today's work

[tncattle]

my first time cutting hay.

me and another guy cut for about 7 hours - he had a nice, new john deere . This is me on an old Ford 6600. (My wife, daughter and son came to eat lunch with me - that's why you see a 3 year old in the picture.) Oh yeah, in the top pic I wasn't moving yet, notice the front end loader still down.

 

[tncattle]

Looks like yall had a blast. How many rolls did ya get? How big are they?

We just finished cutting all three fields about 7 p.m. I actually started at 9 a.m. and my co-cutter got there around noon. I think they are gonna roll it tomorrow and however long it/that takes. In all I think we cut between 50-70 acres. I'm not really good at estimating acres so thats why the big variation on the guess. I did take about an hour and half for lunch and other stuff. I loved it! It did help that the temp. was around 75 and low humidity.

 

[Jogeephus]

Did the number 2 boss lady get to help cut some grass too? I bet she did. ;-) She's definitely a darling.

 

[tncattle]

Did the number 2 boss lady get to help cut some grass too? I bet she did. ;-) She's definitely a darling.

She said "Daddy you cut the grass and roll it in balls and make the hay"

 

[tncattle]

Let me clarify:

This is not my land or my equipment. I'm giving free help/labor to a man that has a registered Black Angus herd. This is my way of learning all I can before getting cattle of my own. On this particular land there is about 60-70 head on a total of about 120 acres.

 

[cfpinz]

That tractor has been well taken care of, looks nice. I've got the same loader on a 7600. Just an idea - take the bucket off and cut a piece of 3/4" rod long enough to span the loader arms, thread it thru the center cylinder and put a pin in either end just outside the arms. Will improve your visibility and save wear and tear on your front axle. Those loaders also pop off real easy but that's not always practical.

cfpinz

 

[tncattle]

Oh,

Still, tis good to see people willing to learn the tricks of the trade. Believe it or not you will learn more in a year then you could ever imagine especially if you have a bad year. I see mistakes other cattleman have made and have tried not to make the same ones and thus far it has paid off well. Learn all you can via hands on like you are and read alot to. Then apply the knowledge learned to your operation and watch it grow. Plus, you have an added bonus you are a member of cattletoday and there is a wealth of information at your fingertips. Good luck in the future.

And my mentor has been in the cattle business/world since he was a kid. He is in his 60s now and he is a wealth of knowledge.

 

[cattleluvr18]

Oh,

Still, tis good to see people willing to learn the tricks of the trade. Believe it or not you will learn more in a year then you could ever imagine especially if you have a bad year. aint that the truth I see mistakes other cattleman have made and have tried not to make the same ones and thus far it has paid off well. Learn all you can via hands on like you are and read alot to. Then apply the knowledge learned to your operation and watch it grow. Plus, you have an added bonus you are a member of cattletoday and there is a wealth of information at your fingertips. Good luck in the future.

aint it nice to have your family come out and eat with ya. i always try and bring food to my dad when hes in the field. i feel like its the least i can do for him. looks like that'll be some dang good hay.[/b]

 

[Earl Thigpen]

Looks like yall had a blast. How many rolls did ya get? How big are they?

We just finished cutting all three fields about 7 p.m. I actually started at 9 a.m. and my co-cutter got there around noon. I think they are gonna roll it tomorrow and however long it/that takes. In all I think we cut between 50-70 acres. I'm not really good at estimating acres so thats why the big variation on the guess. I did take about an hour and half for lunch and other stuff. I loved it! It did help that the temp. was around 75 and low humidity.

I have a 10' (9'6") cutter and all I can cut is about 6 acres/hour with a 145 HP tractor. If cutting Bohia I have to really slow down though.

I cut about 13 acres of Hay Grazer and field grass Friday morning and just got it wrapped up this afternoon. The weather was perfect - low humidity, nice breeze, not many clouds.

It really takes me longer (a lot longer) to rake it than it does to bale since my rake is an old PTO driven JD single.

Put someone on the rake ahead of you and when he/she has made two or three windrows, start baling. Maybe they can stay ahead of you, especially if you have one of those double wides.

 

[dun]

I have a 10' (9'6") cutter and all I can cut is about 6 acres/hour

The grass isn;lt the problem here, it's the roughness of the ground. On a really good day I can cover about 2-2 1/2 acres an hour. That's really pressing it. Racking takes just as long because of the speed situation.

 

[vs_cattle]

Nice looking Tractor and Im glad to see the family was all happy

 

[tncattle]

Looks like yall had a blast. How many rolls did ya get? How big are they?

We just finished cutting all three fields about 7 p.m. I actually started at 9 a.m. and my co-cutter got there around noon. I think they are gonna roll it tomorrow and however long it/that takes. In all I think we cut between 50-70 acres. I'm not really good at estimating acres so thats why the big variation on the guess. I did take about an hour and half for lunch and other stuff. I loved it! It did help that the temp. was around 75 and low humidity.

I have a 10' (9'6") cutter and all I can cut is about 6 acres/hour with a 145 HP tractor. If cutting Bohia I have to really slow down though.

I cut about 13 acres of Hay Grazer and field grass Friday morning and just got it wrapped up this afternoon. The weather was perfect - low humidity, nice breeze, not many clouds.

It really takes me longer (a lot longer) to rake it than it does to bale since my rake is an old PTO driven JD single.

Put someone on the rake ahead of you and when he/she has made two or three windrows, start baling. Maybe they can stay ahead of you, especially if you have one of those double wides.

Again, I'm totally guessing on the acresI could be way to high. I ran in high 6th gear the entire time. It only has high 8th gear as it's max. So I cut about 8 hrs total and the other guy cut about 7 hrs total. Fifteen hrs. x lets say 5 acres=75. That sounds like an awful lot but we were moving at a good pace. We were usually about 100 yards behind each other just truckin or tractor-un. I'm gonna ask to see how much we actually did.

 

[plbcattle]

since you are doing this for free, come to arkansas. I can give you a lesson in AI/embryo transfer, setting up recips, fence building, general equipment repair,hay work,spraying fields,barn building, and plenty of tasks I didn't even mention. I will let you learn all this free of charge, I won't charge you nothing to let you come work on these projects for free. And you will be learning about the better Angus= Brangus

 

[tncattle]

since you are doing this for free, come to arkansas. I can give you a lesson in AI/embryo transfer, setting up recips, fence building, general equipment repair,hay work,spraying fields,barn building, and plenty of tasks I didn't even mention. I will let you learn all this free of charge, I won't charge you nothing to let you come work on these projects for free. And you will be learning about the better Angus= Brangus

Wow! what a great generous offer. But since this farm is 20 mnutes from my house I think I'll just stay here. But thanks for the offer-

 

[Rod]

I've had some of my best and worst days in the hay field. Weatherman was a day late on the rain this week, rained on about 200 acres of laid down hay today!

 

[Earl Thigpen]

I have a 10' (9'6") cutter and all I can cut is about 6 acres/hour

The grass isn;lt the problem here, it's the roughness of the ground. On a really good day I can cover about 2-2 1/2 acres an hour. That's really pressing it. Racking takes just as long because of the speed situation.

I hear what you're saying. One of my hay fields used to be so rough that the custom balers would'nt even give me a price to cut it. I've since fixed that problem. Do you have rocks in the ground that make it rough and what do they do to your equipment?

I did trip the breakaway once Friday on a fire ant mound that I didn't see until it was too late. Other than that it was smooth sailing and no break downs. Must be some kinda record.

 

[dun]

I have a 10' (9'6") cutter and all I can cut is about 6 acres/hour

The grass isn;lt the problem here, it's the roughness of the ground. On a really good day I can cover about 2-2 1/2 acres an hour. That's really pressing it. Racking takes just as long because of the speed situation.

I hear what you're saying. One of my hay fields used to be so rough that the custom balers would'nt even give me a price to cut it. I've since fixed that problem. Do you have rocks in the ground that make it rough and what do they do to your equipment?

I did trip the breakaway once Friday on a fire ant mound that I didn't see until it was too late. Other than that it was smooth sailing and no break downs. Must be some kinda record.

The rocks, on our fields, isn;t that much of a problem. Each spring a few new bigger ones will just peak through but I normally dig them out and fill the hole. The irregularity is form the frost heaving over the winter. Everyone I've talked to has said their fields are a lot rougher this year then in the past. I raked 25 acres for the neighbor yesterday and hit lose rocks from fist size tp almost wash basin size. Not a whole bunch of fun cause I'ld get out and pick them up and toss them into a edge of the woods.
The thought that crossed my mind when I was cutting our back hay field and bouncing all over the place was that the old neighbor guy that owned the alfalfa fields in the desert woudln;t even drive across these fields, let alone bale them.

 

[Cowdirt]

Let me clarify:

This is not my land or my equipment. I'm giving free help/labor to a man that has a registered Black Angus herd. This is my way of learning all I can before getting cattle of my own. On this particular land there is about 60-70 head on a total of about 120 acres.

tncattle, I'm proud of you and for you!! You're starting out the right way. Hang in there!!

 

[Rod]

I really hate hay season! ! ! 2 inches of rain last nite!

 

[tncattle]

Let me clarify:

This is not my land or my equipment. I'm giving free help/labor to a man that has a registered Black Angus herd. This is my way of learning all I can before getting cattle of my own. On this particular land there is about 60-70 head on a total of about 120 acres.

tncattle, I'm proud of you and for you!! You're starting out the right way. Hang in there!!

Thank you Cowdirt, I thought for about a month about a lot of things you and others have advised me on and decided y'all know way more than I do. So this is the summer/year of just learning.