Different Hay Implement- ReCon 300

Billy NY · Jun 10, 2015

Never saw one of these in use, anyone have any experience or thoughts? There is an interesting video in the link below. Done a fair share of hay over the years, same as most though, sickle, mower conditioner, disc mower with conditioning, tedder, side delivery rake, small squares mostly. Only concern would be with leafy plants being cut for hay, seems there is an appropriate time its used for that.
ReCon 300

Tim(nj) · Jun 10, 2015

big hay farmer near here who's up to date on all the machinery for small squares in big quantity bought a Macerator a few years ago. Different company but same concept. Macerator lasted a year before it was traded off on a new double rotary rake. Must not have given any advantage.

Billy NY · Jun 10, 2015

Never saw one at a farm show or in any new line ups I've seen in person. Certainly know the rationale behind producing the best hay you can. Its a significant investment for haying if one was to buy one of these. There was a local one for sale, said he's moving up to the next model, reason for selling etc. Probably isn't anyone more skeptical then a farmer being introduced to a new implement LOL ! Thought maybe someone here may have some insight to it, the video is convincing, but its sales literature too !

showcrop · Jun 10, 2015

A friend has been using one for maybe 12-14 years and swears by it. I looked into them some and sent away for info. One thing that I noticed though was a lot of one year old Macerators for sale. That kind of turned me off to them.

rankrank1 · Jun 10, 2015

I posted a link to that same video on another site and offered my thoughts on it too...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1og_YhNFvMY

My thoughts are: I really enjoyed watching this video. Most importantly it was nice to see an Ag products manufacturer totally confirm what I have already learned with some experimenting on my own piddle patch operation. Nice to see data and studies back up my own experiences though. I cut with a Hesston 1120 (9' traditional sickle mower with roller conditioners). I lay my swath out wide instead of windrowing it. Once that swatch goes limp and lies flat on the ground either same day or early next day , I rake it into a loose fluffy windrow with my rake. No one else that I know rakes this early. That said, I do not use just any hay rake because some rakes are known rope makers that do not promote hay drying. Instead, I use an old antique rake that makes very loose and fluffy windrows that the wind and air can circulate through easily. I can even adjust the loosness and fluffiness of my windrow. Once that loose fluffy windrow from my rake goes limp, I then flip the windrow again with the tail of the rake making yet another very loose and fluffy windrow that the wind and air circulates through. I get excellent drying this way without sun bleaching. Plus , I gain all the moving the swath benefits to drier ground that the fancy machine claims.

Except for the extra conditioning that their fancy machine does offer (and the ability to travel at 10 mph) , My primitive $90 antique rake method offers most all the other same benefits that their fancy machine does but I am admittingly limited to 5 to 5.5 mph or so travel speed with my antique steel wheeled rake which is plenty fast enough for the antique tractors I am using to operate anyhow (my back would not handle much more). Kinda cool....No way cool....

I think I am geeked now learning the some of the "why" behind how my method works. When I started implementing my current method it is was really more of a taking what I had available and in my mind improvising to make it work as best I could as it was all I had available to use. With all this new information that I am processing: I simply may not be improvising as much as I originally thought I was.

Started doing some of this additional reading in an effort to learn more about haying in Alaska and here I learned more details about why what I do (even though few others do it the way I do) works in Ohio. Best of all, I am simply not improvising as much as I thought I have been all along...simply did not fully understand till now (again very cool).

Ken Macfarlane · Jun 11, 2015

Talking to folks who have macerators they've said they are great getting hay dry but if you get any rain, any at all, the rain gets it wet inside the plant because it's so macerated and becomes garbage. You can't just ted it out and take a little quality hit.

showcrop · Jun 11, 2015

(quoted from post at 18:58:20 06/10/15) I posted a link to that same video on another site and offered my thoughts on it too...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1og_YhNFvMY

My thoughts are: I really enjoyed watching this video. Most importantly it was nice to see an Ag products manufacturer totally confirm what I have already learned with some experimenting on my own piddle patch operation. Nice to see data and studies back up my own experiences though. I cut with a Hesston 1120 (9' traditional sickle mower with roller conditioners). I lay my swath out wide instead of windrowing it. Once that swatch goes limp and lies flat on the ground either same day or early next day , I rake it into a loose fluffy windrow with my rake. No one else that I know rakes this early. That said, I do not use just any hay rake because some rakes are known rope makers that do not promote hay drying. Instead, I use an old antique rake that makes very loose and fluffy windrows that the wind and air can circulate through easily. I can even adjust the loosness and fluffiness of my windrow. Once that loose fluffy windrow from my rake goes limp, I then flip the windrow again with the tail of the rake making yet another very loose and fluffy windrow that the wind and air circulates through. I get excellent drying this way without sun bleaching. Plus , I gain all the moving the swath benefits to drier ground that the fancy machine claims.

Except for the extra conditioning that their fancy machine does offer (and the ability to travel at 10 mph) , My primitive $90 antique rake method offers most all the other same benefits that their fancy machine does but I am admittingly limited to 5 to 5.5 mph or so travel speed with my antique steel wheeled rake which is plenty fast enough for the antique tractors I am using to operate anyhow (my back would not handle much more). Kinda cool....No way cool....

I think I am geeked now learning the some of the "why" behind how my method works. When I started implementing my current method it is was really more of a taking what I had available and in my mind improvising to make it work as best I could as it was all I had available to use. With all this new information that I am processing: I simply may not be improvising as much as I originally thought I was.

Started doing some of this additional reading in an effort to learn more about haying in Alaska and here I learned more details about why what I do (even though few others do it the way I do) works in Ohio. Best of all, I am simply not improvising as much as I thought I have been all along...simply did not fully understand till now (again very cool).

That sounds pretty much like how everyone did it prior to Mocos and tedders.

rankrank1 · Jun 11, 2015

Except most of the so called expert haymakers say the worst thing you can do is rake too early. Many, whether they have a tedder or not, will to rake until a couple hours before they bale.

I tried letting it lay once and quickly learned that was not going to work for me in SW Ohio. I am sure would some of the fancy equipment would be better. That said, I would not want to use a rope maker hay rake for the way I do it either. I still think the key to my success (improvised I will certainly admit it is) is the old JD 594 hay rake makes a loose fluffy windrow.

Different Hay Implement- ReCon 300

Billy NY

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Tim(nj)

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Billy NY

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showcrop

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rankrank1

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Ken Macfarlane

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showcrop

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rankrank1

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