Hayin like I've never hayed before....

[The Bachelor]

Alright, I got a question for y'all. I live here in Alabama. I've been doin alright (balin small squares) with just a hay rake and a disk mower. Hay sits on the ground a couple of days, rake er then go...
I've bought a farm in Northern Michigan and am movin everything up there. I'm noticin that there ain't a whole lot of disc mowers up there. In fact I talked to a cow guy up there and I had to explain to him what one was. They all use MoCo's up there.

All that to ask this. Can I get by with what I got?? Am I gonna have to double the hay dryin time or what?? I know how long I'm supposed to wait, but I'm fixin to go up over the 4th and do some balin to get some in the barn and I'm tryin to get an idea of the weather window I need.

I'm not lookin forward to buyin anything new if I can help it.

Thanks folks,

edited to add.... the hay is grass not alfalfa

 

[jkwilson]

Some is probably just from buying what the neighbor has or what Dad used, but your drying time will be longer up there so your hay window gets smaller. With the short growing season and long winter, I'd expect hay quality is more important, and a MoCo will help with that.

If they don't know what a disk mower is, better sell it someplace south to get what it's worth. You see more disk mowers tha MoCos here in Indiana.

 

[wade]

I live in Northern Michigan and put up quite a bit of hay. Alfalfa grass mix. I know what a discbine is. I use a mower conditioner but your discbine will be just fine. Usually if the weather is good and dry you can bale it on the third day after you cut it. So, if you cut on Wed evening you can bale it on Sat afternoon. If you could cut it on Thurday morning you could still probably bale on Sat.

 

[1982vett]

Bachelor... Trying to come up with a comparison... I can cut a day or more of drying time for ryegrass/oats in the Spring by running it thru a haybine over my neighbor that uses a disc mower. I'd say that should apply Up-North also and just think..........No more fireants to contend with...... :lol: I guess it is really going to depend on your grasses and weather cycles.

Seems I hear tell that some can cut stuff up their and leave it on the ground for months before baling it or not bale it at all and let the cows dig it out of the snow. So I guess you need to be prepared to watch, learn, and rethink how things are done once you leave The South.

Now for getting a little off subject..........inquiring minds need to know........Is a stand up funeral for your user id in the works????? Bout the only think I can think of for such a drastic move..... :lol:

Oh yeah, "standing hay" seems to be an alternative up their also.

 

[Angus Cowman]

I live in Northern Michigan and put up quite a bit of hay. Alfalfa grass mix. I know what a discbine is. I use a mower conditioner but your discbine will be just fine. Usually if the weather is good and dry you can bale it on the third day after you cut it. So, if you cut on Wed evening you can bale it on Sat afternoon. If you could cut it on Thurday morning you could still probably bale on Sat.

He doesn't have a Disc BINE he has a disc MOWER with NO conditioning rolls or flails
The only way I would see it working up there is if you have a tedder atleast but a MOCO would be better or a moco and tedder would be best IMO

 

[novaman]

I would say you are better off having something with a conditioner. Cuts drying time quite a bit which will save you lots of quality. The faster you can get it dried down the better hay it will be. Quality should always be a priority no matter what you're feeding.

 

[wade]

My bad angus cowman. Was trying to be helpful but guess missed the bine part. You do realize that people have put up hay for years and years here with nothing more than a sickle mower and a rake.

 

[Angus Cowman]

My bad angus cowman. Was trying to be helpful but guess missed the bine part. You do realize that people have put up hay for years and years here with nothing more than a sickle mower and a rake.

same here but they weren't trying to get the volume and alot of times the quality wasn't as good as we would like for it to be also

 

[The Bachelor]

Now for getting a little off subject..........inquiring minds need to know........Is a stand up funeral for your user id in the works????? Bout the only think I can think of for such a drastic move..... :lol:

Oh yeah, "standing hay" seems to be an alternative up their also.

Well Now a name change might be in the works in the future... I lost my wife to an auto accident over a year ago , I thought I'd get back up to where she was from and giver er a shot. Another thing was, about six months ago I was a foot short of makin a fence when tryin to load an ornery ol bull (I'm not as fast as I used to be.... I'm not even as fast once as I ever was....) .... I'm hopin wheat and soybeans are a little easier on a man's heart..... and backside....