# Your Most Unusual Hay Experiences?



## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

I thought it might be fun to share some of the most out of the ordinary experiences you have had dealing with hay.

One that came to mind today.
We were square baling and selling in the field. The field was on a main road, easy access. People would load their own and pay. We knew most of the trucks and people.
One truck pulled in and began to load.
Once loaded, they left never to be seen again.
I asked Dad if he knew who that was?
He said he thought they were friends of mine.

Another time I was running the baler. One of our not so favorite horse customers stopped me and asked if I could make the bales lighter and him just get more bales for the same money? 
They were only @ 42 lbs. as it was.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Do you know of anyone that has cheaper hay?Yes but the quality is lower.Daaa.

Is the hay baled wet there is leaves on it?No it is 14 % but baled with a little dew.They still didn't get it.

How come your bales cost more per bale then XXX?Because they are bigger.Daaaa


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

While I was running haybine through 4' tall grass, 2 whitetail doe go into a front hoof boxing match in front of me. They actually ran sideways to avoid me, still continuing to box, then after the haybine went past them, they got back up on their back legs and started boxing each other again-really unfazed by the 10,000lb hay cutter that almost chopped them to shreds.

Also another funny one was watching a very smart hawk pounce on voles, field mice etc that I would expose as I cut hay. The red tail would pounce on them right behind the back tires of my old 1499 after the swather would expose the mice.


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## C & C Cattle and Hay (Sep 6, 2011)

I baled hay for a lady into 4x5 rolls with a Vermeer 604 m these bales were very tight!! A week later I was cutting another field for her and I noticed the cows had broke through the fence and had started eating on the bales. She stopped me while I was cutting the second field and asked if I could bale them tighter because her cows could eat them so that meant they were not tight enough. Does that make any sense??


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

JD3430 said:


> Also another funny one was watching a very smart hawk pounce on voles, field mice etc that I would expose as I cut hay. The red tail would pounce on them right behind the back tires of my old 1499 after the swather would expose the mice.


Hawks are smart. I am convinced they know the sound of a tractor/mower means a free meal. They will sit in a high tree, swoop down and leave with a 6 ft. snake in their grasp.Rats and wabbits do not have a chance.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Tim/South said:


> Hawks are smart.* I am convinced they know the sound of a tractor/mower means a free meal. *They will sit in a high tree, swoop down and leave with a 6 ft. snake in their grasp.Rats and wabbits do not have a chance.


You are absolutely correct. I see them get frogs, too!!


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

Tim/South said:


> Hawks are smart. I am convinced they know the sound of a tractor/mower means a free meal. They will sit in a high tree, swoop down and leave with a 6 ft. snake in their grasp.Rats and wabbits do not have a chance.


There are a pair of Mexican eagles living near me. Whenever I'm in the fields the hawks get there first, but when the eagles show up everyone leaves and the eagles usually dine alone. They don't miss much.


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## whitmerlegacyfarm (Aug 26, 2011)

I'm to new to haymaking to have any thing to post about or should i say in my short experience nothing unusual enough yet, but i sure would like to see the hawks like you all say that would defently be something else.


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## farmboy6320 (Jun 24, 2010)

custom work. lady calls, why arnt you cuttting my hay today.. because theres an 80 percent chance of rain? its burning up everyday you wait cut it today.. ahhh people dont have much sense


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

And if you had cut it and it rained you would have been asked why you cut it right before the rain.


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## RockmartGA (Jun 29, 2011)

Picked up a newly baled square bale and felt something "spongy". Looked down and saw where a snake went through the baler and got himself baled. Too bad there wasn't a video camera on me because I would be $10,000 richer. Something about a grown man throwing down a hay bale and screaming like a six year old girl amuses some folks.... especially my wife.


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## Shetland Sheepdog (Mar 31, 2011)

Speaking of snakes, Customer sent back a bale because it had a snake in it!







Pulled the snake out and discarded it, sent the bale back on the next load!


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

Shetland Sheepdog said:


> Speaking of snakes, Customer sent back a bale because it had a snake in it!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Did you add a "No snake, No Refund" policy? Or did you tell him to keep the bale, no extra charge for added protein?People can be strange creatures sometimes.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

In the last five years, I've gotten two fawns, two cats and one skunk through my moco.

Ralph


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## C & C Cattle and Hay (Sep 6, 2011)

farmboy, 
I have learned that doing custom work for women is tough. No matter what you do the hay is never right!! The same lady I bale for wants it to be cut sit for three days then tedded raked the next day and then baled a day later by time I get to baling the stuff is practically fried!! Keep in mind im in Bama and it's about 94-98 degrees everyday!!


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

cbe0001 said:


> farmboy,
> I have learned that doing custom work for women is tough. No matter what you do the hay is never right!! The same lady I bale for wants it to be cut sit for three days then tedded raked the next day and then baled a day later by time I get to baling the stuff is practically fried!! Keep in mind im in Bama and it's about 94-98 degrees everyday!!


Sounds like an idjit I used to bale for. If his hayburners weren't farting dust after eating it I , it wasn't dry enough.


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## Nitram (Apr 2, 2011)

Mike120 said:


> There are a pair of Mexican eagles living near me. Whenever I'm in the fields the hawks get there first, but when the eagles show up everyone leaves and the eagles usually dine alone. They don't miss much.


Okay Mike how do you know they're from Mexico have you been profiling again??????????????????????
FRD Lord please forgive me I tried to resist.... Martin


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## farmboy9510 (Feb 16, 2009)

The wife told me one of my customers was going to have another guy cut her hay, said it was taking me to long to get there. I drove over in the pick up and asked if she checked the forcast ? No why she says then i told her there is an 80% chance of rain everyday for 4 days. She still did not get it


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## Shetland Sheepdog (Mar 31, 2011)

I ha


Tim/South said:


> Did you add a "No snake, No Refund" policy? Or did you tell him to keep the bale, no extra charge for added protein?People can be strange creatures sometimes.


Nope!







Gave 'em credit for the bale --- charged 'em for the bale as part of the next load!


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

Nitram said:


> Okay Mike how do you know they're from Mexico have you been profiling again??????????????????????


No, that's against the law. However, they are very distinctive looking and wrap whatever they catch in a tortilla before they eat it. Also known as a Caracara.....


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

I talked to a guy from western Nebraska about him coming to get some 3x3x8 bales of grass hay. I gave him directions to my farm. He turned left instead of right at the last turn before getting to my farm. That morning I had kinda wondered if this guy wasn't going to show as many times people call and say they will come, but never come. He ended up at my cousin's farm. He got out and said Hi Mr. Oster. My cousin whose last name is the same as mine said "yes" and was a little confused when the guy mentioned that he had talked to him a few days ago, but this time of year he or I can't remember who calls and who doesn't due to the volume of calls. So my cousin proceeded to show him his 3x3x8 bales of grass hay. The guy had my cousin load him up with the 6 bales of the hay and when the guy was finally making out his check to my cousin they found out he was at the wrong place. So my cousin unloaded him and sent him to my place. When I talked to my cousin later he said no wonder that guy seemed kind of mad when he was showing him the hay. My cousin's grass hay had been stored outside and wasn't too green looking plus had a few weeds. Where as when I had talked to the guy on the phone I had assured him it was stored inside and was green without weeds. It all ended well except for some wasted time for my cousin.


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## jdhayboy (Aug 20, 2010)

They have migrated to our area along with whitewing doves. I used to only see both when deer hunting in south Texas.


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## davang (Apr 7, 2010)

I was tinkering with my baler to solve a knotter problem and some how one bale got tied once on the left side(one long string) and twice on the right( halfway down on each string)! I'll post a picture when I get back in town.


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## LeadFarmer (May 10, 2011)

JD3430 said:


> While I was running haybine through 4' tall grass, 2 whitetail doe go into a front hoof boxing match in front of me. They actually ran sideways to avoid me, still continuing to box, then after the haybine went past them, they got back up on their back legs and started boxing each other again-really unfazed by the 10,000lb hay cutter that almost chopped them to shreds.
> 
> Also another funny one was watching a very smart hawk pounce on voles, field mice etc that I would expose as I cut hay. The red tail would pounce on them right behind the back tires of my old 1499 after the swather would expose the mice.


I have a hawk that loves to chase me as well! He is at the same ranch every cutting. Very cool to see him swoop down, catch something and eat it in two bites.


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## bryanmchargue7 (Jul 15, 2012)

Two weeks ago tropical storm Debby put 15 inches of rain on 15 acres I had cut, it laid on the ground from Friday to the next Thursday, surprisingly didn't mold or anything. Storm threw an unexpected shower on top of us a day earlier than the storm was supposed to arrive, needless to say I rolled the dice and the outcome wasn't too good.


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## jturbo10 (Feb 28, 2011)

Mike...do these Mexican Eagles catch fish out of the local lakes or feed on snakes and lizards? Very beautiful birds.


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

jturbo10 said:


> Mike...do these Mexican Eagles catch fish out of the local lakes or feed on snakes and lizards? Very beautiful birds.


They pretty much compete with the hawks for small furry animals....rabbits, rats, mice and probably the odd small cat. I wouldn't have thought fish would be in their diet until the last frog strangling storm we had (16" in five days). There were a bunch of 14-16" bass on the road in front of my place that evidentually escaped from someone's overflowed pond and swam up the ditches. They were at a point where the county had quit mowing before the "rain event" and I guess that stopped their migration.....the local meat-eating birds had a feast and left the heads and bones all over the road.


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

So I'm cutting prairie hay out in the meadow one day with the 5610S and Zweegers drum mower, and I smell a malodorous stink... "skunk" I think to myself... guess I flushed him out, but figure he's on his way down to the woods across the highway by now, since I've been working in this field a few hours cutting by now, cutting small sections one by one around the drainage canal and feeder ditches that cut across the field into it. So, I don't think much of it and keep going. A half round later, I'm turning the corner and look down at something that caught my eye... it totters out of the standing grass right in front of the steer tire as the front tire went over it... it's the skunk! The front tire is going right over him as I'm making the corner, with just his butt and hind legs sticking out from under the tire, and I'm looking "straight down the barrel" so to speak, as his tail's up in perfect spraying position, aimed right at me. Of course all this is happening at full 6mph cutting speed and there's NOTHING I can do about it, except prepare for the inevitable. Miraculously, somehow, I didn't get sprayed... I made the corner and just kept going. Evidently he went under the rear end of the tractor and the frame of the mower. I didn't stop or look back to see his condition, for obvious reasons. I made the next round and could smell stink, but didn't see hide nor hair of him. I figure he either ran off or crawled under the mini-windrow from the hay mower. I figured by his pathetic ambling that he perhaps went through the mower and lost the lower half of his front legs or something... but I'm not stopping to find out!

Next day I'm down in the same general area raking... I smell stink, and recall my "near miss" from the day before. I kept raking, watching the windrow to see if I see a black and white pelt roll up in it since I'd rather kick it out before having it pulled up into the baler and possibly getting stuck in the feed roller behind the pickup on the Ford 552 round baler. I keep watching and see nothing, but then I notice behind the rolabar rake that there's a black pelt that went right under the center of the rake... I figured he'd crawled under the swath the die after being run over by the tractor the day before. To my amazement, he gets up and totters off! Pretty tough skunk; he's been run over by the tractor and now had the rake tines jab up his back, and he's tottering off. Oh well, I keep going, but worry that he'll crawl under the windrow to croak or something and end up in the baler, possibly plugging it up and requiring a manual unplugging job to remove him. I make a mental note to watch closely in this area when baling.

Next day, I'm baling the field and again smell the stink. I'm watching as best I can to make sure that I don't bale up his carcass if I can possibly help it. I'm picking up the windrow and look back when I turn the corner, and there's the skunk... the baler has now gone right over him and the pickup tines probably run up his back, but he's tottering off... At this point I'm totally amazed... This skunk is immortal! He's been run over with the tractor, possibly had a run-in with the mower, had the rake tines and the baler tines brushing the ground go up his back, and he's WALKING OFF...

I guess he'd had enough by this point, because I watched him follow the drainage creek bank down the length of the field, cross the road, and retire to the woods on the other side... good riddance!

Later! OL JR


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

luke strawwalker said:


> So I'm cutting prairie hay out in the meadow one day with the 5610S and Zweegers drum mower, and I smell a malodorous stink... "skunk" I think to myself... guess I flushed him out, but figure he's on his way down to the woods across the highway by now, since I've been working in this field a few hours cutting by now, cutting small sections one by one around the drainage canal and feeder ditches that cut across the field into it. So, I don't think much of it and keep going. A half round later, I'm turning the corner and look down at something that caught my eye... it totters out of the standing grass right in front of the steer tire as the front tire went over it... it's the skunk! The front tire is going right over him as I'm making the corner, with just his butt and hind legs sticking out from under the tire, and I'm looking "straight down the barrel" so to speak, as his tail's up in perfect spraying position, aimed right at me. Of course all this is happening at full 6mph cutting speed and there's NOTHING I can do about it, except prepare for the inevitable. Miraculously, somehow, I didn't get sprayed... I made the corner and just kept going. Evidently he went under the rear end of the tractor and the frame of the mower. I didn't stop or look back to see his condition, for obvious reasons. I made the next round and could smell stink, but didn't see hide nor hair of him. I figure he either ran off or crawled under the mini-windrow from the hay mower. I figured by his pathetic ambling that he perhaps went through the mower and lost the lower half of his front legs or something... but I'm not stopping to find out!
> 
> Next day I'm down in the same general area raking... I smell stink, and recall my "near miss" from the day before. I kept raking, watching the windrow to see if I see a black and white pelt roll up in it since I'd rather kick it out before having it pulled up into the baler and possibly getting stuck in the feed roller behind the pickup on the Ford 552 round baler. I keep watching and see nothing, but then I notice behind the rolabar rake that there's a black pelt that went right under the center of the rake... I figured he'd crawled under the swath the die after being run over by the tractor the day before. To my amazement, he gets up and totters off! Pretty tough skunk; he's been run over by the tractor and now had the rake tines jab up his back, and he's tottering off. Oh well, I keep going, but worry that he'll crawl under the windrow to croak or something and end up in the baler, possibly plugging it up and requiring a manual unplugging job to remove him. I make a mental note to watch closely in this area when baling.
> 
> ...


Maybe it's 4 separate skunks.  I was once cutting some hay and I saw in front of me the hay moving. There was what I thought must be a bird or a rabbit. So with compassion I slowed down. But the thing kept going straight in front of me. Over 1/4 of a mile I kept getting impatient with the thing and thought. Oh well it dies! Sped up and at the last second decided not to kill it. Did that a couple times and never killed it. Then at the end of the run. Out waddles a skunk. Whew!! Glad I didn't run it over. Last time I did that with a swather I had to stop and get out of the cab for a few minutes because I couldn't breathe.


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## Brian8 (Dec 8, 2014)

I think that if I saw that skunk there twice that the next I me I'm out I would be out there with one of my dogs to go check it out with me and either kill it or run it away to not come back. Especially since I would want to have to deal with any of that in my mower and definitely not my baler. Glad you didn't bale skunk that day


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## Bgriffin856 (Nov 13, 2013)

Mowing a field of reed canary grass in 2013 on some rented ground. Mowed four trips around then started mowing back and forth. Noticed the grass moving each time at the one end. Got to the last pass and at that end about three families of rabbits went scattering in every direction. Then the wheel fell off the haybine....

Same property same year my dad was round baling and had a bald eagle swooping around the tractor and baler looking for lunch

One guy we round bale for always calls ahead to tell us he's mowing. ...then calls to know when to ted.... then when and how to rake.... then will call every ten minutes wanting to know when my dad will be over to bale. So fussy for just 8-10 4x5's to feed his couple beef cows. He always mows when we have the whole farm on the ground too


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## Josh in WNY (Sep 7, 2010)

I have had a hawk show up quite often when working hay in the field. It also seems like the barn swallows know what the mower sounds like... must be a dinner bell for them as they will be swooping and diving all around me while I mow.

The most unusual thing I've ever seen was actually down on an orange grove in Florida. I was mowing the ditches between the rows of trees and as soon as the bush hog was turned on, there would be about 50 egrets that would flock around the back of it. They would ride right on the spindles for the tires and even stick their heads in under the back to pick at all the bugs that were being exposed! In all the years my Dad managed that grove, he never saw a bird get hurt eating behind that mower.


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## Shetland Sheepdog (Mar 31, 2011)

I have occasionally had a Coyote follow the rake when I'm raking! They generally will be on the opposite side of the field, but I have passed them only 2 - 3 swaths over! I don't worry about them too much when I'm on the tractor, and it would appear that they don't worry about me when I'm on the tractor either! But, let me stop, and they're GONE!!


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

Time to tuck a rifle behind the seat...


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## JeffMNY (Jan 5, 2014)

Had a red fox do the same thing one time. Would lag behind the rake but not get to close. I don't think he was really all that scared. They had a den just on the other side of the fence. In the mornings we could see the pups out playing.


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## haybaler101 (Nov 30, 2008)

Coyotes always head to the alfalfa fields when I am mowing. They don't get too excited when I stop either. But they should, because when I stop, the .243 Ruger comes out and the get dead quick. Just found out Sunday morning that the .243 is lethal to coyotes at 285 yards.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

I got 3 coyote pups with discbine this yr one day.I didn't know it until I was rakeing it couple days later.They must of tried ducking down,top part of their heads were cut off,lol.


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

I had my tractor blow a head gasket last summer with a bit of hay left in he field. The hay got repeatedly rained on and was ruined, but I wanted to bale it up and get it off the field. My brother loaned me his Ferguson TO-20 to finish the job, but he had some kind of funky PTO adapter on it - which made the driveshaft on my 3 pt PTO powered rake to long and useless. Also don't have a tedder. So what to do. I ran the baler over the hay with no twine. It gathered up the hay and dropped it out the back into a nice windrow -LOL! And later I was able to bale it up.

But.....

Some fellow from out of state stopped at the edge of the field and I walked over to find he needed some directions. Once I got him squared away, he stayed a bit - I guess to watch me bale some hay.

As I sent the hay through the baler and out the back, bale after bale, he looked, looked again and looked like he really wanted to come over and tell me every bale was not tied and loose hay was falling out the rear of the baler. I just kept going like nothing was wrong. After a bit, he left. Somehow I think he stopped somewhere else for directions - LOL

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!

Bill


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

Was cutting first cut alfalfa few years ago, when I see my black lab Jake go flyin across the field. He jumps in the air and pounces in the ditch at something, was far enough away I couldn't tell. Then Jake proceeds to throw something in the air, catch it and drop it. Then he does it again about 4 more times. Last time he does this, I'm finally close enough to see, and it looked like a kitten? Like a black kitten? Like a black kitten with a white stripe down its..son of a bitch. He had found a nest of skunks and decided to vacate them from said nest. He stunk like a bastard for about a week.

Things I learned from that escapade.
1. Baby skunks do not emit an odor from their backside
2. The mother, however, does emit an odor from her backside.
3. Jake know not to chase cats or kitties, so he does know the difference between a kitten and skunk baby.


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## Bgriffin856 (Nov 13, 2013)

Speaking of coyotes, put a pup through the tedder back in '04 felt so bad at the time being only 13 I thought it was someones lost puppy. Stopped and was looking closely at it. Seriously looked like someones pet until I looked at its paws and claws. Narrow pointy paws with long thin claws


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## treymo (Dec 29, 2013)

I have a government hay lease with the USAC around a rather large lake for this area. My lease is directly around the lake, dropped two bales in the water... but that is besides the point. Anyway we finished up baling the lease at 1 a.m. on a Saturday night then drove 65 miles home to get some sleep in order to move equipment onto the next job on Sunday. Woke up to a phone call at 6 a.m. Sunday morning from a park ranger wondering if I was around the lake with a loader tractor handy. He went on to explain that all 4 campground bathrooms had round bales blocking the entrances. Blamed it on some drunk campers. Must've been a few sober ones to though because the closest any of the bales were to the bathrooms was 600 ft.

Trey


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## bensbales (Jul 18, 2011)

Had a former customer that had owned a large stable call me for hay the other night.She wanted to get a price on a 100 bales for her " personal " horses. I had been selling her multiple tractor trailer loads of hay delivered and stacked for $5 a bale so i told her i would sell her a 100 bales of hay delivered and stacked for $5. She said " thats too much! these are my personal horses , I'm not running a business anymore and can't afford that." WTF!


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

The easy solution that I use is to keep track of the local auction prices. If someone challenges my prices, I just show them the latest printout. For new customers, I give them the sheets and test reports up front.

If they don't like my prices, they are welcome to go to the auction and take their chances.

Seldom ever have any body challenge--they know I've done my homework upfront and am prepared to not take any BS.

Ralph


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

Josh in WNY said:


> I have had a hawk show up quite often when working hay in the field. It also seems like the barn swallows know what the mower sounds like... must be a dinner bell for them as they will be swooping and diving all around me while I mow.
> 
> The most unusual thing I've ever seen was actually down on an orange grove in Florida. I was mowing the ditches between the rows of trees and as soon as the bush hog was turned on, there would be about 50 egrets that would flock around the back of it. They would ride right on the spindles for the tires and even stick their heads in under the back to pick at all the bugs that were being exposed! In all the years my Dad managed that grove, he never saw a bird get hurt eating behind that mower.


Used to have the same thing when I would bush hog off cotton stalks in the fall... I'd have several dozen egrets from one of the field to the other, and the'd swoop in right behind the shredder to grab bugs... still bits of stalk and cotton burrs and junk flying, and they're landing right in the middle of it to grab bugs... Same thing a week later when I'd start double-disking the stalks and stubble (we always let the stuff dry out and roast in the sun about a week before disturbing the soil-- Dad had tried pulling a 2 row tandem disk behind a 2 row shredder back in the late 60's-early 70's and had SO many boll weevils overwinter that he quit doing that after a year or two). They'd be back a few days later when I started middle-busting the field to build beds for next year. Got a lot of free lunches, those birds did...

Sometimes I'll have egrets landing behind the hay mower-- get some free bugs...

Later! OL JR


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

swmnhay said:


> I got 3 coyote pups with discbine this yr one day.I didn't know it until I was rakeing it couple days later.They must of tried ducking down,top part of their heads were cut off,lol.


Yeah, usually Norway rats get it with the Zweegers... made a round and looked down-- front half of the rat was in the hole, back half a few feet away where it got tossed out the back of the hay mower...

More free food for the hawks/vultures...

No shortage of rats anyway...

One time when I was a kid, I was riding the old 220 IH cotton picker with the old man... I was sitting on the off-side of the machine, looking down in front of the drive tire right behind the picker unit... we were in rows about a half mile long and there was a mouse/rat running right in front of the tire... those old pickers only moved just over a good walking pace (in later years I'd walk alongside the engine and adjust the mixture needle on the carbuerator while my brother was driving the machine in the field). That stupid vermin ran pretty much constant for most of the length of the field... as we got closer to one end, he started getting tired... he'd run a couple feet ahead and stop for about a second, then take off just before the tire came down on him... He did that a few times until finally I guess he was too tired... started running continuously, but getting slower and slower before he disappeared under the tire a few feet from the end... dunno if he got it or darted sideways before the tire got him (which he could have done a half mile back LOL)

Later! OL JR


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

bensbales said:


> Had a former customer that had owned a large stable call me for hay the other night.She wanted to get a price on a 100 bales for her " personal " horses. I had been selling her multiple tractor trailer loads of hay delivered and stacked for $5 a bale so i told her i would sell her a 100 bales of hay delivered and stacked for $5. She said " thats too much! these are my personal horses , I'm not running a business anymore and can't afford that." WTF!


Yep, because we're all running a welfare program for other folk's hobbies...

Give her directions to the glue factory... tell her "pick one to sell 'em so you can buy some hay!" LOL

Later! OL JR


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Here are some links from a few years ago.....and the late chetlenox had baled a rattlesnake with net wrap and his head was sticking thru the net with its mouth open....it was wicked looking....I found the old post but the pic was no longer linked up.

Regards, Mike

http://www.haytalk.com/forums/topic/11809-badger-in-a-hay-bale/?hl=snake


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

Vol said:


> Here are some links from a few years ago.....and the late chetlenox had baled a rattlesnake with net wrap and his head was sticking thru the net with its mouth open....it was wicked looking....I found the old post but the pic was no longer linked up.
> 
> Regards, Mike
> 
> http://www.haytalk.com/forums/topic/11809-badger-in-a-hay-bale/?hl=snake


Wow... had a snake of some kind, looked like a chicken snake from the pattern, sticking partway out the side of a bale one time... his head and tail were both buried somewhere toward the center of the bale, with just a "loop" of the mid-part of the snake sticking out the side of the bale when I dumped it. He writhed awhile before expiring, or maybe just nerves and he was already dead. Wasn't stopping to find out.

Had to be a rough ride... that old Ford 552-- when the chamber gets full, the back third of the bale sticks past the side sheets, which are tapered at the top to pull the hay back in as it rotates... so he wasn't just getting "smeared" by the side sheets, but also popping out at the bottom and getting pulled back under them at the top...

Later! OL JR


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## Orchard6 (Apr 30, 2014)

I unknowingly ran a duck thru my haybine. I found him the next day while tedding, that was his last flight!
I've also ran a skunk thru the haybine, rake and baler. I must of killed him quick with the mower because he never smelled. We found him sticking out of a bale as we were unloading in the barn. We pitched that bale outside real quick like. Smell or no smell seems no one wants a baled skunk!


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## red501 (Jan 7, 2015)

AFTER THIS HAPPENE






D THE GUY THAT OWNED LAND ASK ME IF I WAS GOING TO FINISH CUTTING THE DITCHES.

I TOLD HIM: YEA SURE!!!! BECAUSE I THOUGHT HE WAS JOKING....AFTER THINKING ABOUT IT. IM' NOT SO SURE HE WAS. IF HE WASN'T HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN BECAUSE I'M STAYIN OUT OF DITCHES....LOL


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

You should consider widening the stance. Feels so much more stable. Maybe not stable enough to head back there but it changes the feel of the tractor for the better. Did it to my brother's last summer. Looking forward to doing it to mine.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

I set mine out as wide as they go and no tip overs.....yet....


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

JD the pass you are cutting in the pix . If you would be traveling the opposite direction things would have went better . . We try to keep the tractor out of the very bottom of the ditch ..bottom of the ditch it is often wet / soft .. We start by mowing out around the ditch even if we have to drive on some grass


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

endrow said:


> JD the pass you are cutting in the pix . If you would be traveling the opposite direction things would have went better . . We try to keep the tractor out of the very bottom of the ditch ..bottom of the ditch it is often wet / soft .. We start by mowing out around the ditch even if we have to drive on some grass


Agree,Thats not the way to cut a road ditch.Start in bottom and wok out.


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

red501 said:


> AFTER THIS HAPPENE
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Looks like it'd be really hard on those 2 point hitches... or is this a regular drawbar pull mo-co??

Used to cut a lot of road hay with the 3 pt. drum mower, but no more-- they deepened the ditches and now it's just too hard on the equipment... aside from all the garbage that builds up because 1) they don't shred but MAYBE once a year, so it just accumulates and never rots down by being shredded up with grass clippings and 2) there's just too much garbage... not just paper cups/bags and trash, but bottles, cans, and since they outlawed burning old oil filters and tires and charge fees to dispose of them, too many thrown on the side of the road... last time I cut hay I nearly ran over a TOILET someone tossed in the road ditch, for pity's sake!

Since they only cut roadsides about once a year now, they're getting ate up with huisache... they're going to have to spend a LOT of money in coming years to control huisache that never used to be a problem when they shredded the roadsides 3-4 times a year... but, but... the gubmint is saving money by not shredding! LOL

Later! OL JR


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