Re: Advice Needed for Hay Baling

Posted by Gerald on May 07, 1999 at 13:16:59:

In Reply to: Advice Needed for Hay Baling posted by Jason on May 06, 1999 at 22:02:33:

First you need customers. Then you need some dry weather when the hay is ripe. Then you need some hay to cut.

The customers will dictate the size bales. A mountain of small bales stacked outside in Iowa has no value at all. Its rotting as you stack it because the humidity is too high. You need customers to take delivery as soon as the hay is on the hay racks.

Now you didn't say WHERE you are and WHAT the hay is. If its grasses, the markets will be limited. If its alfalfa, you need a crimper or mower/conditioner to get the stems and leaves to cure at the same rate. The odds around here in June of curing hay that isn't crimped are about zero. Then you need a way to tell the hay is dry enough for baling. You can learn by feel (and its fairly distinctive) or by measurement with a hay moisture meter or a hay sample, a microwave, and a chemical balance. You weigh a wet sample into a cup, then microwave it until the weight stops dropping. The % lost is the % moisture. 21% is a value to shoot for. Above that and alfalfa heats in the bales, wrecking its food value. Customers watching a thunderstorm approaching will rush you to bale, make them wait. Hay baled too soon is worth nothing. Hay baled after a rain is a lot better than no hay at all. Crimped hay stands rain in the windrow fairly well. The raindrops knock the leaves off uncrimped hay. The value of alfalfa is in the leaf, not the stem.

I've read that replacement of chains and sprockets makes a balky chain driven baler work as good as new. If I get some customers for square bales again I may have to investigate that in my MF-12. Which tends to miss a couple bales per 200, not at the twine splices. All twine is not the same, you may have to select twine to get reliable tieing with a particular baler. No baler is worth having without a detailed adjustments manual. You may be on your own for adjustments if you aren't in a region with lots of hay production because the dealer's mechanics won't have seen enough balers to know anything.

I use a Heston PT-10 mower conditioner. Its beginning to show age but makes a neater windrow than the far more expensive JD 1209 or 1219 though its probably a bit slower at mowing, limited to about 6 mph.

I've been using a four bar IH #5 rake, but I have to pull it slowly to not separate leaf from stem. I've recently bought a New Idea wheel rake. Not class, but I think it will work adequately for me. A wheel rake allows pulling it at 8 mph for the same abuse of the has as the 4 bar does at 3 mph or the 5 or 6 bar parallel bar rake does at 5 mph. The wheel rake being ground driven may add some dust to the hay windrow.

Then you need racks to put the small bales on for hauling to shelter or to the customer's place. Be sure to thoroughly clean the customer's racks to remove the wild mustard seed before you pull them through the field.

But all this is wasted money, time, energy, and hay if you haven't customers first.

Gerald

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