Hay season 2021

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Got 2nd cut of alfalfa and 1st cut of orchard grass on the ground. Been good drying weather here, smoking hot with low humidity, and a little breeze. Will start rolling tomorrow.

The sudan that I planted on the 5th is up and a couple inches tall.
 
Got some more time with the New Holland. Went ahead and took down 60 acres of Sudan that wasn't amounting to much because our fertilizer guy screwed up, and I mowed 50 acres of alfalfa yesterday. Moving along pretty good but not super fast, somewhere around 7 acres an hour.

The NH knives are not very durable. Just takes one small rock to bend one. Seems like the retention system really holds them tight against the turtle so they don't really swing freely, might get better with some wear. The Vermeer would rarely bend a blade, but if you hit something really hard you'd usually lose the knife entirely.

The cutterbar packs with mud something awful and really hurts the cut quality. I haven't really figured this one out, it doesn't scalp or drag, I don't really know where the dirt comes from.

I'm wondering if raising the hitch height would help angle the cutterbar more and keep the skids off of the ground, but there isn't a whole lot more to go before the PTO shaft is angled more than the manual says is allowed.
 
Finally got the last of our rented hay ground baled this afternoon. Same as most everyone, hay is thinner and lighter. And of course overmature... this is just unimproved grass hay that we make, close to a couple other places. Got the neighbors down, I raked some and we got a little sprinkle.... just enough to get it wet on top, but it went up the Blue Ridge Parkway mountain.... it poured down about 5 miles south... Will rake again tomorrow, and it should all be baled by Friday. Small chance of pop up showers again tomorrow and Friday, but then hopefully we will get some serious rain or storms this weekend...60% chance.
The pop up showers will pour in one place and then 5 miles up the road nothing...When it is 30% chance or more, temps in the low 90's and humid, you know that the chance for t-storms is pretty high....

Sorghum/sudan is growing fast, we are going to try to cut it "shorter" this year so we can rake with our own rake... was using a rotary because it was getting to 5-8 ft before we could get to it some years... but want to get it made dry and that means shorter and finer stalks... if the weather cooperates.

We have been behind with the weather and then the trip up north for my mom's funeral and being gone for nearly a week. Maybe things will get back in line... but hay has been lighter in most all the fields.
Still, we are better off than you guys out west with the heat and no rain....

Heard the wheat crop is going to be off by as much as 30% this year??? Not good....
 
Going to do 2nd cut the next window we get. 1st cut was about half of normal. 2nd has a lot of chicory in it and is thin. Gonna be a bear to dry I think. It'll be unrolled so should work out OK. I don't like making hay. 2021 has not cooperated much.
 
Going to do 2nd cut the next window we get. 1st cut was about half of normal. 2nd has a lot of chicory in it and is thin. Gonna be a bear to dry I think. It'll be unrolled so should work out OK. I don't like making hay. 2021 has not cooperated much.
I noticed the grass is not bouncing back for another cutting nothing great. I will try to hit it again mid to late August and let the cattle mow it the last time. If numbers of bales don't pickup may have to do a little more culling come late fall.
 
The NH knives are not very durable. Just takes one small rock to bend one. Seems like the retention system really holds them tight against the turtle so they don't really swing freely, might get better with some wear. The Vermeer would rarely bend a blade, but if you hit something really hard you'd usually lose the knife entirely.

I've never bent a Vermeer blade, just took chunks out of them on rare occasions - about the size of a fingernail if you hit something substantial. The set on my old mower now has been sharpened so many times I bet the edge is 1/2" back from where it originally was.


The cutterbar packs with mud something awful and really hurts the cut quality. I haven't really figured this one out, it doesn't scalp or drag, I don't really know where the dirt comes from.

I'm wondering if raising the hitch height would help angle the cutterbar more and keep the skids off of the ground, but there isn't a whole lot more to go before the PTO shaft is angled more than the manual says is allowed.

I noticed that on Dad's 1412, the cutterbar will pack with dirt/mud in the voids on top of the lower modules just below the turtles. He's too lazy to clean it out...
 
I've never bent a Vermeer blade, just took chunks out of them on rare occasions - about the size of a fingernail if you hit something substantial. The set on my old mower now has been sharpened so many times I bet the edge is 1/2" back from where it originally was.



I noticed that on Dad's 1412, the cutterbar will pack with dirt/mud in the voids on top of the lower modules just below the turtles. He's too lazy to clean it out...

I've only ever bent a couple in 5 years. Are yours quick change? Mine is, hit something big and it usually just tosses the whole knife, I think the pins break.

I'm going to blast it out with the pressure washer and see what it does when things dry up. I'm hoping it is just a symptom of cutting on ground that is too wet. It didn't seem to do it while cutting wheat earlier in the season. The whole thing is just packed with mud like you wouldn't believe. The last field I cut with it is raggedy as can be.
 
Raked all but about 4 acres to finish first cutting today. It was mowed last evening, and will hopefully be dry enough to rake in the morning, turned up so it will dry enough to bale tomorrow eve. We got 20 sprinkles yesterday but didn't hurt it any. Poured rain for 5-10 minutes 5 miles south but then mostly went east and up the BR parkway.... showers are very hit and miss... hope they miss here for another day... Calling for 50-60% chance this weekend and I hope we get every drop. Son will get all that is raked, baled when he gets off work at 2:30....This some we do custom and the farmer will have to buy hay this year because he is not going to have enough....last year he got more than ever and still bought 30 rolls from us. He had bought some more cows and is pushing his limits..... needs to cut back... the pastures are overgrazed this year with it being dry now....
Hay here is also light/thin. Stalks are fine, more like a 2nd cutting .... making about 2/3 of normal... one place did about normal but everything else is off.
 
Atimm693, the mud issue can be helped by raising the angle of the cutter bar with is done by adjusting the location of the pin on the hydraulic cylinder which located in the center of the unit. This can change the angle of the cutter bar to between 2 & 10 degrees. Also check to see if your flotation springs are adjusted properly. If they are not the cutter bar will ride much heavier on the ground.
Of course drier ground will always help.
 
Atimm693, the mud issue can be helped by raising the angle of the cutter bar with is done by adjusting the location of the pin on the hydraulic cylinder which located in the center of the unit. This can change the angle of the cutter bar to between 2 & 10 degrees. Also check to see if your flotation springs are adjusted properly. If they are not the cutter bar will ride much heavier on the ground.
Of course drier ground will always help.

I had the pin in the lowest position, wanted to cut it pretty low. That is how the manual says to adjust cutting height.

I do need to get a scale out and set those springs. I only gave them a tug, felt they were pretty close and went to work with it.
 
I've only ever bent a couple in 5 years. Are yours quick change? Mine is, hit something big and it usually just tosses the whole knife, I think the pins break.
My 840 has the quick change knives, but the old 7120 doesn't. Had the latter since 2000 and have never bent a blade on it, but we don't have the shelf rocks like you do in MO.
 
I've never ran a self-propelled mower, but I'm assuming the belt "table" under the machine is to offset the windrow to either side. Is it reversible?
 
Some haygrazer I caught perfect. Cut in the prime of it's life . Perfect drying weather. Dry in 4 days. Very nice green color and average 12 to 15 percent moisture. Been rolled about a week and no sweat, no heat.. 234 4x5 on 30ish acres . Making hay is sure fun when the stars line up for you.



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Some haygrazer I caught perfect. Cut in the prime of it's life . Perfect drying weather. Dry in 4 days. Very nice green color and average 12 to 15 percent moisture. Been rolled about a week and no sweat, no heat.. 234 4x5 on 30ish acres . Making hay is sure fun when the stars line up for you.



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A lot of people put pictures of their hands. That usually tells a lot about work and conditions. Fence some pretty rough looking hands there. Mine looks rough for my age, as I never wear gloves and are beat all to heck, working on junk, fencing, you name it. I see some hands that looks tender, soft and smooth.
 
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I've never ran a self-propelled mower, but I'm assuming the belt "table" under the machine is to offset the windrow to either side. Is it reversible?
It's what they call a merger.
I guess u can put up to 3 swaths together if you chose so. That header is like 18 ft wide. Some of the hay we cut would kill a baler with 3 rows together. Lol!
I've personally never used the merger, but it sounds kool, especially for lighter hay!

The auto steer is amazing!! I had to stop at 11 pm last night. 50 acres laid down in a lil over 4 hours.

Gotta be careful. Ya fall asleep with auto steer on and u got big problems!!
 

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