# How do you pattern your cutting and baling?



## Marshall

My question is how do you guys find the most time effective way to cut and bale your hay?

Do you go all the way around the field and make circles until you get to the middle of the field?

Or,

Do you go back and forth from one end to the other and then do the ends?

My father wants me to go back and forth and with all the time it takes me to turn around and while the blades are going over already cut hay, I think it would better if I were going all the way around the field with the blades cutting grass the entire time.

What is your way you do it?

Thanks,

Marshall


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## Heyhay..eh

I go around in ever diminishing circles (squares, rectangles etc) As that is the most effective for my type of equipment (mower).

Some of my neighbours go back & forth but that means that they have to open the field before they get on to do the major part of their mowing so it is a 2 stage process for them. Open the field, bale that portion, then cut the rest and bale.

When I make square the baler is offset to the right so it is easy to follow the swaths. Making rounds with that pattern is more of a challenge, the corners usually have to be cleaned up (unless you have gathering wheels).

Some custom baling is done on the back & forth pattern and the time you spend out of the swath with the baler (round) is about the time it takes to clean up the corners and with an offset baler you would be better off with the circle pattern. I have never tried an inline square baler so I can't say for certain what that would be like but I can assume that it would be similar to a round baler on corners.

Take care


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## OhioHay

We mow four rounds around the field and then go back and forth(self propelled discbine). This seems much more efficient for the type of machine we have and the small fields we work in...2 to 25 acres. As for baling, whether round or inline square with accumulator, once again we go around to open up the field, then basically go wherever we want. With them being inline, we don't have to worry about running over hay, so we bale whatever way seems most efficient. Normally some form of back and forth.


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## OneManShow

We mow with a NH 1412 Discbine. It's offset to the right side of the tractor. First pass is made counter clockwise. Then the rest of the field is mowed clockwise. We nearly always ted the same day. We rake so that we don't have any sharp corners-hard to explain-but the windrows are concentric, north south and east west but the corners are open, so we can drive in or out of the field at any corner without driving over windrows. The outside windrow ends up as two swaths raked together. We bale mostly with an inline baler so we can turn any which way without too much problem which gives us some more options with how we rake. Takes me awhile to get re-acclimated to our old NH575 -catch myself tryin to make a sharp left turn every now and then-kinda gets a guy's attention. We do what works best with our equipment in our fields -largest is 42 acres, smallest is 9 acres and all are sort of oddball shapes- I try to keep the windrows as long and straight as I can. So do whatever works best for you-try it your way and your dad's way and see which method puts the least number of hours on your equipment maybe you can give dad a good "I told ya so"-That's always kinda fun.


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## rank

round and round misses hay and is hard on PTO shafts IMO.


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## mlappin

rank said:


> round and round misses hay and is hard on PTO shafts IMO.


Exactly. Unless a person likes changing u-joints or owns major stock in a company that makes the crosses that is.

I take six outside rounds off with a 13' discbine then find the straightest side of the field to start working back and forth on. Anytime I have any wet clumps it is in the corners from either the tedder of the rake not getting it all. I mow with a White 2-110 and use Over while mowing, right before I get to the end I shift down into Under and by time I get right to the end, I'm going just slow enough to lift the mower without getting into the inside endrow while not leaving any hay. Even if part of the inside row does get hit by the blades again, its such a small percentage of the field over all its hardly worth mentioning.

When I ted I'm tedding two rows at a time, I go around the outside twice, start tedding where I started going back and forth, then when done with that, I ted the inside two outside rounds to make sure the ends that I turned on are completely tedded.

When raking I start with my V wheel rake on the straightest side of the field, rake all the rows, then rake the outside rows last. Basically to finish up I rake the outside six rows last on three sides of the field.

If the outsides are still a little tough, I can actually make the turn at the end of the row without getting into the inside endrow when round baling.

Far as which is more efficient, I always thought as long as the mower is moving, one shouldn't be any more efficient that the other when considering its a PITA to get all the hay mowed, tedded, and raked properly in the corners not to mention the u-joint issue.


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## Lazy J

We mow with a NH 499 and open the field with 6 rounds, then mow back and forth for the rest of the field just like if you were combining. This makes it soe much easier to combinde windrows.

Jim


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## haybaler101

Mow six rounds with 13 ft. center pivot mower, then back and forth on the longest, straightest side. On our own fields, this is also the way the ground was worked with tillage equipment. No matter how good of soil preparation, you cannot stay in the seat going 10 mph crossways. We also rake the ends last for a neater field.


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## BCFENCE

Ive got a 1409 discbine and mow around in circles, Never had a problem missing hay.
THOMAS


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## Jake_NEIA

BCFENCE said:


> Ive got a 1409 discbine and mow around in circles, Never had a problem missing hay.
> THOMAS


That why you are always dizzy Thomas? LOL

You guys saying that going in circles is hard on CV joints. How can that be? Wouldn't making a 90* turn be easier on things then a 180* turn?

Jake


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## Rodney R

I can understand why folks with a side pull haybine might mow round and round the field. But on a long fiel that makes sooooo many short rows, and so much turning.... Like said before - 4 rounds around the outside, and then back and forth on the nicest side - Did anybody ever notice where the cab is on a balewagon - it's in front of the front wheels, and if you drive other then the direction than where the dirt was worked, it'll be bumpy. Not to mention all of the corners - there is a 50% chance that a bale will come out on a corner, and a 99% chance that it will be knocked over - the less turning the better!

If you had to run a a disk or a drill in the same field, would you go round and round, or back and forth?

Rodney


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## BCFENCE

I got to be honest rodney i run a cultimulcher over my fields, then i sow witha brillon seeder and the fields are smoth either direction you want to go, as far as cutting on every corner you have to turn no matter if you go back and forth or go around the field the same amount of time is going to be spent turning around. 
As far as raking i like to make 2 or 3 rounds then rake back and forth , It easier like that and like you say it is easier to go the way the field is worked, makes alot smother ride. I use an accumalator so i try not dumping on the ends if i can help it, sometimes i can and sometimes i cant.


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## Farmboy

I go around my field with the mower rake and baler. I don't tedd the hay.


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## rank

Jake_NEIA said:


> You guys saying that going in circles is hard on CV joints. How can that be? Wouldn't making a 90* turn be easier on things then a 180* turn?


It sure doesn't seem like it. If you make the 180 turn, you can use the all of the headlands to make kind of a gradual semi circle.


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## Rodney R

BC - I can see that if you have the field worked in all directions, then it would be easy to cut and bale in all directions. I guess the thing is that we prefer to do the 180 and go back another row, rather than turning a corner. I always hated going around corners even when we had thrower wagons - seems like we'd either wiss part of the roll - either with the rake or baler - or the bales would come out the thrower on a corner. Do you cut in a circle all the way to the center, or when it gets near the end you just go back and forth on each side?

Rodney


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## BCFENCE

Your right and i can see where your coming from, Once i get pretty close to the center i just cut back and forth but till then i just go around the field, but i do rake it back and forth that makes it alot easier baling, When dad farmed he would always rake around the field and i think that takes up too much time turning around all the time, but i guess everyones diffrent that makes the world go around, LOL
THOMAS


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## mlappin

Jake_NEIA said:


> You guys saying that going in circles is hard on CV joints. How can that be? Wouldn't making a 90* turn be easier on things then a 180* turn?
> 
> Jake


The ninety degree turn has to be done NOW, while turning around when going back and forth can be done over the six outside rounds. With a thirteen foot discbine you have almost 80 feet to do that turn in.


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## nwfarmer

I make 2 trips around the field to open up the field. Then depending on where my farm road is in relationship to the field I may go across the bottom the third time so when I finish I am at the farm road.

I'm lazy and don't like to move too many bales. When I bale I go around the field clockwise twice straddling the inner most one cut by the swather. that picks up the ends of the rows and doesn't leave too many bales where they have to be moved.

I then start baling down a row and at the end skip about 6 rows, working my way across the field. Picking up row 2 and at the end skipping 6 rows.

I bale my end rows, top and bottom last because the swather runs over those as I cut and they dry slower because of the wheel tracks. They usually have to be raked. If I rake them before I start baling by the time I bale them last they are perfect.


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## Grateful11

_"We mow with a NH 1412 Discbine. It's offset to the right side of the tractor. First pass is made counter clockwise. Then the rest of the field is mowed clockwise."_

I always mow the first round clockwise and the rest of the field the same with our Haybine offset to the right. Then go back and mow the outer edge last. I'd rather run over the outer edge first, usually the worst looking hay and go back mow it down last.


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## mlappin

Heyhay..eh said:


> Some of my neighbours go back & forth but that means that they have to open the field before they get on to do the major part of their mowing so it is a 2 stage process for them. Open the field, bale that portion, then cut the rest and bale.


Why would they have to wait until the outside rounds are baled before they can finish mowing? Get to the endrows, lift the mower, swing it to the opposite side, drop it back down and mow. With a little practice the mower can be lifted while getting all the hay mowed but without getting into the mown endrow and can be dropped back down to get all the hay without getting into the inside row.

Strangely enough I mowed 25 acres the other day, same farm but the guys driveway cuts it in half. With something like that and two sets of outside rounds to make, I don't feel like I'm getting anything done until those outsides are down and I can finally get working back and forth.

Like I seen in another post as well, when opening a field regardless of what side the mower is on I always drive so the tractor is running hay down on the very outside round. If you have any kind of treelines or woods this is almost always the lighest hay in the field anyways.


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## rank

mlappin said:


> ...I always drive so the tractor is running hay down on the very outside round. If you have any kind of treelines or woods this is almost always the lighest hay in the field anyways.


Absolutely. Helps avoid running fallen trees and sticks through the haybine and baler also.


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## JoshA

I think between everyone's post they've touched on all the reasons/methods to my madness.

For big fields(70acres or more), I cut 8 headlands (4 baler passes) with a 15' SP discbine. Two reasons. First is for the hauling factor. Depending on the yield and the labor availability, we do EITHER 84, or 168 bales a day. In the big fields (70 acres or more), we do the field in two days. Therefore, I'm baling AND hauling before the entire field is cut, or at least baled. With the use of the accumulator, I have groups around the perimeter of the field, and it isn't really worth running the semi around the field for only a handful of bales, and in addition, I like the added room for the loader to load the truck without driving on rows/standing crop. It also leaves adequate room for the semi trucks (53' trailers) to get in/out of the narrow driveways without running over any standing crop.

Second, I've got a big square baler, tandem axle with accumulator. It's a beast in the field. I make wide turns, often skipping a row or two to allow faster speeds on the headlands without tearing up the ground, and to make it easier on the PTO shaft, and less worry about clipping a fence/brush with my accumulator when turning. I don't NEED that much room, I can turn around in 2 baler passes (4 discbine passes), but the added room makes sure the baler is straightened out (added time with the steerable tandem axle) before I get into the new swath.

I will not cut round and round the field. For starters, a discbine cuts better going back and forth opposite the direction of the last pass, second, by the time I get to the middle of the field..... Third, I'm not turning my baler around a 90' corner, for most 90' corners I go out and around and turn 270 degree corners. Lastly, unless you've got either perfectly round or perfectly square/rectangle fields, going round and round is an absolute joke. Sorry to those whom it may offend.

Like somebody else mentioned, I cut my headlands first, then I pick the longest or straightest side of the field, and start from there. I cut with GPS, so I can make a straight line any which way I want, but unless I do it right with the border of the field I wind up with dead/short rows.


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## Banjo

This is my fifth season of making hay on about 25 acres or so. I've probably averaged about 1500 solid square bales each year.

Corners are the bane of my existence when it comes to haymaking. They're a pain to cut, a bigger pain to rake, often a pain to bale due to errant raking corners, and contribute havoc to trying to use a balewagon to pick up bales.

The first three years my only cutting choice was a 7' side pull NH 277 haybine, so round and round was pretty much my only choice. As I learned I tended to switch to up and down for the very center once I felt I could "waste" the trip across the headland. All my fields are odd shaped, so there was always a troublesome triangle in the middle to deal with. I started to just not bother with it, and would clean it up at the next cutting opportunity when it was easy to run out onto the previously cut area.

Last year I got an old NH1469 9' SP haybine. Now I can go back and forth and do that wherever possible. My rake (NH254) won't quite rake two 9' swaths into one (which is what I used to do with the 7' cutter), so now I rake 1.5 swaths each pass. This year I do 6 trips around the outside and then do the rest up and down, smiling each time I do the quick pivot at the end of each row. When I rake, I rake the middle first, then the outside. I've tried doing the headlands as a U, rather than round and round so that the inevitable triangle ends up at the edge of the field rather than the middle.

I've sure appreciated the discussions in this thread, great to hear and learn from other's experience. Since stumbling upon this forum I've spent a good bit of time reading up, and learning more. In a bit, I'll be sure to have a few questions.

cheers,
Andrew

PS. Hay equipment is NH 277 haybine, NH254 rake, NH271 baler, NH 1469 SP haybine, NH 1005 balewagon, NH1012 balewagon (still working on this one). AC D14, AC 175, IH 674 tractors.


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## hayray

I mow with a NH 1409 Discbine and bale with a in-line using bale baskets. I start in the middle of the field and work my way outward going in circles after a few rows in the middle opening up the field. Way easier on my u joints then all those turns on the head lands. When a guy who works for me mows my fields I spend so much time turning arouind and not baling, he just cant figure out how I mow. When I go to the field I like to spend time baling and mowing, not turning around.


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## rank

hayray said:


> I start in the middle of the field and work my way outward......


Well, I gotta be honest. That's a new one on me!


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## Heyhay..eh

> he just cant figure out how I mow


Not to be flippant but I am trying to imagine how this works?

Take care


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## hayray

Thats cool, I presented a first. Some hay is going to get drove on regardless, so I just drive right to the center of the field and start there by opening up a rectangular pattern of maybe a dozen rows or so and then work my way outward in a left hand turn pattern. That way I am always turning away from the mower and not into it and I only make a half turn for the most part, not a complete circle on the headlands. I make wide gradule turns so the corners have only a few rows to clean up, so if there is much turning around to be done it is in the corners.


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## Hayguy

Seems to me when turning a 180 on the ends with a pull type cutter , the angle is the same wether you are turning left or to the right . I will admit that when pulling a wagon behind a baler ,I've "tweeked" more than one wagon tounge when turning too close on a left turn.


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## hayray

with a pull type cutter when turning to the right the mower is on the inside of the turn while turning to the left the mower is on the outside of the circle of the turn, forcing the mower to make a wider swing and less sharp of a turn, unless I am wrong on this but seems to make sense to me. Look at the distance of the rear tires to the toungue on the mower when turning the different directions.


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## Banjo

Cutting from the inside it could be worth a try. I have a few "outside" turns on one of my fields and when cutting with the side pull haybine the curves get more gradual (sweeps) rather than tighter (as happens when you spiral in). With irregular fields I guess you end up with the triangles and such at the outside edge of the field, rather than at the inside, plus the outside of the sweep corners to figure out. But that could have advantages.

I used to rake from the inside out, so that I didn't have to drive over any hay when I was done. Worked well, except that my HN254 rake seems to be designed (and make *slightly* better corners) for turning left. Don't know why I didn't think of trying cutting that way too.

Thanks for that.

cheers,
Andrew


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## Rodney R

I never thought of it. On a big size field, does it ever happen that you make more or less of a circle? You wind up making a bunch of little passes at the corners, right?

Back in the days when we did not ted hay, I cut a triangle field by cutting the 2 long sides. We had a mid-pivot haybine, and the cutting job was ok to do. My grandfather baled it, and I can still hear his words "Kid, if you EVER cut a field like this again, I'm gonna kick your xxx"

Rodney


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## RCF

We mow around 3 time then back and forth on the longest straightest side. We also make the corners 90 degrees after the first round so we do not have to go back and clean up the corners.


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## Hedge tree

Obviously, this question and the answers personify the saying "different horses for different courses". Old baler manuals....and old advice (30-40 years ago) suggested that you rake hay in the same direction it was cut, mowed, swathed, hacked, etc. Also...they suggested you bale it in the same direction. I'm not sure of the exact logic of this only that the stem ends were lying in the same direction. This does not account for those of you who must ted hay...we don't in this neck of the woods. Also...it is not germane to hay that has been merged (two windrows raked together). With heavy hay and windrowers of 14-18', the windrows are not merged. They might be turned, but not merged. Thus...."going with the light" means baling in the direction you can see the lighter colored stubble....pushed forward by the platform and skid plates. I have noted that baling into the windrow direction results in a bit more stubble and rougher bales on the outside (small squares).

You folks talk of square fields...we have no idea what that is. Most hay ground here is either upland and terraced...or a bottom land along a creek below a bottom terrace. They are irregular in shape and wind around the hillside. Most machines in this part of the country are either pivot tongue windrowers...or SP models. Very, very few side pull machines and really not that many disc machines to date. Hay is swathed with 4 rounds on the ends to double rake into two windrows...then swathed back/forth. Most alfalfa, brome and native grass hay here is round baled by livestock owners.....a few midsize squares and even fewer big square machines. A little square baler is almost so foreign people throw rocks at them. It would be great to have a gathering and share our experiences and operations with one another. Who would think that so many operational differences exist with something so mundane as making hay. Course...we know that making quality hay involves at lot of experience and education....plus....a heavy load of good luck.


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## nwfarmer

Most of the big farmers here just go with big squares or round bales.

That makes small bales easier to sell locally for a higher price. Should get a higher price because it involves more work. Small farms do the small bales for horse people.

Do the horse people in your area buy big squares or round bales?


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## okhillbilly

I use a 3 point disc mower and drive around in circles. That's what it's designed to do. If I had a swing arm swather I would try the back and forth cutting. I don't always rake it the same as I cut so I can get longer windrows when baling. Most fields here are odd shaped and small hard to go straight very much.


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## chief-fan

Where I am at a square or flat field is unheard of. Sounds like most of the operators are using wind rowers of some type. 95% of the horse hay I make is in small squares and consists mostly of Brome and Alfalfa with a little other grasses mixed in. For mowing, I must be old fashioned but still use a mounted 9' bar mower. Those rollers don't do much tor grass hay that speeds the curing any. The mowing done clockwise around the field. When I rake I make one round with a wheel rake (lighter hay) or a bar rake ( heavy hay) and then take the longest and straightest side and follow that side back and forth across the field leaving enough on the ends for another 3 or 4 windrows. The ends are raked last. When I bale I use an accumulator so I want long straight windrows. I start on the outside and bale the end completely off, then bale to the other end and bale it and then back to the starting point. Then I bale back and forth. When I come to the end and the baler is empty the pto is shut off and I complete the turn to take another windrow back, usually skipping 2 or 3 windrows. I normally don't have to move any bale stacks to finish up a windrow. I may have to back up to make the turn but can get the entire field baled and then start picking up the hay. This is a one man operation and I have done over 500 bales a day and had them all under a roof by 9 pm. Seldom do I have to touch a bale unless I turn the steering wheel slightly when the accumulator is unloading. No U-joint problems as the PTO is turned off when the shorter turns are being made. Mower is mounted so no problem there and don't even raise the bar at the corners, unless they are not a 90º corner. This year the bar mower has paid off and my hay was laying flat when everybody else's was in a windrow when the rain hit. And it hit several times, but I was baling when the others were trying to dry it out. I got caught with bales on the ground a couple time that really hurt. Horse people will not buy rained on hay in the area so it was basically given away to cattle feeders that happened to need some, mostly 4-H projects.


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## RP Farms

I use a 18ft gehl center pivot. I make 6 rounds and pick a side and go back and forth. When it comes to going in circles that must make a person dizzy and tired.


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## Rider61

Huh.

I've read all the posts in this thread, and I'm beyond confused. LOL

I have a NH haybine--little guy, don't know the model offhand--and am cutting my own hay for the first time thanks to an injury to the guy who usually does this for me. I did the first, rectangular section of the field without much problem because I had someone pointing me in the right direction. But now I've got a pot-shaped (a square with a long stretch maybe two rows wide attached to one end) section left that's small enough to be a bother and large enough to need to be cut. I have no clue how to approach it.

My haybine is offset to the right. I'm guessing I need to get the pothandle section out of the way first, then deal with the square part. The pothandle runs along the part of the field that's already been baled, so there's nothing but stubble for me to run over if I cut it with the haybine to my right, but when I get to the corner, do I turn 90 degrees right and go up-and-down (perpendicular to the swath I just cut), or do I turn 180 and stay parallel?

I'm much better at raking.


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## Rodney R

What I would do - cut along the stubble, drive so the haybine is cutting the hay, and the tractor is in the stubble. When you get to the end of the field, you will turn the tractor so that it enters the standing hay. You know the cutting width of the mower - stay that far away from the edge of the field, and keep on mowing. Mow all the hay. I would just keep going around and around until you feel that you should just go back and forth. Finish the mowing. The very last mowing that you will do is the outer round that you drove over. You will need to (obvoiusly) drive the opposite direction that you drove when you drove the hay over, and that should pick most of the hay up. You can always mow it later if you want, but I prefer to be be done when I leave a field.

Rodney


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## Rider61

Huh! I never thought about driving over that outside row then reversing direction to cut it. Thanks! I wound up having to cut the hay before I got to see this, so I did the outside first and, since I'm just getting the feel of the width of the mower, had to make some intriguing turns to avoid hitting the trees on the neighbor's lawn. LOL If I'd done the second row first and gone back for the last, that wouldn't have been an issue. I did get my entire second cut in, which makes me very happy considering how much negative advice I got from local farmers who thought I was wasting my time. Two months' worth of hay for my horses is nothing to sneeze at (no pun intended, of course).

Live and learn! Hopefully I'll do better on the first cut next year. I look forward to reading more good advice here!

Joanne


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## bugscuz

I agree with you Jake! Been cutting hay all my life and when the U-Joints are lubed as they should be (more than manual says) should never be a problem if you pay attention. I have never lost a U-Joint. (knock on wood) Richard


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## pvfarms

we all have different ways to hay that works for us but every once in a while trying something new is tryed and we like it .i have a 1441 NH dicbine i go into a fielddo the back swath after going around twice then i cut in a circle never lifting the dicbine once till i am done i have a Kune rotery rake so raking in a circle is no problem when i am ready to bale i X the corners going back and forth once so i end up back where i started my field size is from 20 to 250 acres on a hundred acre field i save about 1/1/2 hrs i have tryed both ways i cut early enought so i alwase rake 2 16 ft rows together i also tedd the same day i tedd the corners out also we do from 6 to 800 acres a year our own or custom work we have some pict on face book just go to face book and type in David olson thank you very much we finished up some grass hay Dec 1st pushing the envlope had snow flurries when we finished we had no haying in oct so we were behind. i found driving back and forth i pack the end rows down


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## panhandle9400

most of my acres are under center pivot, we cutout on both sides of system then go in circles with wheel tracks.. on dryland cut turnrows on each end then do it back and forth


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## okrancher

rank said:


> round and round misses hay and is hard on PTO shafts IMO.


Hard turn a rounds are harder on PTO shafts. We go around when mowing and back in forth when bailing and catch the ends when the rest of the field is raked.


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## dalli

hi;

i have to say mlappin have said right at this point and hope that he will gave more that type in future thanks!!


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## mtarrant

I have a Kuhn GMD700. Regardless of what pattern you use, on your turns do you pick up the mower or just drag it thru the cut grass?


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## dalli

Major disadvantages of large round bales include poor salability on the open hay market, poor long distance transportability, and potential losses from baling, transporting, storage and feeding. These disadvantages can be minimized with proper management.

 msds authoring services


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## mlappin

Depends on your area and customer base. By time I subtract the cost of extra labor in making small squares, or the cost of the equipment to make large squares (price of baler +larger tractor to run it) round bales offer the same profit or even better in some years than the other two bale types in _my area_.


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## fullerhay

I realize that this is not exactly talking about hay, but it was an interesting read. The perfect way to mow your lawn - MSN Real Estate
Our baler man goes up row 1, then down row 3, then up row 5 and so on until he reaches the bottom of the field. Then, he hits the even numbered rows on his way back to the top of the field. That way, he is not trying to make tight corners. 
Of course, we live in the west where the machinery is quite large and the crops are in wind rows. 
Good luck!


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## hayray

This thread will never die, interesting it has lasted a year. It really seems I almost never cut a hay field the exact same way but I really hate square corners and sharp edges that are hard to make the turn and stressful on the equipment.


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## Iowa hay guy

i went from a case ih 8360 to a macdon r 80 and i always mow back and forth on the long side after 6 to 8 rounds around the field before that was a new holland 488 and we cut lands off and went around and around the ends


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## buckeye

We do 4 rounds around the field then cut back and forth. I rake the outside rounds first so I am not driving over it while raking the rest of the field.


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## DJCTAL

Anyone have a diagram for raking windrows?


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## allthingshay

jd 4995 swather, jd7320-vermerhydrovrakerakehand-jd568roller or jd348square. three rounds, then back and forth when cutting, two rounds baling. any other way only when its smoother, but always wastes time and money and makes no sense.


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## allthingshay

its a wider turn, freer turn, faster turn, missing nothin, in the windrow more, at the end of the field faster


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## Ridgelane

I make 1 round around the entire field with a 12 foot hesston discbine, 7 more passes back and forth on the headlands, then start at the corner furthest from home and work back and forth til I'm done. I rake two windrows together before the baler, so I like the extra space on the headlands for turning. Some gets trampled in the turning but I feel you gotta give back a little to the soil.


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## Nitram

DJCTAL said:


> Anyone have a diagram for raking windrows?


depends what you are using to rake with and are you raking windrows together or turning it over?


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## TheFastMan

I use a NH 479 which is offset to the right of the tractor, so I start by cutting a couple swaths going counterclockwise in the field and then turn around and go clockwise (over the hay I just cut). I usually go around CW until the turns start getting too tight, then I go back and forth. My boss's husband took the PTO shaft right out the back of his Ford 4000 while baling small squares because he kept taking corners too tight. The dealer charged him $300 to put it back in, which is actually pretty cheap, but it was easily preventable. I usually windrow it with our NI 402 rake by going around the outside and working in. If I have to turn the hay again, I start in the inside and work out. I bale with a 14t (offset to right again) and usually start in the middle, go to an outside row and then back to the middle and kinda keep going around that way. Kind of like a figure 8 pattern I suppose.


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