# Newbie - Needs dummies giude to Making Hay



## Dave5264 (Mar 31, 2010)

Hi Guys, Hope I put this thread in the correct forum (first post here). I'm the "Dummy" in this post, and I need educating by the experts and seasoned farmers out there. Im a new(ish) farmer, and totally new to Haying. I have ~65-75 Acres of Hay fields near North Bay Ontario (Powassan). For the past several years a local farmer has been haying the land, Now he's acquired a larger farm himself, he's no longer able to do mine. I looked last year for someone else to take over and do it for shares, no luck. So...I went a bought some used equipment (had the farmer who was haying my land, check it all out with me) and plan to give it a go myself









So this is my first year on the farm doing my own hay.

Im trying to collect as much info/knowledge as I can before the harvest season arrives.

I have some older New Holland equipment - late 70's/early 80's - 9ft NH 479 hay bine, a late 50's NH Rake (real nice shape) and a late 70's/early 80's Sm Square NH Baler.

Tractor is a 2008 52 hp 4wd Montana c5264, 80 hrs on it

I have a 30x70 bank barn for storage.

I know the basics (the real basics), cut one day, rake the next, bale the day after that. Dont let the hay get wet after its cut. Keep the machinery well oiled and Greased (alot)

I plan to mow a row or two (or maybe one lap around the field), Rake and Bale that first, just to get used to it. I dont think mowing all 75 acres at once would be wise for a newbie.

I have no clue on anything else, here are but a few of my unknowns:

-how high the cuting bar of the mower should be off the ground
-how high the Rake tines should be off the ground
-the PTO RMP speed to run the Mower at
-the PTO rpm to run the Baler at
-what speed/gear to run my tractor at while, mowing, raking, baling -- is slower better? e.g. i tend to use Low gear when working but not sure if 2nd or 3rd gear low is too slow (or good since it doesnt over stretch my 52 hp tractor)
-Baling is the part that worries me most -- seems like that twine has a lot of places to be routed and get bunged up.
-how do i test for moisture content, doe everyone have one of those testers?
-should i search for a farmer to assist me on Day 1 (I wonder if any of them would really have the time to do this) ?
-what oil to use on the chains
-what oil/greas to use on the knotters
-what grease to use on the wobble box etc
-i heard of a trick when joining the sp0ols of baler twine to keep the knots real tight (moistened by spit), and cut off the excess so it doesnt get caught up...what other tricks are there?
- what directiuon to i mow, rake, bale ? do I do laps, or side by side row's ?
- If i rake the 1st row will it land on the second row? 
- do i rake in only 1 direction to avoid lumping 2 rows of hay together?

and, to be honest, I dont know what I dont know.

I've looked forward to this for a while now, but....now its almost here Im darn' terrified of getting it all wrong.

what would those of you that have done this for years teach me?

what would those of you that have done this once or twice tell me you wish you'd have known in advance ?

I think I'll also put a notice in the local feed and Farm stores to see if anyone wants to harvest the bulk of it and ill take on a much smaller field to start with.

Thanks in advance folks, apologies for the lenghty post !


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

Welcome Dave!

I'll take a run at some of your questions:

1. How high on cutter bar? A. I like to leave at least 1" of stubble. Grass recovers faster and it holds the hay off the ground to promote faster drying.

2. How high to rake? A. Low enough to get all of the hay but not too low that you are picking up dirt.

3. RPM speed mower/baler? A. I would get manuals for your equipment and follow them. They will also answer your questions about lubrication, twine routing/tying/etc. Typically they'll call for full PTO speed. My old IH-37 baler always worked better at around 90%

4. Speed/gear for mowing/raking/baling? A. This depends on the field, crop conditions, equipment. For mowing/raking your equipment will let you know if you are going too fast. Start off slow and increase speed until bith you and the equipment are comfortable. Baling is another story as it depends on the windrows. You want your pickup to be as uniform as possible. Slow down for real full windrows, speed up for thinner ones. You've got enough HP to run a square baler.

5. I won't touch the hay dryness question it's much better answered by the guys in your area.

Cheers!


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## Rodney R (Jun 11, 2008)

You need to find out what the model of the baler is, so we have some reference. Also, what kind of 'hay' is it? I assume some sort of grass? 1 inch of stubble is OK, 2 is OK as well. I would bet that you'd cut below 4 MPH, and bale under 3 mph, but over 2 for both, I would guess. How do you plan on moving the hay from the field to the barn? Are you planning on dropping the bales on the ground, pulling a flat wagon behind the baler, maybe a thrower? You need to cut around the field several times, once will not do it. That hay that you rake will either be in the weeds or the uncut hay, if you only do one round. If you have any trees around the fields, you should be aware of any limbs or sticks that are laying there right now, and throw them in the fence row - they will break stuff. You need some spare knife sections for the haybine - a dull knife and wore out guards will not help you, and make it nearly impossible to cut. I hope for your sake that it has bolt on knife sections, vs the ones that are riveted in place.

Rodney


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## downtownjr (Apr 8, 2008)

Hi Dave...sounds like you are the right track. On the NH 479, I run one of those that I pulled from the weeds and fixed it up from the ground up. If you run into any questions give a holler. I picked up a manual on e-bay to have handy. I run the John Deere 2955 in third or fourth (3.0-4.5 mph) depending on how it is cutting...First cut usually third...right at 2000 rpm and it goes a fine job. The advice you got to take is slow is good. Don't know about your area but it not uncommon to see a haybine with the guard panel tore up...easy to find yourself into a fence if you are not on guard or try to get to close to a fence row. Good advice you got from the guys on the blades and guards. I keep some blades, guards, and a knife bushing and bolt in my tool box with my tools for the fields. I have the sickles (primary and my backup) with the clamp type connection...drops easy if you have to replace. Only work I have done to it except replace a belt before the season started is blades, guards, and the bushing I mentioned during the season. NH has a good parts catalog on line for your NH stuff. Our dealership has a package with the bolt and bushing that is $10 cheaper than buying them separate at the counter (fits the 488 also). The rollabar rake will do you just fine, regardless of age it is a good tried and true design. Let us know the model of the baler. Folks are extremely helpful here...they have helped me often and are good to bounce ideas off of. Good luck and be safe.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Far as on how dry the hay is, get yourself a hay moisture tester that has the in windrow attachment. This looks like a flat head with a bunch of little spikes coming out of it. Find the heaviest part of the windrow and push the tester down on it. Make sure its not contacting the ground. The one we used to have had a spring built into the probe and you would hear a click when you had enough pressure, read the meter after the click. Far as when to rake, ask other producers in the area when they rake. Try to bale your hay between 16 and 18 percent to ensure it's dry enough to avoid mold and potential heating, but still moist enough to prevent leaf shatter.

Far as raking with a bar rake, you want to go just fast enough to make a fluffy row but not so fast the row flips clear over and puts the wet hay back on the bottom. Adjust your speed and and where you are driving on the row (from left to right or vice versa) until you see wet hay on the top of the row while raking. I usually ran between 4 and 5 mph with a bar rake.

Far as baling it's been a long time since I've run a small square baler, but if I remember correctly try to get 12-16 plunger strokes per bale. Too many strokes per bale and it can over pack em and make em very heavy and not enough strokes per bale can make sloppy ill formed bales that won't hold their shape. Run the baler at 540 rpm, and shift gears to get more or less strokes per bale. On real light hay if ground speed can't be increased enough to get the correct strokes per bale, lower the the PTO speed so the baler is running slower.

Lastly, get owner and service manuals and read them all from front to back before using anything for the first time. Every spring before I make the first pass in a hay field with the mower, I've already gone thru all the operators manuals and refreshed myself on operating, adjustments and lubrication of each machine. It doesn't take long and just seems to save a lot of aggravation later.


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## Heyhay..eh (Aug 7, 2009)

Hey Dave

I thought that North Bay was on the edge of the shield and pretty much in the rock ... like the home of Long Year drilling!

If you have rocks you will want to cut just a little higher to inflict less wear on your knife and skid plate. The small stone are hell on the sections knives while the large rocks will bend your skid plate and guards which could cause significant damage. So maybe 3" but play this by ear. Some really bad fields I have been up 5". If you have rocks then you will want to know where the bad ones are so you can slow for them or lift the mower before you run over them. If you don't know where the rocks are then be prudent and slow up some in this process.

If you have to travel slow you should consider that you have 2 speeds to worry about; ground speed and pto speed. Your pto speed does not slow with your ground speed you keep it at the optimum for the demands put on the equipment. The ground speed you get through your gears, or if you have hydrostatic you have more options to adjust ground speed.

Baling may not always come on the third day as per your understanding. The hay has to be cured and at its optimum for baling, that process will depend on the weather. All things being perfect you might bale on the third day. You would need 2 days of hot sun with some breeze and an over cast humid day for the baling day and it might just be right. The nights are important also for a cool night will dew up the crop which will require a good part of the next day to evaporate. A tester will be a good tool for you to have as you will not have the luxury of having a feel for hay condition. The hand held models should suffice and will give you a good read on hay moisture. Hay can be too tough (wet) and also too dry. If it is tough then you will have mold, heating and dust, too dry and you will have leaf loss and loose bales.

Baling is a matter of ensuring that you feed the baler a constant supply of material, as much as it can handle. This requires that you find a ground speed that suits your windrows. You might have to increase speed in light crops just to get the material you need to make a good bale. Poor material supply can also contribute to a badly formed bale. You will swear at them in handling. You will have the twine to your chin and the bale will still be on the ground. Well for the short guys any way.

The guys have given you some valuable information and I hope there is a lot more to come. If you have some time search this site there are some extensive threads on this very topic covering some specific aspects in great depth. Equipment, speed, hay quality, humidity on and on.

Have fun ...

Take care


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## Dave5264 (Mar 31, 2010)

Thanks for the Tips Guys.

the Hay Bine does have the Rivet on type knives.

Ive got one to replace. and Im picking up some extras along with a rivet tool that makes the removal and install a bit easier.

I have the original Haybaler owners manual (Dont recal the model), Ill check when I'm back up this weekend.

The Hay is all Timothy, and where we are in the Powassan valley, the soil is pretty decent . Its been hayed for years, so there are only a few obstacles. most of which im aware of...though I do have a tree or two to move this weekend. It seems the guy who was haying up top now left about 4" of stubble (maybe more), So ill follow suit.


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## Rodney R (Jun 11, 2008)

If I were you, I would find out how much or what has to be done to convert the sickle from rivets to bolts. That 'tool' works a LOT better in the ads than it does in real life. You may just have to rplace the entire sickle., and that might be just a tiny bit more $$ than the 'tool'.

Rodney


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## gold642 (Jun 30, 2009)

You might want to get to know a local hay farmer and develop a relationship. Go mow for him before you mow for your self. same for raking and baling. The other advantage of this relationship is sometime you will have hay down and a piece of machinery you have will break. At the same time there will be a storm coming. If you develop this relationship it can save your butt. At the same time he might find himself in the same situation. There are three of us smaller guys which work together from time to time.
I believe anyone in the hay business has experience what I'm talking about.


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## Dave5264 (Mar 31, 2010)

Sound advice on the relationships and the volunteering..thanks

Also, my Baler is a NH 310 , if anyone has experience and knowledge of these and would like to chime in on any tips


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## geiselbreth (Feb 21, 2010)

i like checking moisture with a microwave oven dont be fooled about cut 1 day rake next bale next sounds good but dont usually work that way we dont use sickle mowers her dick only with tedders rathe rhave to dry than to wet mold and burn barn down if u think it to damp then it probly is also use the twist method pick up a hand full if breakes i 3 twist then probly ready


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## mduchrow (Apr 7, 2010)

I started doing hay for the first time 3 years ago. Let me tell you it has been an experience. I stared out with early 80's equipment except for the tractor which was almost new. I figured I was smarter than everyone else in the area and ponied up for a new bale accumulator thinking I would do 60 acres all by myself. Hehe that didnt last long. I tried the accumulator, bale baskets and kicker wagons. Stuck with the kicker wagons. My only advice that hasnt already been given is that nothing works the same for everyone. What your neighbor swears by will make you swear at your equipment. Also, assume things will go terribly wrong for the first few years. Haying is alot harder than it looks, and there is absolutely no substitute for experience. Dont walk...run to the dealer to get rid of the rivet type cutterbar...you will be very glad you did.

I have a NH 320 early 80's model. Its been pretty good. I did have to re-build the knotters 2 years ago. That was not cheap. I would suggest finding a person who is very knowledgeable about balers and have the knotters and other parts gone through each year. Had I done this I woulkd have saved about $1900. The knotters and timing are very tricky and need to be kept in perfect timing otherwise expensive parts will be flying all over.

With older equipment, budget at least $2000 a season for repairs. I have a IH 1190 haybine that I literally could not cut 3 acres without something breaking last year. I sold it last fall and just bought a fairly new discbine. Looking forward to first cutting.

Good luck. Its fun when things aren't breaking. Oh yeah....don't bale hay that's too wet. Nothing fun about loading 1200 steaming bales on trailers at 3am in order to avoid burning a barn down, then getting $1/bale at the auction just to get rid of it. Another thing you need to experience to appreciate


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