# 3rd cutting. How can one person screw up that much?



## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

Just figured I would share a humorous little struggle that has been brewing over the last week. It isn't very funny at the moment but in time it will be. I thought that I would do a trial run on hiring someone to help put up 3rd cutting with the thought that I can pick up some more ground this winter and use them next year on a regular basis. I am leaving out some of the highlights but you will get the picture.

Knowing that I had to go out of state, and having a really messed up schedule for a couple of months, I decided to hire a guy to bale and stack my 3rd cutting. I cut it when I was home and left just a day or two before it was ready to bale.

I decided to hire my dad, who retired this year and needs a little extra. He has been haying about as long as I can remember. It was to be a great arrangement for us both, I would get the hay put up and he would make a little extra cash. The phrase " best laid plans of mice and men " comes to mind.

Of course it rained a little the day before it was ready. No big deal except he doesn't want to use my rake so he drags his 30 miles to my place. Raking goes off without a hitch, just very slow. Then comes the baling. I get several calls about " problems" with my baler. He says the baler is a piece of s*** cause it wont tie a bale. I mention that it hasn't missed a bale all year and is really good shape. My wife calls and tells me that the bales weigh 150- 160 pounds. I talked to him again and ask what the moisture is? He says I am not sure cause I don't believe that little black box. I told him to believe that box as it has been verified and btw, what does the little black box say. End result, he baled up a field at 24 to 30%.

The next 2000 bales or so he bales at somewhere around 45 - 50 pounds. They should weigh 75-85 give or take. When I hear that the strings are sagging I can imagine what the stackwagon will think of them. Speaking of the stackwagon, he has never run an SP before. I give him an over the phone tutorial on it and feel pretty good about myself at this point. he has run wagons all his life and I figure he can figure out the turning etc.. without much problem.

I get another call from the wife.......

She says that the wagon in is in the West field screaming so bad she can hear it from the house. I call pop and we get the gear selection figured out. The very detailed instructions for starting the stack are summarily not followed and hay is laying everywhere in the stackyard.

I get another call from the wife.

Apparently there has been a disagreement on the quality of our equipment and how it should be used. You should know at this point that my wife refuses to run equipment, but she is better at knowing how I do it than I gave her credit for. She has apparently been paying pretty good attention over the years.

At the end of the day the wagon is parked in the stackyard and the next morning I get an expletitive laced call asking what is wrong with my wagon. My reply is nothing as it is in great shape. He says it won't start. After a heated discussion it was found that the a/c and fan were left on the night before. Out come the jumper cables, which are summarily hooked up backwards and the coil, condenser, and rotor are toast. Of course I didn't hear about all of this until the wife calls to ask if I had called the service technician out. I replied no, and was informed that one was in fact there at the moment. Apparently pop had decided for me to call the tech.

Long story short, we are still waiting for parts. The good news is that we still own the pull behind wagon and surely he is qualified to run that. After running over the dumpster with it, he calls to tell me that it is a piece of s%^ as well. I notice that there seems to be a theme in that regard.

Then I get another call from the wife.

The end result is that as of yesterday afternoon all of the hay was done, equipment which may or may not need repair is ready to go in the barn, and all is good. My wife and pop had dinner after the work was done and didn't hurt each other, and I will be home late this week. It sounds like disaster has been averted and as a trial run for next year and the thought of picking up more ground this winter, I have some thinking to do.


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## ARD Farm (Jul 12, 2012)

Solution... Get a job where you can be home, retire and be home or grin and bear it.


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

Well, at least it makes hilarious reading.  I'd enjoy talking with your wife about those days since she knew what was going wrong, would think it would have been painful for her to be experiencing the ordeal. Hope your dad took her out for the meal, not her doing the cooking. Keep us posted on the followup.

Shelia


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

You bale 16x18s don't you? He must have had the tension way up to get 150 lb bales at 30% and extra long. Then the tension at virtually nothing to get 50lb bales. If I remember right from my days running a 1069 stack wagon with a gas engine 2nd gear is the one to stack in. I don't know what you have. Sorry your new "employee" didn't work out for the best.


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## shortrow (Feb 21, 2012)

Glad it all worked out for you. Does your pops ever post up on here?


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## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

Rocky Hill,

We should give her a couple of days before that conversation. lol. The wine rack suffered greatly throughout the week I am sure. She did in fact know what was going wrong and couldn't fix any of it. As I said, it will be humorous sooner or later. She was kind enough to prepare the meal. I am sure it was something of a peace offering. I left out several of the conversations that had taken place in the interest of keeping the post family friendly. Suffice it to say that the terms of who employed who were firmly established in those conversations.

Teslan,

I run the 16 X 18 bales. I summarized the details from the descriptions that I received. The wife said that she couldn't pick up 3 flakes with a pitchfork and pop is prone to exaggeration one way or the other to his benefit. He said 24 to 30% so It could likely have been higher. The wife said that the man child struggled to pick up a bale, ergo my arrival at the estimate of 150 pounds. He is a strong kid. Pop also said that he ran the tension up to 250 pounds and I have the extra wedges in also.

The wife also said that she could pick up the light bales and knowing that she struggles with a 50 pound bag of feed, it cannot be more than 55 pounds tops. More than likely a good bit lower. She also said that she could insert her hand to the middle of the light bales. Descriptions can be interesting in my family. My wife once called me to tell me about a crippled cow. I asked which leg and she replied " passenger side in the back". Another time I was looking at a pic of an airplane and the lever for the retractable landing gear was on the floorboard. She said " look honey, it has 4 wheel drive".

You are correct in that the 1069 should be running in second. He was running close to 2800 RPM in 1st and wouldn't shift. the hyd. pump was cavitating and it could have been a disaster.

I am obviously 500 miles away and cannot see anything via the phone. It has been an interesting week. It has proved that there are always two sides to a story and that one side usually bends things to their favor.

All is well that ends well as long as nobody got hurt. Feelings, of course, don't count.


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## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

shortrow said:


> Glad it all worked out for you. Does your pops ever post up on here?


We will find out shortly.

He hates computers and he avoids them like the plague. I would love to hear his side of this story, and I will in person after I can see all of the involved factors 1st hand at the end of the week. I will post any rebuttal information for you guys, in the interest of fairness. It should be fun.


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## carcajou (Jan 28, 2011)

I needed a good laugh today, thanks. How did you get your dad in the field? Not mine during hunting season.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

Sounds rough. He should certainly be able to run a baler considering he has haying experience, but I'd hate to give anyone, experienced or not, a SP Balewagon tutorial over the phone. Sounds like trouble. Maybe he was the one emptying the wine rack?


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## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

Glad it worked out, and thanks for the chuckle.


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## dubltrubl (Jul 19, 2010)

Good Lord! Your expeience seems to mimic some of mine lately! Bless your wifes little heart for her patience! Hopefully the remainder of your season is more trouble free.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

My dad helps out too, I can't complain as he has hasn't done hay since pitchforking loose hay onto wagons. Speeds up a lot of the process but slows down other parts. Get to buy new doors for tractors and such. Its good time to spend together after the hay is up, times marching on and he has heart troubles.


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## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

I was , unfortunately and due to my job, the only one involved that couldn't drink.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Two stacks were started and failed, one entirely.

The two green stacks are the ones in question. The little stack of 1st is just some that a customer hasn't picked up yet.

Hunting season doesn't open until the 1st of October.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Thats not gonna be fun to restack!


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Sounds like next year you need to turn over the hr responsibilities to the wife. I am guessing she put current hwlp down as a no for rehire status.


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## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

deadmoose said:


> Sounds like next year you need to turn over the hr responsibilities to the wife. I am guessing she put current hwlp down as a no for rehire status.


I seem to remember a no or a never in the paragraph somewhere.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Sorry for your losses ....... Lmao


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## JMT (Aug 10, 2013)

My mom and I are partners in our operation. She is great at things like checking cows, keeping newborn calves out of trouble, and clipping thorn and thistles. But there are also 30 minute jobs that take 15 min. to explain to her, 75 min. for her to do them, 2 hours for me to undo what she did, 30 min. for me to do the job again, and who knows how long to listen to all the trouble she had.

Sometimes it is hard to remember the Times her help is actually helpful. Hearing stories like yours helps to keep things in perspective. Thanks for the post.


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## shortrow (Feb 21, 2012)

I'm still waiting on pops to post on here. He must be busy.  Hope all is well.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

Fun read!

After the first paragraph I kept picturing Uncle Si on Duck Dynasty. Every piece of equipment he fails at operating, "This is a piece of junk". Backhoe, truck, lawnmower, it is always the equipment's fault.


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

Fire his ass! just kidding.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

IHCman said:


> Fire his ass! just kidding.


He probably has already quite because of lousy equipment that Lostin55 runs.


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## maknhay (Jan 6, 2010)

Holy crap! I'm sorry to laugh so hard at your expense but that was freakin' hilarious! I hope this don't weigh too heavily on your mind while your away.


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## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

Fortunately I have much greater concerns than this little bit of drama to worry about while I am gone. It is a much larger consideration for my lovely wife. She was at her wits end and is still a little frazzled over it.

The upside is that we will be able to see what customers think of little lightweight bales. lol

I have worked the last 5 out of six weeks out of state, I will just be glad to get home. The hay is already selling so hopefully the good bales will be sold soon. The cows get the bad ones. The other bright spot is that with the field he baled up wet, I will have no shortage of winter hay for the cows.

We still haven't found the right distributor for the 460, but I am sure that we will. 1st cutting next year is a long ways away.

Next year when it comes time to put up hay I will simply tell pop that I cannot afford his assistance. The repair bill has exceeded the wage, which was significant.

The best news is that it is now hunting season.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Tim/South said:


> Fun read!
> 
> After the first paragraph I kept picturing Uncle Si on Duck Dynasty. Every piece of equipment he fails at operating, "This is a piece of junk". Backhoe, truck, lawnmower, it is always the equipment's fault.


That sounds familiar.

And not just from my Dad. I've had neighbors track me down because either the round baler won't wrap or the idiot brick machine is missing knots.

I've seen the net routed wrong, the lock not released and a tail so long when they put a new roll in that it was getting tangled up in the knife and couldn't start.

On small squares I'v seen the twine routed completely wrong thru the needles, round baler twine used, and on one occasion about three years worth of crud around the knotters, one time I even seen one where they went to the hardware store to get a spring for the bill hook instead of the dealer.


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## lcjaynes (Jul 25, 2014)

Somebody ought to write a book with these adventures in them. Great read. Glad you still have a sense of humor.


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## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

I promised a rebuttal. . . There is none. It is exactly as my wife said it was. As of today the 1069 is still not running. The hay is a bit less than nice hay.
Somehow I will manage. I just got home from deer hunting and got a 196 3/8 mule deer, and am leaving right now for an elk hunt. Gotta load horses. See ya in a few days.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Nice buck....good luck on the Wapiti.

Regards, Mike


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## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

The elk and the deer hunt were both very successful. Now I can worry about broken equipment.......Wait! I still have a bear and a Mt lion tag left.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Nice buck....could not get the pic to enlarge. Maybe re-post .

Regards, Mike


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## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

Does it work now?


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

worked for me. Wow good job. Both are wall hangers. One day I'll make it out west to chase elk.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Yes works great now.....and speaking of great, what a bull....what did he score? The Buck is really fine too with nice mass....

To me all hunting seasons are great.....but you have had one really special season this year....maybe your luck will continue with the cat and bear.

Regards, Mike


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## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

The bull should score 330 or so. I haven't put a tape on him but he will be really close to that. The deer is huge, but there is nothing in the pic for scale. I think I will put another pic up of him with a normal sized friend of mine.


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## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

In the interest of keeping this quazi- hay related. All hunts were powered by hay burners.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Lostin55 said:


> DSCN0916.JPG
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Sounss like a legitimate reason to have a hay burner around. Hunting in the mountains. Beautiful scenery. And WOW! 2 trophies ought to keep you from going hungry for another year as well. And then some.


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## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

They do come in handy deadmoose.

In other news....... For just under $1000, the repairs are complete to the 1069. It is running as designed as of this afternoon.


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## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

Now we add an alternator and regulator to the totality of the repair. It was missed during the original repairs, but when the new battery died, even I could figure that one out. The in cab gauge reading zero also helped. This is the repair with no end in sight. Stay tuned for more.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Lostin55 said:


> Just figured I would share a humorous little struggle that has been brewing over the last week. It isn't very funny at the moment but in time it will be. I thought that I would do a trial run on hiring someone to help put up 3rd cutting with the thought that I can pick up some more ground this winter and use them next year on a regular basis. I am leaving out some of the highlights but you will get the picture.
> 
> Knowing that I had to go out of state, and having a really messed up schedule for a couple of months, I decided to hire a guy to bale and stack my 3rd cutting. I cut it when I was home and left just a day or two before it was ready to bale.
> 
> ...


Progressive Forage Grower liked this story that Lostin55 told....

Regards, Mike

http://www.progressiveforage.com/blogs/editors-notes/hay-season-blunders-we-can-finally-laugh-about?utm_source=E-newsletters&utm_campaign=9e4da9a6ae-111814_FG_Extra&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ce73e33a7d-9e4da9a6ae-87097801


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Yup. What's gonna happen now?

Vol posts a link. Then link heads to Mikes post...Big circle...


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Congratulations Lostin55 in having your haying story told in a national publication....its been a good year for you in spite of life's complications. 

Regards, Mike


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## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

Vol said:


> Congratulations Lostin55 in having your haying story told in a national publication....its been a good year for you in spite of life's complications.
> 
> Regards, Mike


It was kind of funny..... Lynn Jaynes sent me a message and asked if she could run the story. I said that she could and she let me preview it before it ran. I wasn't identified which is ok with me. Hopefully someone can get a laugh out of it. It goes back to the old saying about "If you can't laugh at yourself".

In other news....... Eastman's Hunting Journal wants to run a story on the deer hunt this fall.


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