raking hay

[circlet]

many of you might think this is a dumb question...but i always figure there are no dumb questions only dumb people (like me ) so here goes...

i've always mowed hay with a disc mower but am thinking about getting a mower conditioner - leaves the windrow after you mow it.

do you have to rake that hay to turn it over and help it dry? if so, how many days after you mow it do you rake it and then bale it?

 

[ALACOWMAN]

course drying times depends on the weather , but you need too flip it.

 

[MShaffer]

We always tedd the hay to spread it out and cut the drying time.

 

[alabama]

I would think you would set the mower to leave as wide a windrow as you can and then rake several wend rows together to roll.

 

[bandit80]

Hold on here boys. A lot of people around me, myself included, do not rake ALL of their hay. In my area, most of the hay is smooth bromegrass, and it is mowed with 12 foot mower conditioners. Alot of people mow day 1, and are able to bale on day 3 without raking, tedding, etc. Now if we are dealing with hay such as alfalfa or clover, then yes, raking is neccesary.

We do rake some hay simply to speed up the baling process. Do some custom baling, so often times have our own swather and someone else's mowing at the same time. At that point, they can mow more than I can bale in a day. Therefore, we double up the windrows to cut the baling time in half.

In the end raking will decrease drying time, no matter what the hay crop. However, to say it is always necessary is not true.

 

[1982vett]

I agree, it is all about what you are trying to do. Climate and type of hay are the big factors. Around here, if the hay is thick enough for one swath to make a windrow big enough to bale with, it is to much hay to drop in a windrow behind the cutter. If it is thin enough to drop in a windrow I'm going to rake 2 - 3 swaths together before baling anyway.

Then again, what is your cutter width, 8 ft., 9, 12 or more? All makes a difference in what and how you do things.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

I agree, it is all about what you are trying to do. Climate and type of hay are the big factors. Around here, if the hay is thick enough for one swath to make a windrow big enough to bale with, it is to much hay to drop in a windrow behind the cutter. If it is thin enough to drop in a windrow I'm going to rake 2 - 3 swaths together before baling anyway.

Then again, what is your cutter width, 8 ft., 9, 12 or more? All makes a difference in what and how you do things.

you'll know if its dry enough, if you been at it any length of time i could have gotton away without raking on my second cuttin' with a conditioner, but not my first.. fescue,orchard,clover

 

[rockridgecattle]

now my turn to say hold on here

We have alfalfa /clover/ brome fields. We do not rake after using a 14' mower conditioner. Hubby sets it wide enough that i do not have to weave with the 850 NH baler. Drying time is anywhere from 1 day to 3 days, depending on heat and humidity. That is getting 4-5 bales to an acre. We did one field that had 7 bales to the acre
If you rake, costs add up in fuel.
If you rake, costs add up in the lower quality of feed due to the lost leaves from raking and turning.
If you rake you can actually slower the drying time because its now turned into a rope.

We had over 20" of rain. Only one field got turned. Father in law would not listenn to hubby. the raked area was the same type and thickness of hay. The raked field took two extra days to dry.
Hay dries better in the swath. the idea behind the haybine is that the rollers crush the hay to speed up drying time. That's why it is a good idea to get a haybine with longer rollers.
Ours is 14' NH haybine with a 9' roller. Cracks the hay stems real good. Hubby knows the terms better than i but you get the idea

 

[angus9259]

As you can see, as will all things . . . it depends.

It also depends on the equipment. My older baler struggles to pick up anything that's not been raked. Also, my haybine is smaller than my baler so raking several rows into one is very helpful in the process of minimizing weaving.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

":3gko5f8n]As you can see, as will all things . . . it depends.[/u]
It also depends on the equipment. My older baler struggles to pick up anything that's not been raked. Also, my haybine is smaller than my baler so raking several rows into one is very helpful in the process of minimizing weaving.

especially if you live in the south east, where humidity play a major role.

 

[grannysoo]

It depends, it depends, it depends. How's that for an answer! :lol2:

We have a 9' disc mower, an 18' tedder, and a rake that will extend out to 18' too.

We always use the disc mower and we always use the rake to windrow 2 swaths of the mowed grass together.

If the grass is cut short enough, we normally don't need to ted. However, if the grass gets too long or gets wet, we will use the tedder on it.

The less you can handle the grass, the better off you will be.

(and our grass is coastal bermuda)

 

[dun]

Something I discovered about the Vicon baler is that it takes very little weaving because of the way the pick up works. It has augers at either end of the pick up that rams the grass into the throat area. The JD 435 takes a lot of ziggyzagging to get a decently uniform bale.

 

[Angus Cowman]

like others on here have said it depends on all the factors type of hay,humidity how much time you have to wait for it to dry I am in southern mo and I use mower conditioners we also tedd behind the mower in early part of yr because of moisture in the ground and the thickness of hay I lived in the panhanle of oklahoma didn't rake anything and we baled wheat, alfalfa and greengraze but had no humidity I run new holland balers and they also have the augers on the pick up so wider windrows work great

 

[rockridgecattle]

so I was driving school bus today and it popped into my head...Crimper..not rollers. Wasn't even thinking of the word.
So if you are looking to purchase a haybine/ mower conditioner, look at the crimper. I mean if you stuff a 14' cut in 2' or 5' of crimper you will not get as fast a dry down. But if you have a 9' crimper it does a good job, dries down faster.
Hubby has me writing this:
Hubby says with a mower conditionder get a hand held moisture tester. A definite plus in putting up good quality hay. Sometimes those winrows can fool you. sometimes you think they are not ready but infact they are or you think they are ready but to high in moisture. I bale with the 850 NH and he likes the bales between 12-15% moisture the best but will take up to 18% if the weather is turning bad. Once the bales are made without raking, get protien value tested.
Then protien test the bales that are raked or turned and then baled. Then test that hay for protien. He guarantees the the bales that were raked have a lower value than the bales that were not raked due to disturbing the winrows and losing leaves from the alfalfa and clover.