[AT] OT Hay question

Grant Brians gbrians at hollinet.com
Sun Jul 9 08:28:23 PDT 2006


Tom, you live in an area that it makes sense to make your own hay. I would 
second Walt's suggestion of getting a hay moisture meter. Would you like to 
borrow mine? It works very well and takes the guesswork out of the process.
    I have always grown hay (not currently with all the vegetables I am 
growing and I may or may not return to it) here in an area that is both very 
similar and not similar at all to yours. We are less than 100 miles apart, 
but you are on the ocean side of the mountains whereas I am in the 
"intermountain" zone of the California coast range. I have cut with mower, 
mower-conditioner and swather over the years. For best drying, the mower 
conditioner is the choice. For low cost of entry or side hill cutting the 
mower is best. And for covering the ground and lowest cost per acre cut when 
doing a large area, the swather is the only choice. But for your hills, go 
with the mower you have!
    The fastest I ever baled (square bales) was three days from cutting. It 
was a rare 100 degree time period and was over 5 foot tall oats, yielding 
about 7 tons per acre. Normally with our climate you need 10 days to bale 
grain hay, sometimes 7 days for alfalfa. If you want to try my hay meter, 
let me know. They cost about $200 new I think now, but I feel they are worth 
every penny.
        Grant Brians
    Hollister, California
p.s. One of these days I will restore my hay equipment too. The Hesston 
mower conditioner was built in 1968 and was nearly worn out when I got it 
almost 25 years ago. I have since replaced an amazing amount of sheetmetal 
and other parts.....
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "toma" <toma at risingnet.net>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Friday, July 07, 2006 1:38 PM
Subject: Re: [AT] OT Hay question


>
>
> On Fri, 7 Jul 2006, Richard Strobel wrote:
>
>> See if I can get in trouble here :-)  Ole Timer suggested to me.  "Take 
>> half
>> a handfull of hay, hold with both hands, crank 3 revolutions, and hay 
>> should
>> now be in two bundles.
>
> I like this trick, I will try it.
>
>
> On Fri, 7 Jul 2006, Cecil Bearden wrote:
>
>> As you can see I am not one for putting up dry hay.  If I want dry
> straw, I
>> will bale behind the combine!!
>
>
> A lot of guys around here are cutting hay with a swather instead of a 
> mower and rake. Then they let it get too dry before they bale it. I bought 
> some of this hay a couple of years ago and the cows got thin on it.
>
> This year is just a test with the 6 acres. We have fixed up some of our 
> old equipment that we had for years and "restored" a IHC 55W baler. If all 
> goes well we will plant enough next year for our winter use. We had a few 
> problems cutting with my sons 5' belly mower on his wide front Farmall B 
> so we are going to get the JD #5 mower set up on the D2. Raking went real 
> well with the old Case 4 bar. We can't wait to see how well the old 55W 
> will work.
>
> Years ago I grew hay and had trouble selling it for a decent price. The 
> last few years I have been spending thousands buying hay ($13 a bale in 
> the winter) money saved is money made and besides what better use to be 
> made of antique equipment. Plus it is something the 4th, 5th, and 6th 
> generation on the family farm can do together.
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> Remembering Our Friend Cecil Monson 11-4-2005
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
> 




More information about the AT mailing list