Skid Loader

Considering A New mid  sized skid loader was loyal to New Holland but would consider any make to lift about a Ton about 60 to 70 HP . Anyone have a late model they like or don't like ... 

Skid Loader

Twin Rakes and Square Balers

We have a very heavy first cutting of Timothy this year on one of my fields - first cutting is impressive. One of my boys raked today and I had him put 2 - 8ft windrows side by side for the rain or JD348 square baler - whichever comes first....

My Dad would probably say, those are some powerful windrows. I'm thinking about Farmercline's Twinstars rake purchase and it is 27 ft as I recall? We are only raking 16 ft together.

I've got a JD348 and of course the mighty New Holland 68 as a back-up. Not loosing any sleep with the dual 8ft windrows raked together, first cut and the JD348.

But....

When you folks are running these large V-rakes, 27+ ft in width, are you stuck with that width or can you just run one side of the rake? Can your high capacity square baler, i.e. MF1840/39, NH 575/BC5070 or even the JD348 you've got handle such a big-fat windrow if hay in heavy first cutting?

BTW - the rain came first which is why I'm posting instead of baling.....

Thanks,
Bill

Twin Rakes and Square Balers

Vermeer MC3300 vs. 840

Anyone here with experience on the MC3300 (or any of the other new style Vermeer) discbines?  I'm still using an old 7120 that refuses to die, and am window shopping for a newer machine.  I'm toying around with either finding a really nice used 840 or possibly a 3300, whichever makes the most sense.  Either would be a steel roller machine.

 

Curious as to how the newer model cutterbar compares to the old style like I've got, I honestly can't say a bad word about the old machine.

 

Thanks.

Vermeer MC3300 vs. 840

Identify IH hay rake

Mornin'All! - We are looking at a very used hay rake.  The plate on it says International Harvester, made in Chicago.  The place for Model # is blank.  Serial Number says1734 A

This ring any bells for anyone?

Would like to know if it was made in 1938!  Looking at pics of ones for sale it closely resembles the 12s & 14s out there, with 2 big adjusting cranks in front and a short axle.  It also has an actual wooden block on a slide to adjust the chain.  Really would like more info on this thing.  Thanks, KE,  Maine

Identify IH hay rake

Is this Annual Ryegrass?

Well I tried my hand at a couple different things last year. 2 succeeded with Teff and SS however my experiment with ryegrass didn't fair so well. I planted way late and it was super hot with no rain for quite some time. The 10 acres I planted ended up going to weeds and I eventually mowed it late august and let it lay there. I was planning on working that field with a disk and a cultivator and then putting to teff however I went by it today and it looks like the ryegrass might have come on after I mowed it last year. It looks like ryegrass to me from internet pictures but I could be way off. Can anyone give me a yes or no.

I was thinking of mowing and rolling it and then seeing how/if it comes back for a second cut? It's definitely not the nicest stuff but if I don't have to waste it it would be nice.

Attached Thumbnails

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Is this Annual Ryegrass?

NH565 vs NH575

How much difference in capacity is there between the 565 and 575? I went from a 273 to a 276 and it was quite a bit but the 276 is a bit tired looking to upgrade.

NH565 vs NH575

New Holland 505 plunger extensions

I pulled my plunger out to check the condition of the rails and bearings and then took a look at the plunger extensions. The manual does not talk about these. My plunger has 3 extensions. The parts manual lists 4, but there is mounting locations for 6. When do you need to run them, do you run less than 6 and if so how do you position them? Also if it makes any difference, this chamber has been reduced by about an inch or so from the bottom.

New Holland 505 plunger extensions

Hay and Forage Article - First you cut, and then it rains

http://ift.tt/2qCvQ79

Hay and Forage Article - First you cut, and then it rains

Small sickle mowers?

Do small sickle mowers that DONT cost thousands of dollars exist? I have a small tractor with an 18 horse diesel, cat 1 three point and two speed pto (540 and 1000) that id love to be able to mow with in tight spots. Problem is the only small mowers i can find are eithermid mounts meant for garden tractors or are new and $3500. Anyone know where i can find one or what i should be looking for???

Small sickle mowers?

What PTO RPM is best for a round Baler?

I'm relatively new to the hay business. Have been producing my own hay now for about 5 years. I was baling this weekend and this question popped into my head as I watched the tractor fuel meter steadily fall - what is the best PTO rom to run a round Baler at? I've been running my Deere 467 at around 500 PTO rpm which requires the engine rpm to be about 2000. I bale tif ton 85 and Jiggs.

What PTO RPM is best for a round Baler?

round baler with crop cutting knife

Hello

 

Does anyone know of a baler with a knife crop cutting system that makes bales 5' wide? I know there are lots of 4' wide models but I am wondering if there is a 5' wide model.

 

Thanks

round baler with crop cutting knife

540 vs 1000 pto pay more for both?

I have to admit my ignorance regarding the pros and cons of either a 540 rpm PTO machine versus a 1000 rpm implement. Everything on my place is currently 540. However, I'm movin' up to a bigger tractor and I'm wondering if it makes sense to pay a little extra and have the option of both pto speeds.

All comments appreciated. Thanks in advance.

540 vs 1000 pto pay more for both?

JBS's Dirty Family Secrets

I hope this type of news will improve the American Beef markets.

 

 

 

http://ift.tt/2sf1fOd

JBS's Dirty Family Secrets

Herbicide Calvary??

We could use some help.

 

Regards, Mike

 

http://ift.tt/2rghtJT

Herbicide Calvary??

John Deere 935 MoCo Switch to 540 RPM

I am curious if it is possible to switch a John Deere 935 MoCo from 1000 RPM PTO to 540? I've read that it can be done on some models by flipping the gear box around, but wanted to know if that was true for this model. I just don't want to be switching my tractor from 540 to 1000 all of the time if I don't have to. Thanks!

John Deere 935 MoCo Switch to 540 RPM

Memorial Day

Memorial Day.. I think of all of the Americans who gave their lives so we can be free. Some were older , some were not even 20 and yet gave the ultimate sacrifice . I remember about my Daddy in WWII : he was just 17 when put on a ship.. He made it home but many didn't. God Bless America and it's brave soldiers who protect us from the evil mounting around us . bordercollie, aka judy

Memorial Day

NH 644 vs 658

Hi does anyone know the difference between a Nh 644 and Nh 658. Is the 658 a later model and is it any better?

NH 644 vs 658

Need some help with small pasture.

We have a small pasture behind the house, just under an acre that has always been Bermuda. When we bought the place our back was really bad and we have turned it all around. So it was time to work on the grass as we bought my son two mini horses for his birthday. The feed and hardware store we always go to told me to throw out haygrazer to get some good covereage on the pasture so I took the recondmendation without doing reasearch. Now I have been trying to kill the Sudan to replant the Bermuda. I sprayed the whole pasture with roundup and when the Sudan turned brown tilled it all under and broadcasted Bermuda. That was a couple of days ago. We got a very nice soaking rain last night and this morning which is good for the Bermuda but I have noticed that more Sudan is coming in now.

What can I spray or so to kill Sudan grass but not hurt the Bermuda that will be coming in.

Thank you.

Need some help with small pasture.

2nd table speed NH 1069

I have a 1069 diesel and the s cond table just keeps getting slower and slower. How can I adjust the speed?

2nd table speed NH 1069

Looking towards fall reseeding hay fields

I'm hoping we get more rain this summer than we did last summer so I can do some reseeding in my fields.

 

My fields are near 100% Fescue, planted 4 yrs ago, hayed every year, never reseeded.

 

The fields are starting to thin some but not bad yet.

 

My plan if the ground isn't as hard as concrete is to reseed this September, drilling not plowing the fields up..

 

Plan so far is Fescue as it seems to be the best as far as drought tolerant here.

 

Also I know my area is on the border for OG but I'm leaning towards giving it a try.

 

Been looking at "Haymaster & Potomac" so far, also giving some thought about Rye of some sort... 

 

All I'm looking to do is increase my hay yields & root mass, etc. 

 

I am getting my soil health better every year, I'm spreading 10-26-26 , 3 times a year @300lbs ac... my soil test show my P&K is starting to come up now but still needs more.. 

 

What do you think about my plans, and also give me your thoughts about other things I could plant this fall, I'm open to most anything that will help my soil and at the same time make good hay for my own horses as I don't sell hay...

 

After the events a few months ago with moving the Mother in-law, then loosing a job at the same time as some will remember, things have taken a turn for the better and I am able to again put some money towards my fields so give me your thoughts here...

 

Looking to reseed about 12-15 ac so I'm looking for how many lbs per for what ever is suggested also...

 

Upstate SC area, mostly red clay type soil..

 

Thanks, Chris

Looking towards fall reseeding hay fields

NH 648 wedges belts

 

Hay comes up in the front of the sledge frame and wedges in between the belts and the top dimpled roller on the sledge frame. Baler has 3 ply heavy belts with JD type lacing. Worked fine after some adjustments last year. I posted then about some problems I had. Pressure gauge is not working on the front of the baler. Right now I have the right belt and the one next to it overlapped with grass wedged between the belts and the dimpled roller. We have tried everything short of blasting to get the grass out and the belts back. The hay is at least 2 ft long, blue stem and downy brome with some clover. Cut 40 hrs ago and running at least 24% moisture.. How to get the belts unstuck and also what is causing this. Hay fills up in front of the sledge and then at times comes out of the top and lays on the rubber cover over the cutter. After a while it is trapped over the twine arms. I have to leave the field after about 25 bales and blow out. I use a 250 cfm compressor with a 5/8in nozzle.

Any suggestions here.  I had to use quote to save a lot of typing...

CRB

NH 648 wedges belts

High Mount Air Cleaner

Does the high mount air cleaner on a 2013 RTV 900xt require a different air filter than the stock RTV 900 air cleaner canister under the bed?

High Mount Air Cleaner

Krone continuous round baler

This is Krone's version of a nonstop round baler.  Interesting to note that they took a different approach to the challenge than Lely (and Vermeer) did.

 

watch

Krone continuous round baler

Alfalfa leaf spot disease

I noticed the alfalfa regrowth where I cut first cutting almost two weeks ago was looking yellow and kind of sick so I stopped to take a closer look. The leaves are covered in small dark spots and are falling off. All new growth is affected. Will this clear up on its own or do I need to spray something to clear it up so it doesn't stunt the second cutting? It has been like this for about a week and is looking worse. Regrowth is about 6" tall.

Hayden



Alfalfa leaf spot disease

Help! Husband wants to store small squares in the kicker wagon

Hi, we have a large three sided hay shed where we stack and store 300 small square bales for two horses. My husband wants to buy two hay wagons, drive them into the shed and grab the bales out of them during the year. His plan is to stack the other 100 or so between the shed and barn.

Will this ruin the hay quality? It will definitely mess with the bale shape, right?, making them a mess to grab? He thinks this is the answer to our stacking problems. I think we should stack them but can't say why. Who is right? Thanks!

Help! Husband wants to store small squares in the kicker wagon

Drying time Disc Mower vs Discbine

As the name implies,I'm wondering.I've had people tell me when using a tedder(which I do )you don't need a discbine to get hay dry.A disc mower will do just about as well.One of my neighbors cut some early hay last year,tedded it, then baled it a day sooner than I thought he could.Never heard anything about spoiled hay.

I would like to hear from someone else with more experience

Drying time Disc Mower vs Discbine

Accu tie bale monitor

I have a 2005 Vermeer Rebel 5400 with the accu tie bale controller, I think my controller has quit working. Is there anyone that works on them? I doubt you can buy one. Thanks for any help

Accu tie bale monitor

Got my Building dropped off today

Putting up a new Building to store some small square bales and machinery.  42x84x16 with a 20'x14' overhead door and a 3' walk in door.  Just gonna put 6" of gravel down for now, I am gonna pour concrete under the overhead door for now to try and keep the rodents out.   They are gonna start putting it up after the weekend.  I will post more pics later.

 

Got my Building dropped off today

Vicon spreader

So when fitting out some new mixed grass hayfields this year, my coop decided to premix my seed for me which has made getting it in the ground a bit of a struggle. The mix is 10lb Alfalfa 4lb OG 4lb Timothy 2lb Smooth Brome.

 

I tried putting in in the JD B drill, but couldn't get a good flow rate, so decided to borrow a vicon PS 225 pendulum.  Started on 25' passes (which is below the recommended width), but I was only seeing about 11 - 12' spread out the spreader. Anyone have any thoughts as to the low spread?

 

Tried varying the flow rate on the hopper way beyond the recommended calibration to see if it was a flow issue, no change. The guy I borrowed it off spread his grass seed with it (just grass mind you), and he was running at 25' passes and is getting nice even emergence in his pasture. I did end up getting all the seeding done by splitting the passes on a second run, but seems like this is far from the normal behaviour of one of these.

 

Photo time:

Here's the seed mix (in the drill) - http://ift.tt/2s4WN4A

 

In the field - http://ift.tt/2r6KhEr

 

 

Vicon spreader

Tires RTV 900

Tire Question.2007 RTV 900
I have seen lots of post about tires, etc. I'm not looking to change rims just get new tires. Looking for something to just go on trails where I hunt, mostly wooded area with stream crossings, nothing to rugged. Thanks in advance for all suggestions.202

Tires RTV 900

Tires RTV 900

Tire Question.2007 RTV 900
I have seen lots of post about tires, etc. I'm not looking to change rims just get new tires. Looking for something to just go on trails where I hunt, mostly wooded area with stream crossings, nothing to rugged. Thanks in advance for all suggestions.202

Tires RTV 900

Memorial Weekend - Pray its a good hay weekend for ya.

Hope and pray everyone gets 4 days of dry weather to put up your hay if its ready, or get your fields in if not.  We have rain in the forecast today- but maybe we'll settle down a bit now.

 

Happy Hay Making!

Memorial Weekend - Pray its a good hay weekend for ya.

450 JD drill to no till

Has anybody made this conversion?

450 JD drill to no till

Best place to mount bht-2 on 556

Anyone mounted one on 6 series? Going to dig in this weekend. looks best behind the second roll of twine. Kinda crowded on chain side.

Best place to mount bht-2 on 556

OK guys, I need some technology help

The customer cannot hear the full bale alarm

Here is the configuration of the tractor.

No cab
No Muffler or at least it is ineffective
The full bale alarm is on the back side of the operators panel

I would like to put a microphone next to the full bale alarm speaker and mount an external speaker in a place where the operator can hear it. It needs to operator on 12v.or rechargeable batteries

So I need a microphone and speaker for a 12v or battery system. Suggestions?

Mike

OK guys, I need some technology help

Cash cattle vs futures prices

Hi everyone, 

 

Was hoping someone can help. I'm doing an economics assignment and decided on US cattle, decided to pick this subject because I live in Hong Kong which is in Southern China, and China just opened up its market to US beef. One thing I noticed is that cash cattle prices are way higher than futures. Why is this? Shouldn't the prices converge especially in the June contract which is almost at expiration? Like someone could buy the futures and sell the cattle in the cash market to make the difference? 

 

Also in a tight market like this and with feed prices so low is it more beneficial to buy feeder cattle rather than live cattle?

 

Do you guys expect prices to keep going up because of China or just demand in the domestic market?  

 

Any help will be appreciated because I don't come from a farming background. 

 

Thanks! 

Cash cattle vs futures prices

Stack wagon or accumulator good and bad

I am only going to be baling about 15ac of square bales midland 99 bermudia so my yields should be pretty good. I do everything by my self and was wondering what would work better for me as I will be stacking all hay in a barn that is in the same field I will be baling. I have a grapple already but can't decide what to buy or build next as a small stack wagon and accumulator are about the same cost. I guess what are pros and cons of both and what seams to work best for everybody.

Stack wagon or accumulator good and bad

Oliver 720 w/19 Thrower. need thrower belt info

I am trying to locate info on the thrower belt, part # 508 906-EA. Long belt. I don't have the one that broke, so I need a length & width, or better yet a parts dept that has one. Thanks.

Oliver 720 w/19 Thrower. need thrower belt info

Baler wire

I am wondering what brand of bailing wire is best for a wire square baler.  I have been using wire from Orscheln's farm and home and had some trouble with it last year bird nesting on me and wondered what others have found to work good.

 

TIA 

Andy

Baler wire

NH 269 baler making clacking noise

I'm a rank beginner at baling, so this is probably a pretty dumb question--anyway, our NH 269 baler makes a loud clacking sound especially when turning--the sharper the turn, the more and louder the clacking--sounds like its coming from the front, like perhaps the U-joint on the front (drive) shaft.

 

Any thoughts?

NH 269 baler making clacking noise

NH 460 or BR7060

Going to get a baler for doing silage bales. A 460 would give us more options for dry hay as far as bale size. I am new to this and was wondering if there was much difference in the roto cutter in these two models? Our dealer says the slicer is no good and that we won't like the roto cutter. I can't see doing 1200 bales uncut and having to grind them all. Any I input will be very helpful.

NH 460 or BR7060

Pulled the hammer on a wheel rake

We finally bit the bullet and bought a wheel rake.  Dad had a doctor's appointment in Casper last week and ended up going by the John Deere dealer.  We seen this Circle C rake, so last Monday we made a special trip back to Casper to look at the rake, well we made a offer on the thing. Of course it was a consignment deal and it took us all day to come to an agreement; we were finally home when the accepted our last offer.  I bet the sales man really hates those consignment deals; here he has a customer hot to trot and has to be a go between.  So we made another trip back to Casper to get it today.     

 

 

Pulled the hammer on a wheel rake

NH 644 Sledge Clutch

A couple years ago my neighbor had an issue with his 644 where something stopped spinning (he can't remember what) so he sent it to the dealer for repairs.  The dealer came back with a $13.5k estimate to basically replace all of the sledge rollers, gears and bearings - almost $9k for parts and 50 hours labor.  He got scared and bought a new BR5060, and let the 644 sit outside.  Last year he gave it to me, so now I want to figure out what is wrong with it.  It has been well used - 27k bales - but I only want to have it as a backup in case the weather takes a sudden bad turn and I need to round bale and wrap instead of square baling.  I've only round baled once in my life so I have a lot to learn, but after reading some of mike10's posts I decided to check the sledge clutch as that slips without clicking (and I think he would have remembered the clicking).  The two clutch plates are glazed and appear to be worn down to almost the base metal, but are still about 0.130" thick.  According to the parts listing, new ones are 0.142" and $100 each.  Is it fair to assume these could be an issue, or are they still thick enough?  The glazing tells me they have slipped a lot but I'm not sure how often they typically slip.  There are pipe wrench marks on the clutch shaft, so I bet it has been plugged a few times in its life.

NH 644 Sledge Clutch

Bermuda

Let me start by saying I'm not a Hay expert and in fact this is the first year I'm trying to do everything myself.  This is my situation.  I started cutting the first cut two weeks ago, and, well, my tractor broke after raking.  I have a day job so it has taken two weeks to get the tractor fixed and back out there.  My question is this,  If I raked two weeks ago and the grass just laid there in a windrow for two weeks will that grass be ok to bale?  Now of course I plan on turning it over before I bale it but is there any risk considering it has been rained on and just laying out there for two weeks?

Bermuda

John Deere 458 for sale

John Deere 458 net/string wrap for sale. bales up to a 4x5 bale. 3,300 bales on it. This baler was used to bale wheat straw and coastal bermuda hay in eastern NC. Hydraulic pick up reel and bale ramps when bale ejects. When not in use baler is kept under the shelter.  PM if Interested. Located in Goldsboro, NC.

 

John Deere 458 for sale

Getting rid of Johnson grass

I've got a couple hay fields where the Johnson grass as started coming up strong and was wondering what are some different ways to control and eventually eliminate the johnsongrass? They are just fescue but I'm wanting to clean them up and mix other grasses for better quality hay than there is. Thanks!

Getting rid of Johnson grass

Vermeer or John Deere

I'm shopping around for a used baler and I think I have it narrowed down to two.  John Deere or Vermeer which one is better?  Are there any models you would stay away from?  I'm Shopping in the less than 10K range.  I would like one that does both twine and net.

Vermeer or John Deere

946 discbine too much for 806 diesel?

I bought a 946 moco this winter to upgrade from my 1600 sickle machine. I'm wondering if my 806 that is my designated cutting tractor will be enough to run it? I have all flat ground no hills. I could use bigger tractors (4440 or mx 215) but hitching and unot hitching would be involved....

946 discbine too much for 806 diesel?

Check cutterbar oil level John Deere 1360 Mower Conditioner?

My uncle has a Deere 1360 mower conditioner and can't figure out how to check the oil in the cutter bar. As per him, the book/manual suggests draining and refilling the cutter bar if you suspect the level is low or a leak etc...
Surely to goodness there is another way. Heck, I check oil when I have no reason whatsoever to believe the level is low. I check oil levels right after changing it!!
I searched the innerweb high and low and found one single post somewhere on some different site about taking a stud out and measuring the oil...should be 2mm deep it says. I have no idea if that is right or merely a speculation on someone's part.
I guess it doesn't have a deere cutterbar? Kuhn or Krone or something? There are no sightglasses on either end.

 

Thanks all.

 

Mark

Check cutterbar oil level John Deere 1360 Mower Conditioner?

Kubota RTV X900 Experiences?

I was looking at a Kubota RTV x900 today and was impressed.  I have a JD Gator HPX 4x4 that is an essentail part of my day-to-day operation but is getting a little long in the tooth so I am looking at alternatives.

 

I've looked at other Gators but JD is a little proud of them and they don't seem to be really built for farm use.  The HPX is a plain Jane but serves me pretty well.  I DO NOT like the the way they shift or the tail gate design (cheap and junky).

 

I liked the Kubota, especially the tail gate.  Shifting seemed a little stiff.  Not too crazy about a diesel (but I may be wrong about it).

 

I'm curious if anyone has bought/used one of these and what your impressions are?

 

Thanks

 

Ralph

 

Kubota RTV X900 Experiences?

BC5070 Plunger connecting rod

Next situation I found on this new (to me anyhow) used baler (while repairing safety latch cable).

There is a connecting rod (goes from plunger to arm), where it is dragging across the bale chamber. There appears to be no play (slop) on either end of the connecting rod.

Connecting rod is rubbing the bale chamber frame fairly good. Pictures 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 (BC5070-Rod-10, 20, 30, 40 and 47), the left side is hitting / wearing more than the right side (as standing on rear, business end of baler).

 

The next 5 pictures show the wear points of the bale chamber its self (BC5070-Rod-50, 51, 60, 80 & 90).

 

I think if I take any more pictures of this baler, it will think it’s a beauty queen.

 

The present pictures of the rubbing, was created by me hand turning the fly wheel, while doing the safety latch repair. I have not powered this baler up with a tractor as of yet. This baler has only somewhere in the neighborhood of 6,000 to 8,000 bales through it (supposedly).

Any and all suggestions of what, why and where are appreciated.

Larry

BC5070 Plunger connecting rod

NH 1411 Discbine internal cutterbar wear

Hello

 

I am looking at a used NH 1411. The discs outside of the disc with the vertical drive have a lot more play on them then the ones inside of the discs with the vertical drive.  However the knives still have a long way to go before they hit each other. It is the same story on both sides of the cutter bar. The discs on the inside have a minimal amount of play. Is this normal that the wear is uneven? If it is just wear, what is most likely wore out inside the cutter bar and how easy is it to replace?

 

Thanks

-Johannes

NH 1411 Discbine internal cutterbar wear

windrow size

As many of you know I have a nh super 66 (low capacity baler)  Last year I had issues with large windrows which caused me to have to travel super slow... at times even barely moving I'd clog up the pickup.  I do have a motor on my baler which means I can stop and have full power still... That does help but still have issues.

 

  I have 2-3 weeks until my field will have a chance of being dry enough to cut first cutting.  The back field is already very thick and tall - mainly OG.  I am already dreading managing the big windrows.

 

Does anyone have any advice to help me keep the windrow size down so I can travel at a respectable speed and make nice uniform bales.  I rake with a nh 256 if that helps with any advice.

windrow size

Net Wrap wrapping around pickup reel on a Vermeer Super M Baler

Any one have a solution for net-wrap wrapping around the pickup reel as well as internal rollers on a Vermeer 605 Super M Baler?

Net Wrap wrapping around pickup reel on a Vermeer Super M Baler

Baling speed

We purchased a Krone Big Pack 890XC to run this year and I'm not satisfied with my baling speed. We usually can run our round baler (JD 468) as fast as we can stay in the tractor seat once it starts a bale, but with the big square I couldn't get over 6mph in really thick first cutting orchard grass/fescue or Marshall ryegrass. It seems the header can't feed the baler quick enough. Started out at a max of 4 mph then made a increase in the height of my header and get up to 6mph. The hay was wadding up above the header and up against/underneath the flywheel. Kinda like the stuffer mechanism wasn't grabbing it and sucking it in fast enough.
I plugged it up several times in hay that was making 6 bales to the acre. Running bale chamber at 800 psi. Any advice would be great. This is gonna be a long hay season if I can't pick my speed up.

Baling speed

New/used RTV owner, Intermittent temp gauge

Fellow RTV motorheads,

Bought an 05 900 RTV last week and have been peckin away at some of the mechanical and electrical issues since. Ordered a CD shop manual as well since I'm new to wrenching on these beasts. Right now I'm playing with an intermittent temp gauge and trying to find the sending unit so I can begin the troubleshooting process. Located the fan sensor near the thermostat housing and that is working but I assume there is a separate sending unit for the gauge itself. So any help locating that would be great.

Initially the alternator was not charging but was corrected when I replaced the #8 blown fuse, the overhead cab switches also came back on. Upon testing all the fuses in the block I found that the #4 glow lamp fuse has no juice coming into it. Though the glow plug and dash lamp are working and I'm having no cold start problems. Which makes me wonder what does that #4 fuse control?
Any feedback on these problems is appreciated.

Hand Salute!

New/used RTV owner, Intermittent temp gauge

Twinstar rake

I bought a new Twinstar hay rake last spring and it unfortunately did not work out as I had hoped. No matter what I did or adjusted the windrow was roped up really bad. Before buying this rake I was assured that roping would not be an issue so I was very displeased. After many discussions with the tech dept. of the company they came to the conclusion that I came to after using it a couple times......it is not designed to work in tedded hay.....alfalfa in particular. Here not tedding the hay is simply not an option if I want it to get dry. They said the rake was designed to combine two swaths of a mower and would not rope when used like that.

I have since moved on to a double rotary rake and am much more pleased with the windrow.....no rope and it finishes drying down nicely. The roped up windrow of the Twinstar would not finish drying down and held moisture.

The trouble is I still have the Twinstar rake I am not having any luck at all trying to sell it because they simply are not used or even heard of in the eastern US. I tried to trade it with a couple dealers out west where those rakes are popular but the best trade offer I got was only slightly half of what I paid for it new last year. I really need to move this rake but not sure what direction to go with it. Seems they have extremely poor resale value? Thought I would post on here to see if anyone knew of an area that I might have luck selling it in or if any of the western guys might be interested in it. Im kind of at a loss of what to do with it.

Hayden

Twinstar rake

Help with pricing

Hi!
I have no idea what I'm doing and would like some help, please.

I have about 20-30 acres of land that had been growing some nice hay. The type it's growing, I honestly couldn't tell you. I've had offhand suggestions from others that it might be Johnson or Coastal. I have no idea on how to tell. I've recently received an offer from someone who is obviously in the hay business. He just left his note on my gate, stating he was interested in cutting it, baling it and buying it from us. He mentioned that they would be round bales but probably smaller than what we normally see in our area. He stated that with the piece of land we had, he'd get about 200 rolls and was willing to pay $3 a roll.

Now, I have no idea what I'm getting myself into. I'm aware that I don't have any knowledge in this area. But if it's a source of income, I'm eager to learn the trade. Basically, I don't want to be taken advantage of, so is this a good price scheme?

I'm aware that a lot needs to be taken into consideration. If you can guide me to how I can come to a good price or if this is a good price, please let me know.

Any info and help is greatly appreciated.

Help with pricing

I'm not the only one!

I found a young kid on youtube working with old equipment.  He's actually using a NH 66 LOL.  He's baling small fields and just learning.  I feel his pain every time he has a break down.  If you care to watch one of his videos I included a link.  He  actually bales into the night... 11:00 at night he's still going at it.

 

I'm not the only one!

A different hay year

Is any one else's hay coming up short on tonage.
A feild that last year put off 100 4x5 rolls turnd out 58.
A field that turnd out 80 rolls turnd out 26 this year.
Used the same fertlizer and lime as last year just like the test showed gave it just what it called for but it's coming up short.

A different hay year

New Holland 495, the good, the bad and the ugly

A New Holland 495 came up for sale down the road from me and I'm kind of interested in it as an upgrade to my present 469. Does anybody have any good things or bad things to say about them? Any pointers on what to look for specific to this machine? How does the wobble box hold up to a 12 ft knife in grass hay? I'm aware that they are a bit of a pain to transport but that shouldn't be an issue as my fields are right next to the farm and there aren't any gates or narrow spots to cause any issues. Thanks for any pointers!

New Holland 495, the good, the bad and the ugly

Shaver HD8 hydraulic post pounder questions.

Last weekend I bought a pounder. Sent my nephew to pick it up, sight unseen. After a bit of fiddling, I have it hooked up. It was set up on a bobcat, and I put it on a 3 point. Looks like some parts were missing for 3 point hookup. So I welded some tubing on to support the supports. After plumbing, it is now functional.



Photo 4 shows some broken welds. I am trying to figure out what the purpose is there. Not sure if I broke them tinkering or they came that way.

In photo 5 it shows the top of the cylinder. I have slight leakage there. Thoughts on fixing? Looks like I need to buy a bigger wrench to do something. My adjustable one wont work in the tight space.

Also, I do not have the spring loaded post holder. Is it worth buying? I haven't looked into it quite yet. After a week of rain, I ak guessing fencing is at least a week or two out.

Thanks for the input.

Shaver HD8 hydraulic post pounder questions.

Dicamba injury to smooth brome

I sprayed my smooth brome about 10 days ago with Clarity(dicamba) since I was starting to get some broadleaf weeds. I used a pint per acre since that is the max labeled rate for a newly established grass. I noticed a few days after I sprayed the brome started looking a little weak and yellow and I thought it could be sulfur deficiency since I was seeing that in my alfalfa as well. I kept noticing it was looking worse throughout this week but I have not had time since I was baling hay to stop and look. I walked the field today and It is clearly a herbicide injury from the dicamba since there are a couple triangular shaped skips where it looks healthy and a few overlapped places where it looks terrible. Most of the field is yellow and stunted with some getting a purple tint to the leaves.....I sure hope it doesn't kill it.

I'm kind of confused as to why it did this since brome is a grass the dicamba should not have effected it. There was no chance of a different herbicide residue in the tank since I had cleaning it out well prior to spraying and the last thing I had sprayed was dicamba on orchard grass back in March anyway. The dicamba did not hurt the orchard. Anyone have any ideas what caused this?



Dicamba injury to smooth brome

kuhn 700 disc mower

I have a Kuhn GDM 700 disc mower that was stored last winter with the blade up now it is locked up. Any ideas?

kuhn 700 disc mower

Small Square Baler With Spear On The Plunger

Ok small baler experts. Found a baler with a spear on the plunger. Owner says it's very beneficial for letting the baled hay to breath if baled a little higher on mositure. Thats fine if you have a breeze blowing through your stack.
Any benefit to the spear or all horse pucky?

Small Square Baler With Spear On The Plunger

New Holland BR Round Baler Maintenance Issues/Questions

I have had my BR740A for a few years now, and have noticed a few maintenace issues that need addressed...

   -The pickup stuffer bushing is going out on one side and needs replaced. Any real trick to getting it out? Looks like just a matter of loosening everything and sliding it over and out...??

 

   - My sledge roll frame had grooves worn in it from the belts. Any reason whey I cant weld the grooves up with the frame in the baler. Welding on the frame makes me nervous that the welding will pull the frame out of "true"

 

 -The grease fitting on the sledge roll pivot wont take grease. I tried going into the grease fitting hole with a pick, but just cant get it freed up. This is the pivot on the nondrive side of the roll. Can I pull that pivot mount off the one side while leaving the sledge roll assembly in the baler? I assume I need to pull it out to clean the hole and get grease flowing again.

 

-Is there any need to check or lube the pickup cam/cam followers? The only thing I have done to the pickup is lube the auger chains and clean the junk out from behind the chain cover. Should I check out the cam followers to make sure they are in good shape?

 

 I really cant afford downtime so I like to be a little proactive in repairs...

Thanks 

New Holland BR Round Baler Maintenance Issues/Questions

RTVX-1120 - Camo or Orange?

Well it won't be long now and the debate has resumed...Camo or Orange.

This unit will be worked hard on our tree farm but in the fall and winter months, it will also play hard supporting our hunting activities.

I am a lover of good camo and from what I can see, Kubota did not spare any expense applying a good camo job that appears to hold up to the brush and trees. It also costs 400-500 more depending on your dealer.

My Wife believes that since the unit will be hauling stuff to several parcels of land via a township road that visibility (orange) is critical plus during hunting season, you are less likely to be mistook for a deer. Last but not least, it is less expensive.

She has gone as far as reminding me that it should match our BX2230 which is also orange.

Guys, if there are any further camo justifications you can help me with, I would greatly appreciate it.

RTVX-1120 - Camo or Orange?

Clair Timothy Leafiness

I've got a field of straight Clair Timothy and this stuff is amazing. I have never seen a cool season grass, i.e. orchard grass or fescue with so much leafy material. The seed heads are starting to emerge and we are hoping to cut and bale over Memorial Day weekend. Weather forecast for us is a narrow envelope so the buffered propionic acid is locked and loaded. Might be a must cut/bale in 3 days affair. Given the leafiness of this Clair, the yield is going to be pretty good IMHO. Our fertilizer timing, along with the rains of recent has it really thick. All of our equipment has had a dry run on a small batch of hay and is ready to go. If we can just get the rain/weather to cooperate, we'll have some great Timothy out of this field. Going to hit it after cutting with nitrogen for a second cut too. Normally wouldn't take a second cut, but college tuition looms...

Anyone have experience with Clair Timothy? I'm liking it. Our other variety in another field is Climax and I'm not to happy with it. This Clair is a strong grass and very competitive.

Bill

Clair Timothy Leafiness

fertilizer

Can you spread pig shit on a hay field after first cutting? OG field.

fertilizer

Rotating out an old pasture.

I have a field that used to be a cattle pasture. Currently it is mostly orchard grass and Timothy. This field would most likely be classified highly erodible I have been making hay on it for the last several years and am tired of bouncing my machinery over the rough surface. My plan is this.
Make several cuttings this year on it. Plow it down this fall or late summer, for the soil and plant a ryegrass on it. I would then make baleage from the ryegrass next spring and plant back to a nice mixed hay. Am I missing something here or would you all tackle this differently. I could plant a row crop in it but hate waiting two hay seasons to get a hay crop back in.

Rotating out an old pasture.

Ogden Hybrid Hayrunner

We have briefly mentioned these rakes in the past. I am trying to find some firsthand information on the impression/satisfaction of these rakes. If any of our folks use this rake I would like to hear from you. Or, if any of your neighbors or acquaintances use this rake I would a appreciate a inquiry on them.

 

Regards, Mike

 

http://ift.tt/2qEmlIr

Ogden Hybrid Hayrunner

Winch for 2013 RTV 900xt

Has anyone installed a winch on their "13" 900xt? I just tried to install a QuadBoss 5000 and found that it is too wide to fit in the front carriage. No one at QuadBoss knew their winch and mount would not fit the 900xt. What winches are people installing on their 900xt's?

Winch for 2013 RTV 900xt

Help Me Shop for an Older Self Propelled Swather/Windrower

Need some (lots!) of help looking for a self propelled mower.  We've used a JD 2420/2320 which doesn't condition first cut orchard grass as well as our IH 1190 pull type.  Jeff switched back to using the 1190 to finish this week.  I've kept google active searching but it is hard to do really good comparisons on older models.  Self propelleds aren't very common in our area.  

 

Have looked at some center pivots but would really like to be able to be forward looking   so here are some of the things affecting our wants/needs.

 

• Sickle with stub guards works here but not ruling out disc
• Primarily orchard grass and timothy, possibly Korean lespedeza again, but grass is first consideration
• Wondering about steel rollers for just the grasses
• Must do good conditioning and spread instead of narrow cut swath
• Thinking a 16' would work with tedder & rake for 1st cut 
• Not a lot of acres to cut and all are at home so we won't be putting a lot of hours on it
• We do all our mechanic work (and don't want to be working on it all the time either LOL)
• Diesel preferred
• Budget -- really, really low compared to the ones with new paint

That's a start, appreciate you'alls help!

 

Shelia

 

Help Me Shop for an Older Self Propelled Swather/Windrower

Operating a 630 moco

I will be taking delivery of a new 630 moco with urethane conditioners the first of June. Tips and advice in operating would be greatly appreciated.. Cutter bar angles and other adjustments. I'll be cutting mainly alfalfa and grass. Thanks.

Operating a 630 moco

Upgrade to 2017

So, I have a 2010 1100 that I have a turbo kit on and it runs great. I guess boredom is setting in and am wanting to have a new machine. So my question is this, has anyone updated from an '10 to a '17. Is there any noticeable difference in the drive train, transmission or ride? I will be doing a turbo kit if I do get a new one. I really want the roll down windows i guess is the driving force for me. Many thanks for any input.

Upgrade to 2017

Expeller roll on New Holland 7060

Hello,
 

We've owned a NH 7060 Silage Special for a couple years now (and had a NH 644 for several years before that), and I'm thinking about installing an expeller roll.  I ended up buying the kit from the dealer, but after reading through the included directions I still have a few questions.
 

1. The kit came with the roller, a scraper, and a pair of shields.  The diagrams shown in the directions do not correspond to the shape and location of holes on the tailgate on my 7060.  It seems like the only way to install the roller would be without the two shields.  Is that correct?
 

2. Assuming I disregard the shields, there is a pair of holes behind the nose roller that seem to perfectly fit the expeller roll.  Should I be using the upper or lower holes?  Does it matter which ones? Are these even the correct holes?

 

3. The included directions say that I may have to "cut an inch off" of the angle iron that serves as a bracket to the nose roll scraper, but it doesn't say which balers this is required for.  Does anyone know if this is required on the 7060?  My initial inspection leads me to believe yes.
 

4. What is the scraper that came in the kit for?  The directions seem to imply that it's simply a replacement for the nose roll scraper.

 

5. The directions very briefly mention that "the expeller roll may need to be removed for wet hay."  What's the reasoning behind this?  How wet of hay can it tolerate?  What can happen if I don't remove it?  We do a lot of silage bales, so any detail you can give here is very helpful.
 

6. Any other experience or opinion on NH expeller rolls is much appreciated.
 

Thanks!

 

(Let me know if you need pictures of anything I'm describing and I can try to get them for you.)

 

Expeller roll on New Holland 7060

Roundup + 24d

Guy at farm & home said he mixes roundup and 24d when spraying fence rows and such. Is that not just wasting 24,D or am I missing something?

Roundup + 24d

New Holland 258 parts

Anyone know of a salvage yard that sells parts for a New Holland 258 ?

 

Looking for a used tine-bar for a 258.

 

 

Thanks in advance for any info you guys can share.

New Holland 258 parts

Exhaust extension

So we have installed Boss VBX3000 salt spreaders in the beds of our X1100c units. They work great but the way the installers ran the wiring it comes down next to the exhaust outlet. Well, the exhaust is too hot and is melting the plastic conduit and is making the wiring brittle.

Obviously I could try to move the wiring but it doesn't look like I have enough slack to re-run it. Plus the exhaust still blows on the back of the spinner assembly and that is getting hot as well. I bought some 1.5" EMT which just fits over the factory outlet and will bend it and weld some tabs on to mount it to the frame and direct the exhaust away from above mentioned items.

Anybody else have this problem?

Exhaust extension

Flap for front of bed

So I pulled about 10 gallons of leaves and mulch out from the engine area on one of our X1100c units. I'm surprised that nothing has caught fire yet with all this crap in there. It is obviously coming over the front bed rail between the cab and bed. I don't know how Kubota hasn't realized this isn't good and put a flap on there but they haven't.

I have some heavy rubber sheet and stainless flat stock and I was going to make a flap to keep the stuff out but was looking to see if anybody else has done this already or not.

I see Nevadablue was doing something similar but there were no pictures visible in the thread from 2015.

I have two of these to do.

Flap for front of bed

Question of the day- how do you make perfect flakes in a bale?

I know uptake of hay into the baler has a lot to do with how big or little a flake is - I have not seen uniform flakes much in the haying world.  So I have pondered - why not?  How does one make uniform size and weight flakes in a small square?

 

(yeah I know you are going to laugh at me- that's fine- still hunting for the answer though)

Question of the day- how do you make perfect flakes in a bale?

From Success to Failure. The Custom business

I have always been pretty quick to share the funny, not so funny, and the success stories on here. this one is a little different. Maybe it will give some perspective on the challenges of what we do. I have been stewing on the events of recent weeks and figured that I may as well share that too.

As many of you know, we had that really nice article a couple of months ago in Progressive Forage Grower Magazine. Thanks to Lynn Jaynes for that, it was awesome.

With the business growing, it was pretty apparent pretty quickly that the old swather wasn't going to hold up forever. This began the 3 month search for a rotary swather, preferably a Massey Ferguson. After bidding on many, we finally found one at the price and hours we wanted. A few days later came a 3X3 baler that would round out the upgrades. A significant upgrade and investment, to say the least.

Fast forward to getting everything to the place and ready to roll for the year. First cutting starts in a couple of weeks.

I start doing interviews for hired hands and cannot find anybody. I mean can't find a warm body with any experience. Well, maybe one, but he wasn't hire-able, and even then it was questionable. We advertised locally, on social media, with the Wyoming Job Service, here on HT, everywhere that I thought might get us someone half ways qualified. No dice. There are farm hands getting laid off all over and no one wants to work custom haying.

So at this point, there I set with all of this new to me equipment, and no one to run it. The doubt starts to creep in. It wasn't a pleasant feeling to be sure. I can't take a job to put up hay if I don't have the people on board to run equipment. I should mention that my main guy last year went back into retirement, and has no interest in working this year. The part timers have all moved on. All except one, and she has a full time job.

We had a meeting of the board again, another three beers for the uninitiated, and talked it over. it was looking pretty gloomy.

The phone started ringing. Of course that little article got some attention from some big outfits. Over 1200 acres of grass hay on one of them.

The pressure got pretty high to make a decision. I had a choice to make. It was either quit the day job and go full time custom haying or back off entirely. Without any help I couldn't justify quitting the dayjob, although I could have hired a gunsel at that point and made it work. It was a roll the dice situation at best.

So in a nutshell, there I am with a pile of newer machinery and no way to put it to work. With that equipment came the debt load right behind it. At some point I realized that a sizable chunk would be required to service that debt. I also came to the realization that I couldn't do it by myself.

We made the difficult decision to hang it up and sell out the equipment that is owned by the company. We are keeping our stuff and will continue to do our own haying. So far, about half of it is sold or pending sale, and we have half of it to sell yet.

Talk about a roller coaster ride over the last few weeks. We have had highs and lows of epic proportions. In the end, we will go back to relaxing. We will put up our own hay and maybe some lease ground yet. We might actually have time for some R&R this summer, instead of running wide open. The fish might not like it, but we will.

Looking back at a whirlwind last year and a half, I realized that we built a successful business. Our plans all worked as designed, our business model was good. Everything worked exactly as it should, save for one thing. Hired help.

While we are adjusting to the new normal, it helps to reflect on all of the good stuff that has happened. I guess that it can be considered a successful failure in some ways.

We won't be in the custom business, at least for now, but I know that the market is there for it. I proved my theory. Today, that is just going to have to be enough.

 

 

 

From Success to Failure. The Custom business

kubota G 1800

I'm looking at a 2003 Kubota G 1800 with 695 hrs. It comes with a power rear bagger, plow, chains, extra blades, & extra starter. Seems to have normal wear - the seat is cracked & paint worn off in certain areas. Runs good. The owner states the only issue is that occasionally it won't shut off - he has to manually push the shot off solenoid. He hasn't tried to resolve the problem. I heard there might be an issue with the driveshaft.
He wants $3250 - any thoughts from the members?
Thanks
Popo 1945/ Bill

kubota G 1800

Barn Fire

There was a large barn about half hour from me that caught on fire overnight. Aerial view of the aftermath looks like possibly caused by green hay? There were cattle in the barn but they were rescued. A crew is on scene investigating. This is the second barn fire I'm aware of in last 6 months.

http://ift.tt/2qvazPY

Barn Fire

Tedder Problems

I recently purchased a used 4 basket tedder. It's a Vermeer TD200. I noticed a few of the tines on the middle baskets were bent together, and didn't really think much about it. But now that I put hay on the ground and actually got to use it, I see what's happened. The previous owner had a problem and didn't want to or know how to fix it I guess. When the tedder is angled forward to get the center tines to the right height for tedding, the outer baskets are not touching the crop. So to compensate, you have to make the center baskets touch the ground or dig a little in order to get the outer baskets to pickup the crop.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might be the issue causing this?? All 4 tires are the same, they have the same air pressure, and their arms aren't bent. I will add that the crank to tilt the basket is extremely hard to crank regardless of oil or grease application, it may be bent. but that adjusts the entire machine not just 2 baskets.

 

Can anyone offer some help?

 

Thanks

Tedder Problems

Lost a calf today

We had a cow that we had to take into the vet today,  Not really sure what was wrong with her, but we had to pull a dead calf; not sure if the cow is going to survive yet.  She is lousy, and we back pored her with Ivomec last December when we bought her.  

 

 

Lost a calf today

Custom rates for small squares

What is the going rate in your area for small square custom bailing ?? Just baling , not cutting raking , just Balling,
Thanks

Custom rates for small squares

Early vs Late Cutting of Hay and Sugar Content - Good Article

Thought a fresh read on this might be helpful.

See the link to this article regarding morning vs evening cutting of hay and it's sugar content. As I read the article, the bottom line is the sugar content difference is insignificant. My take away is - cut whenever you can vs morning or evening, forget about timing your cut for sugar content.

http://ift.tt/2pYqQcL

Early vs Late Cutting of Hay and Sugar Content - Good Article

Calving season finally started!

Check this morning with no one looking close, but came home from work to find this heifer hanging out in the weeds. 1 down a whopping 11 to go. We run a bull for 60 days, hoping it will be a quick and painless season!

Attached Thumbnails

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Calving season finally started!

Vermeer 5420 Hydraulic tension

Hi guys, new to the forum.  I just got an awesome deal on a 5420 Vermeer and have a question regarding the tension system.  The dealer I bought it from said the tractor hydraulics charge the tension cylinder, after getting it home theres no way, the hoses on the tension cylinder do not communicate with any other hydraulics.  They also ran it in their shop and told me the pressure is set on the high side and to try it and see how it works in my hay.  I understand that but the mechanic told me to drain oil from the circuit to lower the pressure, I dont think thats right either, dont I just adjust the valve behind the door?  This baler only has 360 bales through it, looks new, Im just trying to figure it out before I need it.  Thanks for any input...

Vermeer 5420 Hydraulic tension

Massey 1840 Baler

I have an early 1840 with Hydraulic tension. The unit is a leaker . Anyone else have this problem and would have a fix?

Massey 1840 Baler

Ditch hay

Almost every ditch is baled here.Interesting article.

http://ift.tt/2qxBHwd

Ditch hay

Silage kit for JD 335

Does anyone have the JD part# for the entire silage kit for a 335? After spending 35 minutes on the phone with one guy, the most he could come up with was just the part# for the lh/rh strippers. If I had a proper part number, I could see it going a lot faster.

Silage kit for JD 335

1st try on baleage.

Mowed about 3 acres of rye Monday to wet wrap on Tuesday.  This was my first shot at it, and I learned a few things in the process.  Have seen different opinions on whether or not to rake.  I didn't rake, but sure will next time.  Just too many passes over the field, and it seemed like I had to set the baler pickup too low to get everything up, and now have an issue on the pickup to fix.  Other than that, not too much trouble.  Any one have any pointers for the next round?

1st try on baleage.

Too much grease?

I recently purchased a 2012 Vermeer 604 SM. Inside of the side doors of the baler, it tells you where the grease fittings are, how often to grease (hours), and how many shots of grease to put in each. I grew up around an older farmer who greased everything every time he used it. So, I am use to greasing things every time I use it. My question is what do others do? Should I go by the schedule they recommend (since I am sure this is a minimum) or grease it every time I use it. I have been putting a couple shots in each fitting, not as much as they recommend, but I never run it 50 hours at a time. top and bottom rollers they recommend 15 shots every 50 hours. Is there a such thing as too much grease?

Too much grease?

Mixed Grass Hay - When????

At what point do you label your hay as mixed grass vs straight OG or Timothy or Alfalfa? Sooner or later your fields of straight grass start being invaded by fescue, OG and/or other native grasses.

I've got one field that I'm ready to call Timothy mixed grass, even though it is still overwhelmingly Timothy. From the legacy seed bed, there is a smattering of OG, fescue and some native grasses that have come into this field and will show up in the bale. Broadleaf and briar clean hay, but IMHO starting to become a mixed grass and as such labeled that way.

What's funny is in my Timothy field, given Timothy is later maturing, when a clump of fescue, Timothy or some other grass comes into the field, it sticks out like a sore thumb! Drive down the road and the unfertilized, weed fields that are cut for "horse hay" are consistent in appearance - LOL!

I hate to advertise straight Timothy as the other grasses start mixing in.

When do you label your "straight" grass - "mixed" ?

Thanks,
Bill

Mixed Grass Hay - When????

new holland 313 hitch

Looking at a new 313 disc bine with the draw bar swivel hitch. My caseih dcx131 has the 2 point hitch.does anyone have any experience with both style hitches. Is the draw bar hitch as good as the 2 point

new holland 313 hitch

How to bale a field of hay fast

Took a new 450 out to join two BR7060's in the field for this family. 

 

 

Attached Thumbnails

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How to bale a field of hay fast

Custom rates for small square baler ??

What is the going rate per bale fir custom baling - Sm squares , just baling only,
Thanks

Custom rates for small square baler ??

Tedding Expert Advice Needed

Started cutting hay yesterday afternoon.Got the tedder going today after 3:00.Some of the hay has dried very little and now we have a possibility of thunderstorms after noon on Thurs then 4 days of 50% chance.

Would you ted again in the morning?Maybe twice?

 

All grass-type hay.

Tedding Expert Advice Needed

Seeding Timothy With a Pendulum Spreader

Does anyone have experience spreading Timothy seed with a pendulum broadcast spreader? I've always seeded with my grain drill using the small grass seed boxes and then packed it a couple of times (once behind the drill and then once again with just the packer), but the drill has a tendency to seed in streaks rather than an even coverage. I have a Land Pride spreader (I believe that it's just a re-branded Vicon) that I use for spreading fertilizer, and I just picked up a "small seed kit" for it (which is just a plate that covers up two of the three metering holes in the bottom of the hopper) thinking that I would try using it for seeding timothy rather than the drill in hopes that it would spread more evenly (with use of my GPS of course). Once I have it spread, my plan would be to pack it twice to create the same kind of planting depth and packing as a Brillion seeder would do.

 

The manual lists timothy in the chart, and at the right setting, claims that it will spread it at the rate I want with a 26ft coverage per pass. In theory this sounds like a good idea, but will the tiny seed really spread evenly at that coverage? Does any one have experience seeding small light seed with a pendulum spreader? Or am I better off using my old grain drill?

Seeding Timothy With a Pendulum Spreader

Protein content of OG hay

I when out in my cow pasture (cows hadn’t been turned out on yet) and collected some grass, mainly orchard grass (if not all OG), it self-seeds here. I split this collection into two samples.

 

One sample I took in right away (higher moisture sample naturally). The remainder I put on a piece of plywood in my shed. After a week or so (I turned it every day or so), I took it in the house and put it on the end of the wife’s kitchen table (not whole table just the end I don’t use) for a couple of days. Seems drying conditions were not the best in my shed, with the dampness and high humidity we were having.

 

Once it felt like it was dry enough to bale, I took another sample in for testing. Attached are the results, which I am going to share with my horse customers, this year. Who feel my hay is ‘too rich or high protein’ for their critters. Yet this is exactly what their critters are grazing on right now in MY area.

 

As I try to educate some, I know that I have to be ready to also except defeat. After all it seems I have (albeit slowly) learned that sometimes you just can’t fix stupid.

 

Test results attached.

 

Larry

 

PS: this grass had not even begun to start heading out as an FYI.

 

Attached Files

•  HayTest2017-05.pdf   163.3KB   1 downloads

Protein content of OG hay

Yields

Just curious to hear what others are seeing this year in their fields.  First hay of the season and my yields or off anywhere from ton to a ton and a half an acre.  I am cutting about 2 weeks earlier than last year but the fields and pastures just seem thinner in my area.  Maybe getting to cut a little earlier will bump the yields on the second cutting.  My fields are simply grass hay.  Mainly fescue with a little clover.

Yields

May have planted too early

Here in Wisconsin we had a few nice days in early April, so I planted a five acre field of alfalfa with a little timothy and orchard grass with oats as a nurse crop. Within a few days the weather turned and we had wet cold weather for three weeks . Now the oats is finally up 6", but very thin in spots and  little or no alfalfa in those spots as well. I'm now tempted to go back in with the drill and over seed those areas after roughing it up with my spike tooth harrow. Or should I wait tell after the oats comes off, see what I have for alfalfa and grass and maybe over seed in the fall ?

May have planted too early

New Holland 780A Stuffer Arm

While baling yesterday, I heard a thump coming out of my NH 780A BR Baler.  Turns out one of the stuffer arms has a lot of play in it.

 

Anybody have any ideas about these parts availability and ease of replacement?

 

Thanks

 

Ralph

 

New Holland 780A Stuffer Arm

Water Wagon .

Pretty clever.....Progressive Forage Grower.

 

Regards, Mike

 

http://ift.tt/2qKVv20

Water Wagon .

I have had it with a sickle mower conditioner

Well I am done using a sickle mower conditioner. It was giving me a fit today trying to cut lodged alfalfa and absolutely wouldn't cut some orchard grass that had a lot of thick leafy undergrowth. It was leaving a very shaggy cut in the alfalfa since it was flat on the ground but honestly I don't think a disc mower conditioner would have cut much cleaner in these conditions but I would not have had to worry about the tangled up mess catching on the guards and dragging up a big pile and could have cut much faster. The orchard grass it simply would not cut.....you would go about 5-10 feet and then the guards would be plugged and dragging up a big pile over the standing hay instead of cutting it.....after unplugging it about a dozen times and trying to cut at 1mph I finally gave up and I'm going to try to find a disc mower conditioner I can borrow or rent.

I have talked about buying a disc mower conditioner for over a year now and I really meant to buy one this past winter but I never was able to sell or trade the 499 haybine and I didn't really want to buy another mower until I got ride of this one. I never should have bought this 499 after selling my 9 foot sickle haybine last spring......I could kick myself that I didn't just make the jump to a disc mower conditioner then. My 9 footer that I sold had stub guards so I didn't have the plugging issues that I'm having now but it was still slow and the stub guards were a pain to keep shimmed where they would cut clean.

I guess I'm just going to have to pull the trigger on a disc mower conditioner because I'm not going to deal with this damned haybine all summer long. I just hope I will be able to sell the haybine and get some of what I paid back out of it.....seems to be a very unmarketable piece of equipment......just like some other stuff I have bought.

I have had it with a sickle mower conditioner

John Deere 350 sickle bar from rivets to bolts

I'm getting ready to change my JD 350 9 foot from rivets to bolts. Any thing I should do besides changing to high lift holders on the bar?

John Deere 350 sickle bar from rivets to bolts

Equipment likes/dislikes/ratings

I would like to see a new forum or topic group specifically designed to rate a piece of equipment on certain aspects such as usability, maintenance, reliability and maybe some other categories, where we could say what we like/dislike about this unit and maybe give it a rating.

 

In my thoughts, I see major/minor and sub-minor categories with the ability to add categories over time.  Perhaps minor and sub-minor categories could be added by us.  Each posting would preferably be identified and rated, maybe with a 1-5 star rating.

 

Example:

 

New Holland TS135A Tractor

1) Maintenance

---a) Routine maintenance

------1. Ease of changing air filters

----------rjmoses ---2*--- Very difficult to change air filter with loader mounted.  Have to snake hand in and around air conditioning lines and loader arms.  Spring clips really poorly designed for ease-of-access.

-----2. Ease of changing oil and oil filter.

---------rjmoses ---4* --- Oil filter easy to access.  Oil pan drain plugs on both sides of oil pan, easy to get to.  Requires metric allen wrench

-----3. A/C Maintenance

---------rjmoses---3*--- Cabin air filter very difficult to get at.

2) Usability

-----a) Operator comfort

---------1. Operator seat

--------------rjmoses---4*---Delux operator seat is very comfortable.  Air seat has to be re-inflated periodically.  Lots of controls for operator comfort but poorly identified.

----- Hitching/unhitching equipment

-------------rjmoses----3*---Safety shield over PTO makes it difficult to hook up PTO shaft.

 

My thinking behind this is that it becomes a summary of likes/dislikes for future reference for us as users and for feedback to manufacturers ("Boy, did we get flamed on that one!  Maybe those guys have a good idea there.").

 

Just thinking,

 

Ralph

 

 

 

Equipment likes/dislikes/ratings

NH 1033 hydraulics

I need some input on a issue I have discovered today with our 1033.
I was doing some measuring on the unit when I noticed a hydraulic leak near the pump.
After washing and close inspection I found the oil coming from the pump body. Front section.
I looked on NH parts site and a new pump is 4,100 cdn.... must be an alternative for this machine? Also I can get a seal kit for it but most would say pump is bad no? We just got the machine last year, so we are still learning how to use it. Paid 2500. Has been some welding done to it but it worked good for us last year. Put up about 1500 bales. Hoping to build a shed at some point, but in the mean time I'm looking for some information. And what is special about this pump? 1 suction line and looks like 2 pressure lines off the back?
Up near dawson creek bc canada. Thanks shawn

NH 1033 hydraulics

IH 27V sickle bar update

My dad and I took the guards and hold downs and some shims off. We cracked open this ball and socket deal to remove the cutter bar. I attached some pictures. I'm afraid the cutting edge on the guards are bad... Could anyone advise​ on my pictures if they
are bad. At over $6 each it'll be a little chunk of change to replace all 26 or so.

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

IH 27V sickle bar update

Words I never thought I'd say.....

I've got a window, 85's/50% humidity through Tuesday, to get some hay down.  Mowed 28 acres yesterday on a tired field and was able to run about 8.5 acres/hour.   Figured throw it in a narrow windrow, let the ground dry a little, then ted it today.   

 

Started mowing the Warrior OG field I planted a year and a half ago (Oct. 2015) under wheat.  

 

Ready for it?  This field is SOOO thick and has SOOOO much leaf that I quit after mowing 7 out of 18 acres: 

 

So much hay that I don't think it will get dry by Tuesday (calling for T-Storms Weds. AM).  Have seep spring down low that's not helping.  I figure I will either get up about a 1/3rd with really good quality, and 2/3rds later with moderate quality.   Or not!

 

I have NEVER had an OG field this thick!   And with so much leaf!

 

Ralph

 

Words I never thought I'd say.....

Batwing rotating backwards on left wing

I bought a used 15' Woods 815HD to mow pastures. The right and center blades rotate clockwise as they should.
The left wing also rotates clockwise but the and blades are positioned to cut counter clockwise. There is a decal on the left wing that indicates the blades should rotate counter clockwise. I'm guessing someone did a gearbox repair and installed something incorrectly. Any suggestions would be much appreciated so I don't start a project blind. Thanks

Batwing rotating backwards on left wing

Melroe grain drill

We have a Melroe model 202 grain drill that I would like to find a owner manual for.  I am hoping that someone here on Haytalk has on lying around in their shop somewhere. 

Melroe grain drill

Hydraulic Cylinders

What causes hydraulic cylinders fo leak profusely from the breather plug and does it mean an automatic rebuild of the cylinder to fix the problem?
Thanks

Hydraulic Cylinders

Hay Market Report

From Progressive Forage Grower.

 

Regards, Mike

 

http://ift.tt/2qBznHh

Hay Market Report

Summer Conversion Of Toxic Tall Fescue.

From our good friends at Progressive Forage Grower.

 

Regards, Mike

 

http://ift.tt/2rbmDnR

Summer Conversion Of Toxic Tall Fescue.

best herbicide for horsetail rush (equisetum)

What is the best way to get rid of these beasties? When I was a kid we called them Chinese puzzles and liked to pull the segments apart and put them back together. Last summer I had a section of these plants start growing abundantly along side by gated pipe in a Roundup Ready alfalfa field. I used a backpack sprayer with glyphosate and sprayed multiple times. The stems seemed to die. This spring they are back. I note from different extension service publications that Sledgehammer, Manage, and glyphosate are effective. Does anyone have good luck with these or some other method to get rid of them? So far the horsetail rush plants are mainly on one side of my irrigation pipe, the side that is not watering my alfalfa and against a road. But a few of the plants are now appearing on the field side of my alfalfa. I certainly want to get rid of them. Thanks.

best herbicide for horsetail rush (equisetum)

Hesston 745 not cutting twine

I am new to baling hay, and recently purchased a one owner Hesston 745 round baler with auto wrap with about 3,000 bales on it. I baled a small patch just to try everything out, and found that my twine knife is not cutting the twine. All my tension plates are adjusted per owner manual specs, and I am using what was sold to me as good quality twine ( I have known the man at the ag store for several years and he has always done me right. I just ordered a replacement twine knife. Does anybody have any other ideas?

Hesston 745 not cutting twine

Deere 567 twine arm issue

Hopefully someone here can help as this is becoming quite aggravating! Baler is a 567 with 12,000 bales on the counter. Twine only no net.
Bale reaches full size, monitor gives long beep and twine arms extend like normal. They make the end wraps on right side then start to travel across. This is where the problem occurs, for some reason they speed up and travel about half way across the bale then go back to normal and make left side end wraps.
I have loosened twine tension and it seems to help a little but still does it occasionally with tension backed all the way off. I'm using Tytan 110-20,000' balls.
BTW a neighbor has exact same baler and his does same thing. Any ideas?

Deere 567 twine arm issue

Small square Twine tails

Since making the move to using a bale barron been noticing a lot of twine tails getting compressed in the bundles therefore making it to the delivery site. Even had some customers complain about the tails on the bales. They are Concerned about animals consuming them.

What is everyone's thought on this. We were thinking of using a fan to blow them off the bales. This of course raises the concern of having them cover the hay fields. And they could really add up, 4 cuttings per year. Being plastic they will be there a long time. And also We dont want to be raking them into windrows on the next cuttings.

Anybody ever use enviro cord from cordex? Suppose to break down from uv rays in 3 months.
Also anybody have concerns about twine tails all over fields and getting into your product?

Never gave any of this a thought before. I guess with a Bale wagon the tails got knocked off well before making it to the customer

Small square Twine tails

First go in the barn

Well it felt good to get everything out and put some hay up

Mowed with Jd 625 moco flail on Sunday

Left in tight windrow rest of day and over night as ground was very wet
Too wet

Teddered 2 times Monday and Tuesday

Once wed

Raked at 1

Baled at 2:30

Boom!!!!!!

In the barn

Going all in sat as we have a pressure system holding thing just tight for 5 days

Customers waiting





First go in the barn

Battery or Solar Powered Electric Fence Charger.

I am going to be putting a couple of hives of bees in the mountains of extreme North Georgia. Bears are a problem so i need a electrified deterrent. I will be using barbed wire strands to electrify so that it will reach well into the bears fur and hide.

 

I have not bought a charger in 20 years and what I have are all 110 volt and I need something for a remote location....and as reasonably priced as allowed for something that will for sure work well. Any first hand recommendations?

 

Regards, Mike

 

 

Battery or Solar Powered Electric Fence Charger.

US Beef Team Visits Japan.

I feel as though US beef has weathered the storm and is now on a long term upwards trend...I hope.

 

Regards, Mike

 

http://ift.tt/2qvnrHh

US Beef Team Visits Japan.

fabri-cobbled a grapple

The new barn an new skid steer left me in-want of another grapple; while I was at it, I decided to go with a steffen style as it had added height and appears easier to use when you can't see the top of the stack from a skid steer.

Here is the grapple that I've been fabricobbling on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used the Steffen's style as I plan on only using this one to unload from the wagons into the barn and out of the barn back onto customers' trailers. I doubt it would work well in the field as it won't “crowd” the pack to tighten it up prior to loading.

This is what I have in it, so far. I have not installed took possession of the cylinder yet, so there are no cylinders or hoses on it yet.

 

.

s60-35 wire for spool gun on mig welder  (can be had cheaper, but I like the supplier)    $44.75
17 1/4-28 grease zerks         $3.70
2x10 cylinder           $20.00 (used)
½” plate (2'x3'), drill rod (bushing mat'l) and hyd cyl ram (swivel pin mat'l) (scrap yard) $25.00
3/8 skid steer plate (palletforks.com)       $116.00
1 plasma cutter tip (consumed)        $1.70
1 spool gun tip (consumed)         $1.15
1 chop saw blade (consumed)        $6.95
electricity           $TBD
2  4-1/2 grinder wheels         $1.98
Hydraulic hoses          $TBD
Pioneer male ends          $14.98
Grapple Hooks (Agrisupply) (24 + spare)       $233.89
½ x 2 hot rolled flat    weight  68.     $33.15
3x2x.188 hot rolled tubing- rectangle (2) weight 268.32     $167.70
1x1/2x1/8 hot rolled bar channel (2)  weight 33.6     $22.85
1” hot rolled round (2)    weight 106.8     $43.50
3/16x3 hot rolled flat (2)    weight 76.52     $36.16
5x2x.188 hot rolled tubing-rectangle   weight 195.60     $122.25

 

I'm at @$895 right now with hoses and fittings to buy and electricity to figure or a all-inclusive price (with the exception of depreciation of welders, chop saws, etc...)

 

Note, there is steel left-over from the build that can be used for other projects, but the cost is attributable to the build as it was a necessary purchase in whole-lengths.

 

Mark

fabri-cobbled a grapple