Surviving Minnesota!

[bobbi-j]

Haying has just been a mess for us so far. Everyday the same sickle on the sickle mower breaks, which isn't hard to replace, but it is so annoying. A bearing went out in the left tire on the baler, with no warning at all it was good one day and the next day it was not. My dad and I went everywhere in Bismarck looking for a new one, and we found the correct races but no seal. So we had to order in one that still hasn't come, so we put the new races and old seal in and have just kept baling, it rocks a little but not as bad as before. Last night I was raking by myself and I was turning in the headlands I was watching the rear right wheel of the tractor and the hitch when all of a sudden bang, a wheel(one that rakes the hay) had just fallen off, so I hit the clutch and brakes and put the tractor in park. I got off and looked, and I see 2 races still on the arm for the wheel and there was no putting the wheel back on. I didn't know what my dad wanted me to do so I sat and waited. Half an hour later my dad comes and I end up driving the tractor home getting 2 wheels off of our parts rake loading those in the pickup, then I drove the tractor back out and my mom drove the pickup out. We put the new wheel on and I started again. It all was going good until it got dark, with no headlights and only 1 light in the back that barely spans to the outer wheels on either side of the rake, it is a pain to rake when it gets dark because you can barely see the hay or what is in front of you, you can only see where you have been. If the wheel hadn't fallen off I would have been done and probably home by then. Finally I was halfway through my second to last pass! When the tractor just dies, no sounds from the engine. So I put it in park and I checked the gas and oil, which were both good previously that evening, and they were still good. My dad stops and he comes over, he had some guesses but we couldn't see worth a darn and those last 2 passes were just raking some very small piece on either end to the last windrow. So then I had to go sit in the tractor he bales with which has a cab but its 40 years old so there is no room for 2 fully grown adults so this morning everything is sore from being scrunched in there. Hopefully once we fix everything today it will all be good for the rest of the season

Someone just told me the other day, “If something ain’t broke, it ain’t haying season.” Seems to me that you’re taking that to the extreme, though...

 

[I Love Layers]

I’ve heard haying implements love to break down.

I don’t think your alone Layers.

They do love to break down, lol. I don't think I have had one day since we have started haying where I haven't had to work on some piece of equiptment...

Someone just told me the other day, “If something ain’t broke, it ain’t haying season.” Seems to me that you’re taking that to the extreme, though...

That is the best thing to describe haying! Usually we will have a few small break downs sickles break, have to patch a tire, a new hydraulic hose but this stuff has been ongoing since we started. Hopefully with us fixing everything this year next year will only be small stuff.


We got the John deere back home this morning, we charged it once and half way home it died again so we had to charge it again. So now we have it sitting in the machine shed charging more. It has been sprinkling off and on this morning which is really good as it was getting dry again

 

[holm25]

There is a reason we got a brand spankin new Hay Bine and Rake. Te old ones just break. We have had to replace a roller and barring on the baler this year...


ILL is it a blade that keeps breaking or a tooth on the sickle? All it take is a little bend in the tooth and it will destroy your blades in a hurry..

 

[I Love Layers]

Newer isn't always better, bigger isn't always better either. The sickle mower puts up way better hay than most cutting machines, and it is so easy to work on, plus they are relatively cheap. Our rake is older, and it is not the best but it does the job and we only had to pay $1000 for that one and another one. Plus we have a parts rake we got for free so we don't have to go out and buy parts for the rake
It is a sickle section, it either falls off or breaks. It is next to the shoe so our thought is that the cutterbar wobbles a bit and causes the sickle to hit the shoe sometimes. The guard is straight which is why we think it is wobbling

 

[holm25]

Newer isn't always better, bigger isn't always better either. The sickle mower puts up way better hay than most cutting machines, and it is so easy to work on, plus they are relatively cheap. Our rake is older, and it is not the best but it does the job and we only had to pay $1000 for that one and another one. Plus we have a parts rake we got for free so we don't have to go out and buy parts for the rake
It is a sickle section, it either falls off or breaks. It is next to the shoe so our thought is that the cutterbar wobbles a bit and causes the sickle to hit the shoe sometimes. The guard is straight which is why we think it is wobbling

We have been pretty happy with our New Holland Hay Bine. It has a crimp roller so the hay dries fasterand breaks any big stalks so we don’t have issues with the cows not like hay because it’s too coarse.

We also have a New Holland take and we love that as well. It’s all Hydraulic lifted and we can do 3-4 rows at once...

 

[I Love Layers]

See I wouldn't like the crimper just because it could cause leaves to fall off the alfalfa, which is why we use our stack maker on our best alfalfa patches. It puts it up nice and it will keep the hay fresh for a long time. We have 4 year old hay that we made in stacks that is still green other then the top inch. With our sickle mower the hay dries in anywhere from 12-24 hours, so it dries pretty fast. Granted we are not as wet as you guys are, and our hay land isn't as tall or thick so a sickle mower might not work as well out there.
I would love a hydraulic lifting rake like that! Our raking tractor is a 2010 John Deere, I am not sure on the year it was made but either way it is almost 60 years old.

I really like it minus the no power steering and the fact that it only has 1 hydraulic circuit and the rake has 3 hoses, so if you are going somewhere where you need to raise the wheels and close the rake it can take a while to actually get going...

 

[holm25]

See I wouldn't like the crimper just because it could cause leaves to fall off the alfalfa, which is why we use our stack maker on our best alfalfa patches. It puts it up nice and it will keep the hay fresh for a long time. We have 4 year old hay that we made in stacks that is still green other then the top inch. With our sickle mower the hay dries in anywhere from 12-24 hours, so it dries pretty fast. Granted we are not as wet as you guys are, and our hay land isn't as tall or thick so a sickle mower might not work as well out there.
I would love a hydraulic lifting rake like that! Our raking tractor is a 2010 John Deere, I am not sure on the year it was made but either way it is almost 60 years old.
View attachment 1472983
I really like it minus the no power steering and the fact that it only has 1 hydraulic circuit and the rake has 3 hoses, so if you are going somewhere where you need to raise the wheels and close the rake it can take a while to actually get going...

Im gonna have to get pictures of the crimp. We don’t have any issues with losing leaves.


We love our old David Brown for haying. Never have had an issue with it and it’s a beautiful machine...

 

[I Love Layers]

I have seen quite a few crimps, just not a fan of them. I can see where they would work with wetter, thicker grass compared to other cutting machines

 

[MNChickMom]

Wish I had access to my old phone right now.....I would show you haying pictures.

ROTOBALER!

Round bales even a child can handle.

 

[I Love Layers]

I have heard of those but never seen one! That is so cool!!