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My haying method.

D

David G

Well-known Member
The other thread is getting long.

My theory on hay is to handle it no more times than necessary. This is especially important with clover or alfalfa, which will end up with no leaves if not careful.

Mow

Rake it so most of the ground can dry, not needed with Mowco or if ground is dry.

If not drying then tedder.

Final rake.

Bale

I like to rake or tedder when dew is on the hay so the leaves stick.

Run tedder at lowest working RPM to minimize damage.
 
I love hay, it is super fun or super stressful, many a night hauling bales back with lightning in the sky. I quit doing it when my farming partner died last year. I pretty much just move the big bales for the neighbors now, that gets me out into the sun. If you start making big bales, the 6610 is a nice tractor, it handles a ton on the back and a ton on the front nicely.
 
Here in NY, i ted as soon as im done mowing while the hay is green, let it dry 2 days, if i really have to ill ted again a few hours before i rake then bale. If weather cooperates i ted once rake let dry then bale, its always a crap shot!
 
I like doing hay but the most fun I've had doing hay is doing someone elses. You no longer have to care about the weather, break downs and all the other stuff that makes you stress over hay. If they cut it and asked for help then the monkey is on their back.
 
We cut with a disbine and if the ground is wet put it in very narrow and wait untill the next morning to ted it out wide. If dry ground we might ted late the day we cut it. I had some third crop we wanted dry that we cut and then I ran it through a crimper and tedded it the next morning. Dry hay is not as easy to get as it was years ago. Tom
 

David, I think that everyone subscribes to the same theory, LOL. How we get there however, varies tremendously according to local conditions. This year as dry as it is our procedure is very close to yours. Most of the time however there is so much moisture in the ground that we almost always ted twice, sometimes even three times. Raking too early will result in mold.
 
Here in mid Mn. ,I don't even know of a Farmer with a tedder . Hay is handled as little as possible. They may use a side rake to turn it before baling. Or use the large wheel rakes to bring more windrows together for the big squares.
 
Dry hay isn’t done much anymore. Wet wrapped bales or chopped through a forage harvester and stored as silage. Dry hay years ago was mostly cut when hay was mature or past mature so it could get dry enough to store as dry hay, but protein suffered. To cut lush in mature hay stands, and attempt to make dry hay out of it, just doesn’t happen often without the hay taking a rain. I never even consider trying to make dry hay anymore, waste too much time and quality in the feed, no matter how we go about it here around these Great Lakes basin.
 
There has never ever been a bale of hay loaded on a wagon behind a baler in this country since a baler was invented and i doubt there ever will be and we put up as nice of hay as anybody
 
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