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Baling the First Hay of 2024!
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- Опубликовано: 22 май 2024
- And we're off! (And get ready for a saga!) Tackling my usual batch of super-early hay (for New England, that is) - eccentricities, cloudiness, humidity, pop-up showers, and all! Glad to have the season started!
(If you’re wondering why I'm starting so early - details and thought process are in the video!)
~~~
(We are a 53-acre haying operation in Conway, MA - making all small square bales for the local food, fiber, and livestock community. Learn more about our farm at windrowfarmconway.com, or connect with us on instagram @windrow.farm)
Equipment List:
Massey Ferguson 275 Tractor
Massey Ferguson 165 Tractor
Massey Ferguson 135 Tractor
Vermeer TM610 disc mower
Vicon RS410T Tedder
Kuhn GA4101 GTH rotary rake
New Holland 256 hay rake
Massey Ferguson 124 baler (with New Holland 70 bale thrower)
Four kicker wagons
Delmhorst FX-2000 Hay Moisture Meter
Sundown Fertilizer Spreader
Finally some farmers using Massey tractors and some Massey equipment. Great stuff. You really fought for what you harvested.👍👍👍🙏🏽🇺🇸😎✌🏻
Thanks so much!! Do you have Masseys too?
@@windrowfarm I am retired now. But when I farmed I had 1 165 diesel, 2 Massey Harris Ferguson 50’s, one of them high clearance, 1 utility with loader, I Massey Harris 44 special, Massey rakes, planters ,sickle bar mower, cultivator. The tractors are King in my book.
@@christinamoneyhan5688 wow, that’s great! I definitely agree (aside from PTO issues 😅)
Them boys and girl very lucky to have you on their team.
I was watching Acres of Clay. I started this comment and the video ended.
RUclips posted my comment on your video instead of Acres of Clay.
I enjoyed your video as well.
Your experimentation will pay off, WF, I'm sure of it. Your enthusiasm is infectious, and that Vermeer cutter is a great looking performer. Fingers crossed these bales turn out to be green gold for ya. Cheers!
Thanks so much! That means a lot - so glad you appreciate me sharing my hay craziness 😆
I love Massey Ferguson tractors and New Holland equipment their the best
@@user-fi3gh3ef8m thanks, me too! I used to have a smaller NH mower, it was great! And I’m sold on the Masseys 😊. Thanks for watching!
That was a tough one but you managed. Nice work, in the barn that's what matters. Enjoyed your video have a great day.
Thanks!! Tough, but memorable I suppose 😅. Thanks for watching!
Like your style mate. Just about to cut my first ever hay and you just taught me loads. Thanks
@@glenq4126 hey, thanks so much - glad it was helpful! This first batch was definitely harder and more work than usual, and definitely specific to my climate. Where abouts are you haying?
Here's to the beginning of the hay season, good luck!
Thanks!! (You too, if applicable! 😊)
I used to run a Massey Ferguson, i loved it. Yea smooth operation . Great hay day. The 2775 i think it was.
@@cecillindsey-nv2ik oh wow, that looks like a beast! That must have been fun!
Wow! That was a challenge. Good to see the MF equipment back at it for another year… 👍
Thanks!! Hoping that was the toughest batch of the year - we’ll see 😅
Hell ya my favorite hay maker is back !!! Hope this season is better than last
Hey, thanks so much!! Fingers crossed about this year 😅
Congratulations on the start of another season- even with all the craziness to kick it off! Mowed today in the southern Champlain Valley of Vermont, looking for dry on Saturday. Rotary rake looked great! Thanks for taking us all along.
Thanks so much! And awesome!! Fingers crossed that weather holds out! I'd be jumping on it too if I wasn't recovering from Covid *and* with an important family gathering this weekend 😅. Good luck!!
New subscriber here, was excited to come across a fella who farms with Massey equipment. Enjoyed the video, I'll be following along. Best of luck this season
Thanks so much! Do you have Masseys too?
@windrowfarm right now the only one I own is a 1970 MF 7 garden tractor. Where I used to work I ran a 230, I've really grown to like running these tractors
Great video .nice seeing another massey farmer.nice first cutting and nice equipment
Thanks!! What do you have for Masseys?
Have a 1960 massey 35 and a 375
Congratulations on your early start. Never been around that type of rake, interested in seeing how it works.
Thanks so much! I had used one a bit when I worked at UMass at their research farm, and so was really intrigued about making nice fluffy, aerated windrows after the horribly wet year we had last year. So far so good, I think! But I agree, I'm curious to see how it moves the needle throughout the season. Thanks for tuning in!
Nice job! Lots of work but you got it done! Sorry you had to deal with an illness along with the work, that’s no fun I know. Best of luck as you continue on!
Thanks so much, and right back to you! 😊
Your on the right track, retain the protein, the wilting process will look after the curing!! Never over use the (hay destroyer) otherwise known as a Tedder, but comes in handy when pushed by mother nature! Something is better than nothing!🎯
Thanks!! And haha, I know the tedder gets a bad rap, but at least in grass hay it’s all how you use it, in my eyes. As the hay dries, slowing down the RPM’s and a faster forward speed keeps it gently moving - I always cringe when I see almost-dry hay being tedded anywhere near 540 😅. Anyway, appreciated! And thanks for watching!
You could get a cheap crimper at an auction or a mower conditioner. It would make a huge difference especially with those big grass stems.
@@joesteck6631 it's important to stick your nose (weather, amount of water in the air, humidity?) out the door in morning, get a sense of what "could" to place! (Equipment failed, a back plan?) Besides, a wise person mentioned to me, many years ago..... Any livestock will eat it.. before they will eat their front feet!... Do you understand?😀
@@joesteck6631 other than this very first hay of the year, I don’t miss having a conditioner. Once the main season hits, I’m keeping pace with everyone else around me doing dry hay, and I’m in the eccentric minority thinking my hay actually comes out better for it 😊. I have thought about getting a separate conditioner for the early stuff, but the ROI just doesn’t feel there. (I have a whole video discussing why I don’t want a conditioner, if you’re at all interested). I appreciate it though, so thanks!
Userbr4- no I don’t understand a thing you said. Cows won’t eat hay that’s moldy because you couldn’t get it dry.
Kudos to you for working when you feel (and sound) like crap. The only time I left hay down 6 days it got over dried and crispy...not good! I have a Kuhn rotary rake. It does leave bits on the fiels in undulating ground. But I love the windrows and so does my JD 336 baler. Hoping to start up her in central VT next week. Hope you feel better. That's what you get for going to a wedding!
Thanks so much! Yeah, non-ideal all the way around, but glad I finally got it up. And ha, believe it or not it couldn’t have been the wedding - I started to feel the symptoms well before 48 hours after the wedding (just had a naive hope of “allergies” until I tested 😅.). But yep, it’s a roulette game!
Helpful to know about your rake too - what model do you have?
Thanks for watching!
Looking good, I just got started on my first cutting last week, waiting for the next window to cut my other place!
Happy haying!!
Thanks!! Hope yours went well! Just had a marathon here this week
@@windrowfarm it went superbly well, now to repete those results at the next field haha
It does look like a good crop
Massey's are the best
@@rogervandergriff1851 😁
Here in the UK we had 2 165s back in the 1970s. Ours had Multipower gear split. I saw yours has the slot in the dash but no shiny chrome lever! I seem to remember that the trailer hitches were about as robust as a chocolate teapot.
Nice!! Ha, maybe the US and UK drawbars are different? Mine seem to be pretty rugged, all said. I’ve always wondered about the multipower slot on my 165 - it definitely doesn’t have multiplower though. Thank goodness, I don’t want a freewheeling option on the hills I have (especially with other people driving the tractors sometimes). I keep saying whoever invented it and decided to use freewheel as the way to overcome the hi to low multipower shift must have been a flatlander 😂.
Thanks for watching!
Great to see the Masseys. We have a 245 and a 4707.
Nice! That sounds like a great combination. Do you do hay also?
Yes, we do a little hay, im in Westerb New York. Most of our fields are leased for ethanol corn.
New subscriber and your hay looks great 👍
Thanks!!!
I am very tempted to cut would be the earliest i ever saw here. We have a had a very dry and warm may. Hay in may is unheard of here normally. I think i will wait another week and hope weather holds.
Always so hard to decide when to start! I don’t really know of anybody else in my area trying dry hay this early. Most people are at it with haylage/baleage. I just always try as early as I can on principle, since I’m the nut who keeps taking on more fields 😂.
Thanks for watching, and hope you’re doing well!
@@windrowfarm I forgot to ask how do you like baling behind the rotary rake vs the roller bar? I know when I bale behind the rotarys I notice the hay doesn't suck into the baler quite as forgiving as the "roped" windrows of the roller bar. That said that's why the hay should dry better in the wind row.
@@MAF_LTD oh, I’ve been wondering that too! My baler did seem to like it, though I had so much “scatterings” left on the field after working it so much it was a little hard to gauge. But I did feel like it fed awfully nicely, and I’m even wondering if this will allow me to bale doubled windrows more often without the baler bogging down on a “wad”. But I’ll have to see once I get into a more normal yield (and hopefully drying process) of first cut
I run a vicon twin rotary rake, my curtain touches the ground and I have the curtain set around 14 inches out from the rake arms, set like this for me it makes a tall fluffy windrow. I run it with a ford 7600 in first gear high range at 1600 rpms which is about 6 mph and about 450 pto rpms, set up like this mine will pick the field clean and make a perfect windrow no matter how thick or thin the crop. hope this helps
Thanks, that’s really helpful!!
we aint even got the implements hooked up yet. Going to upload the review video of the pequea tedder on Sunday. I know I said a few weeks ago but have been slammed with final exams
Nice!! I'll look forward to that.
We run our Kubota rotary rake on a MF 431 tractor in 2nd gear, high range, at around 14- 15 hundred R.P.M.
Thanks, that’s helpful to hear! I bet I’ll get up to that speed once I have the muscle memory of where the rake is at any given moment. Thanks for tuning in!
the quicker its spread the better i always think and if you get it dry and in it will be fantastic hay just takes longer to dry , there is not right way to make it you do what works for you and why not
Thanks! That’s my rationale too. Sometimes the weather cooperates, other times it’s a challenge 😅
@@windrowfarm to right, and you have a good old MF 165 , i spent many hours on one we had , ploughing , fertlizer spreading , muck spreading and bailing great tractor in its day
@@jamesmarsh4957 thanks! I love the 165 - such a solid, comfortable tractor. Now that it has new tires again, I’m hoping to bale with it more!
there is no right or wrong way to handle small square bales what is best for you is the right way by the time i was able to hand bales myself we had a picker then well it was well used and rusted out too my uncle did the most work on it too that exit fall it was working again lol
i had a little red wagon with Massy Ferguson on it lol put half a bale on it and pulled it to the calf barn 28 bales a day in winter they put skies on the wagon for me
Thanks!! I totally agree 😊
Crazy but good job. If a man wants the best quality, he doesn't need to explain his actions to others.
Thanks!! I appreciate that, thanks for watching!
Can you please explain the delmhorst moisture meter and how you have it setup on the baler
Sure! It's an FX2000, which can be used both for a constant monitoring function in-baler, as well as with a hand probe to check individual bales. The kit came with a nylon plate to install in the bale chamber with two carriage bolts that are then wired all the way up to the tractor to connect to the meter. So essentially as the hay slides by those two insulated bolts, the meter measures the conductivity between them and calculates % moisture. It then gives a live readout, alternating between the average moisture in a 4-second window, and the highest moisture it saw during that 4-second window. (I know I have shaky-cam going on, but it alternates between those two numbers. The average says "A")
Important to remember while baling that you're only getting a sample from one side of the bale. But it's nice data to have.
(I did a video about when I first got it and installed it, if at all helpful. ruclips.net/video/KfJ11_kPDU0/видео.html)
Thanks for watching!
everyone busy lol
I had a drawbar that I added a part to. It gave me 2 draw bar holes one on top of the other. I dont remember where I got it or what its called. Maybe you could use one
We can't do that this early in Maine...I grew up on a dairy farm
Yeah, I know it varies a lot around New England. Granted, a lot of people in my area say it's too early too, but I think as the climate shifts and summers continue to be crazy, trying asap has its benefits. Thanks for watching!
What kind of grass seed are you planting and harvesting?
Most fields are a mix of orchardgrass, timothy, perennial rye (my favorite), and other native grasses. I haven’t planted any of them - most have settled into an equilibrium of what grows well there, with good fertility and haying. (I have rehabbed a lot of them). All but one field hasn’t seen a plow or replanting in 25-50+ years.
Most will most likely cut first week of june if its nice in Mass.
Yeah, that’s always been the traditional start. But with these crazy summers, and the fact that I keep picking up fields, I’m never upset to get an early start. A lot of folks missed the amazing May hay weather last year because it was “too early”, and then we had a horrendously wet summer. With the climate shifting, I think the old “June 1st” rule of thumb is going to need to shift too (or already is).
Thanks for watching!
@@windrowfarm I agree with you! I am hour and 45 min south east of you and its been a wet may over here. Most of the fields just about drying out as long there is no random thunderstorms. Most rain we have gotten in years over here.
@@GEisele0606 oh jeez! I didn’t realize May has been so wet down there. I hope that changes for you soon! Things have dried really nicely out this way after how saturated things *still* were after the winter. I’ve been telling folks I don’t want to hear the phrase “we need the rain” unless we actually enter a drought 😂
@@windrowfarm ya! maybe ill be moving out your way in the next couple years. Little bit more country or just move south to hotter weather hahaha
Go get a bale wagon it’s the only way to handle small squares but better yet get a round baler and sell the small square for scrap
Oh gosh, none of my barns are even close to set up for that. Plus being a one farmer band, I don’t want to have another step out in the field after baling. (I also love the thrower too much, so I know I’m biased 😂). But there definitely is a scale sweet spot where the thrower feels like the best choice, at least around here and also for off-wagon customers, which I rely on a lot. (the round bale market here is a completely different story and much harder to tap into, plus more expensive to tool up for - I’m definitely sticking with squares 😊). Thanks for watching!
Did the swath board fix all your cutting issues?
The more important thing was the narrower right tire that I installed last year. I think the swath board helps a bit, but having a tire that doesn't trample the un-mowed edge of hay turned out to be crucial. Thankfully the problem is really minimal now - I only notice it occasionally in ultra-thick first cut, and only in certain spots. Leaps and bounds better than it was the first year.
Nice I’m considering getting a TM710.
@@MrRanger518 nice! I really, really like the 610, despite the frustrating trample issue. Now that that’s solved, mowing is a joy, and my gosh the thing is rugged. Shrugs off these new england rocks like they’re nothing and mows through thick hay like butter. I also wonder if the trample issue is somehow unique to the 610 - they’re so much less common, and maybe the frame/wheel placement is better on the 710. (I’m not sure, it might even be the same frame with a wider cutterbar, which would explain the 610’s problem). My working theory is Vermeer didn’t test the 610 enough on thick enough hay. Not to speak poorly of them, but too many people seem to be having the same problem.
mf all the way i have 275/165 great tractors
Thanks!!! Totally agree 😊
how many acres is this field?
@@user-pd7ki5qs5i this very first field is about 3 or 3.5 acres.