# When to rake



## Coniberty Acres (8 mo ago)

So I have another newbie question. My guy cut our hay Sunday afternoon it’s been in the upper 70’s low 80’s for the last couple days. My son is wanting to be the one to rake and bale it. The guy mowing it said it was pretty thick in spots and should make good hay. My question is do I need to rake it like tomorrow evening and then bale it Thursday? Or just rake it before we bale it? I don’t have a Tedder it was cut with a disc mower and will be using a NH side delivery rake and a JD 224t square baler 

thank you


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## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

Rake it just before you bale it. I can't say when it will be ready to rake, the hay will tell you when it's ready. Weather conditions like wind, humidity, temperature, and amount of sunshine all play important role in rate of drying.


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## danwi (Mar 6, 2015)

Grass cut on Sunday should be good and dry by Wednesday. This is first crop yet? Probably would have been good on Tuesday already unless you had rain or heavy dews. Rake it tomorrow morning when it is still a little tough but if you had dew you don't want your shoes or tractor tires getting very wet. Then depending on the day starting baling between noon and 2.


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

I do not like to rake until the day of baling. When exactly depends on whether it is grass or alfalfa. In any case I like to see the rake run at least a few hours before the baler. There is usually a little dry down that needs to happen after raking, before baling.


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## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

I don't like to start raking until at least noon if the field has trees around it to allow all parts of field to have sun exposure before raking. I'll start raking on West side of field and move east (if East side has a tree line) to give that hay some time to get sun to help dew burn off. Then I start baling around two-3. Help usually shows up at 2 and we start shortly after.

When baling tree lines, excessively heavy bales will get tossed off the wagon to the side, and we'll go around an collect them separately at the end to feed up that day. My moisture meter on the tractor will probably be pegging in the 20's, but the boys' arms are accurate moisture meters too.


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## OkieDokie (Jan 3, 2022)

Grab a 1"- 2" plug of hay on the bottom of the thick spots and hold it with both hands about 2-3" apart. Wring it like you are cranking a tongue jack handle. If it separates quickly it is dry and ready. If all but a couple stems snap it is probably ok but higher moisture. Don't bale unless only the thickest clumps are like this and all other test spots break easily with the twist test.


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