum. The shirt was a lightweight fishing shirt that is
designed to breath, yet resist UV. My grandfather never wore a short sleeve short. He and other old timers claimed it was cooler. My experience was
it was not to bad.

Enjoy!
Baling Hay

When I have light hay like that I double or triple rake it. Small windrows can allow "bleaching" of the hay by the sun so feed value is reduced.

 

[Wheat47]

How heavy are your bales?

 

[Bill VA]

Our bales are not crazy heavy. We purposely make a shorter bale to lower the weight (read easier for everyone all around to handle) and they hold their shape better in the kicker wagon. They are tight bales. Second cut is always heavier than first cut.

 

[Wheat47]

Ah. I make mine 60 or so Lbs. Easier for buyers to handle.
They will generally load right out of the field.
Hay is mostly grass, brome, timothy, and a bit of alfalfa and some other grasses.
Crop is looking real good this year, brome is about 3 ft tall.
What is hay selling for there?? I see references to $10-12/small square.
We're near Billings Mt. Neighbor and I have about 10-14 acres of hay, so we don't get rich.
I sell to the same 2-3 people every year and I don't believe in gouging them.
I charged $6-7/small square last year. Probably $8-9 (or less) this year.
I don't like to gouge my friends.
Plan is to start cutting this week.

 

[JayinNY]

Why not put a canopy on your tractor? youve already got the rollbar best thing I ever did last summer was get a canopy for my tractor. Nice video.j

 

[730virgil]

makes me think when I used either John Deere 60 or 2510 to pull Oliver 520 baler I had 2 bale baskets I loved baling hay more than I can say for Tall Kid as he was the guy putting bales on conveyor.

 

[Bill VA]

Thanks - a canopy would be nice, but low limbs in other areas of the farm would tear it off.

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 03:37:29 06/20/22) Thanks - a canopy would be nice, but low limbs in other areas of the farm would tear it off.

Yes, pruning back the limbs from the trees around the fields is part of regular farm work. Last fall I got a battery powered Ryobi pole saw to make the job easier.

 

[macec3]

When I have thin hay, I will rake a couple of windrows together. Cuts down on the baling time.

 

[Traditional Farmer]

Must be dry down your way,been wet here hay is heavy.

 

[jddrawbar]

Nice video....loose fitting long sleeve shirt it the only way to go, for me. Keeping the direct sunlight off exposed skin is cooler. (IMO)

 

[Leroy]

What I am seeing hay is very heavy and over ripe for first cutting that should have been off 2 weeks ago. But way too much rain, northwest Ohio.

 

[JK-NY]

I noticed the inoculate tank on the baler. Do you ever use hay preservative when baling?

 

[Bill VA]

Yes - it is a tank for hay preservative. We rarely use it, but have if the need arises.

 

[Northvale PA]

My grass yields are down too. I got 100 bales per acre on a Orchard Timothy mix and 125 bales per acre on a field that was predominantly Timothy. Late winter, dry spring. Recent rains but I suppose to late.

 

[1370rod]

So after the wagon is full what do you do then ?

 

[Bill VA]

We park the wagons in the barn and unload later.