# Drying Alfalfa Hay



## JD0610 (Apr 14, 2011)

Last year was a good year for Alfalfa hay, but it wouldn't dry and then it would get wet. Use a 1411 NH discbine to cut it with, then we'd run a hay tedder through, and finally the v-rake. The top would always be dry but just so green and wet underneath. We're thinking about getting a hay inverter or rotary rake to help with the drying. Does anyone have any suggestions?


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

You don't say where you're from, but it was a bad year last year for most to get hay dry.

If you're ground is saturated Purdue recommends laying your rows out narrow to get the most ground exposed so it drys some first while other studies claim to lay it out as wide as possible regardless.

I've tried both ways and if the ground is really wet, laying it out as wide as possible _in_ Northern Indiana will guarantee the bottom stays wet.


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## Toyes Hill Angus (Dec 21, 2010)

i want to caution you about the NH 144/166 inverters, if you have alot of material in the windrow they tend to plug right where the pick up transitions to the belt, it will jam so much material in there it will not make the turn. The belt will still turn, the hay won't follow it. The sheild to invert can be equally as frustratiing no matter which hole the bar is pinned in. You can go a litter slower and rev the tractor to get more GPMT(gallons per min) his can help if the inverter is hydraulic drive, if ground drive no (you're SOL), Leaf loss will be high. 
These things are slow to use, tou can onlt go about 5mph before you overrun the pick up. Just my experience, not everyone's I'm sure.


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

Some of us forget that if the weather does not cooperate we will not successfully cure hay, in the field.

Full width swath or narrow windrow dry at the same rate if there is no sunshine.

If the ground is sopping wet the bottom will not dry.

If the air is 80% humidity the hay will not dry,

The alternatives are not easy of cheap.

You do have the option to put the hay up as round bale silage, but that also has a costly learning curve.

Hay is little different than grain in that wet weather makes harvesting a real challenge.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Toyes Hill Angus said:


> i want to caution you about the NH 144/166 inverters, if you have alot of material in the windrow they tend to plug right where the pick up transitions to the belt, it will jam so much material in there it will not make the turn. The belt will still turn, the hay won't follow it. The sheild to invert can be equally as frustratiing no matter which hole the bar is pinned in. You can go a litter slower and rev the tractor to get more GPMT(gallons per min) his can help if the inverter is hydraulic drive, if ground drive no (you're SOL), Leaf loss will be high.
> These things are slow to use, tou can onlt go about 5mph before you overrun the pick up. Just my experience, not everyone's I'm sure.


alot of people bought the inverters when they came out here.Now most got rid of them.They just didn't work that well here either.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Same here on the inverters, local NH dealer would always have 2, 3, or 4 new ones sitting on the lot and was always getting more in, I can't recall a single one sitting on their lot the last 3 or 4 years.


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## K WEST FARMS (Apr 4, 2011)

Thanks everyone above on the inverter information!!! Was thinking on renting one to try from local used mach. dealer, will rethink this now !!! Rotary rakes and tedders are used a lot here ( Nort. Cent. Wis. ) to help speed up drying process. Can mean multiple trips, (translate- more cost, more loss ) but if dry hay is your desired end product, you run out of options !!! JMO!!


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## dairyguyinSEMN (Apr 9, 2011)

John, always used a side rake to rake hay. Then I had a college buddy become a equipment salesman. They used a rotary rake on thier farm near Elk Mound. He brought one down for me to try....said I'd use it for a day than he could come get it. He told me the only thing he'd be coming to get was a check from me for the rake. I LMAO and said I'd buy lunch if that happened......I bought him lunch a few days later. lol I really love my rotary rake. Doesn't rope it all together, fluffs and opens it up, AND you don't get all the dirt in the hay.

Do you know where I can find good cheese, John???


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## JD0610 (Apr 14, 2011)

Thank you all for the info! we're located in central MN. Most of the ground we have is clay and gravel....lol so sick of rocks!!!!! After listening to what everyone has said I think we may go with a rotary rake. Can't waist time making all those trips and spending all that time in the fields the way fuel prices are right now!!


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## K WEST FARMS (Apr 4, 2011)

dairyguyinSEMN said:


> John, always used a side rake to rake hay. Then I had a college buddy become a equipment salesman. They used a rotary rake on thier farm near Elk Mound. He brought one down for me to try....said I'd use it for a day than he could come get it. He told me the only thing he'd be coming to get was a check from me for the rake. I LMAO and said I'd buy lunch if that happened......I bought him lunch a few days later. lol I really love my rotary rake. Doesn't rope it all together, fluffs and opens it up, AND you don't get all the dirt in the hay.
> 
> Do you know where I can find good cheese, John???


 Mike : Your sales friend knows his product!! Off topic, where did you go to college? River Falls for me , Plateville for my bride ! BTW: My best buddy at RF was from Elk Mound, this a small world. Always have found the best cheese at smaller factories where you can buy in bulk. The LaGrander cheese factory south of 29 in the Stanley area comes to mind. I will have to do some checking, maybe they do mail order. John


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## dairyguyinSEMN (Apr 9, 2011)

K WEST FARMS said:


> Mike : Your sales friend knows his product!! Off topic, where did you go to college? River Falls for me , Plateville for my bride ! BTW: My best buddy at RF was from Elk Mound, this a small world. Always have found the best cheese at smaller factories where you can buy in bulk. The LaGrander cheese factory south of 29 in the Stanley area comes to mind. I will have to do some checking, maybe they do mail order. John


I went to River Falls also. I would consider the guy who sold me the rake to be one of my best friends. He's home farming now in Elk Mound and don't see him very often any more. I remember stopping in at a store in Abbotsford for Ice Cream when we went ot visit some friends in Green Bay, has some pretty good ice cream and cheese. Can't remember the name of the place right now....something Dairy.

Back on topic, hard to get hay to grow, to dry later, with slush/snow on the ground and 40 degrees.


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## K WEST FARMS (Apr 4, 2011)

Mike: The place you stopped at in Abbotsford, probably Hawkeye Dairy Store. You have to get off bypass, go threw town, when you get to stoplight at Hy 13, turn rt., about half block on left. Ya, same weather here, getting kind of depressing. Will go from earliest Spring ever, (started planting Apr. 1 last year), to what is looking like May 10 or later this year. Check with ECI, where the H... is this global warming???? Have a good one!! John


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## Rodney R (Jun 11, 2008)

Funny you mention the LeGrander cheese factory.... My wife originated a few miles from there on G..... Also went to RF.

Rodney


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## K WEST FARMS (Apr 4, 2011)

Rodney : Have the rotary rakes and tedders taken over in Pa. also as far as getting hay dry faster?? John


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## Rodney R (Jun 11, 2008)

15 years ago we didn't even know what a tedder was. Now all the grass hay gets tedded twice. The rotary rake is the most used rake here - the bar rake only gets used for certain things, and only when the hay is dry already. I'm not sure that we've made a big improvement in getting hay dry faster - We've been doing dry hay in 3 days for years, I can't remember if it was 4 days when I was a kid or not. I do know that the hay is thicker than it used to be, and it's now nicer than it used to be. I think that with newer varieties, we've been forced to get machinery to make the hay dry quicker, cause there is more of it in the field. Just like anything else, we have to do more better and cheaper than we used to, just to stay in business.

Rodney


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