microhay equipment

Haying will end eventually

Steve HardinLeave a comment

It’s the weekend so it is time to do some more haying! I would have cut hay yesterday but we had a high wind and rain advisory so I opted to not cut anything. It spewed a little rain but nothing exciting. The clouds made it look like it was going to be bad at any moment all day long so there was not really a great indicator that it would be safe to cut.

I decided to spray some weeds Friday morning. The wind had not picked up yet and I wanted to get over to the neighbor’s to kill the noxious weeds in the lower pasture. I got a hose hooked up and filled the sprayer. Unfortunately, I did not check that the pump would work first. I could not get the pump to turn on. I thought the pump had gotten sticky so I beat on it with a hammer a few times and that did not fix it. I tried the power and lights in various positions and could not get the pump to turn on. Giving up I went and got a voltmeter and started at the pump and checking each connection for power. I know this will be shocking but I did not discover the problem until I got to the fuse box and found a burned out fuse. For future reference I need to track the power interruption from the source out to the load not the other way around. It would have been a lot faster. We had some nonorganic extra grain delivered. I need to get our granary bottom repaired. It will hold over 100 sqft. I am on the lookout for another small granary that will hold 100-250 sqft of grain.

I got the neighbor’s field edges sprayed and had a nice visit with him in the middle of the gravel road. We made a side by side drive around so it did not interrupt our gabbing. I sprayed the road side of the CRP and most of the upper fence line before running out of chemicals. The wind was blowing so I put the new land plane on the tractor and leveled out the driveway. The land plane makes the driveway flat and smooth plus it is easy to use. I am super happy with it. It also did not leave groove marks in driveway.

Today I had a few honey do chores outside then I worked on fixing the sickle bar mower. I had a couple more loose bolts on the bar so all the bolts had to be tightened. I only found four movable bolts. I had already bent the bolt for the outer flange so I found the biggest bolt that would fit and pounded it in with a hammer. I had to use an impact hammer to get the nut on the bolt. I did take the main piece off and beat it profoundly with a very large hammer on the anvil to get some of the curve out of it. I tried the vice first but a large hammer was the ticket!

Once I had it all working I went out and cut all of field #2 that was good hay. It took about three hours to get it all cut. The upper pond in field 2 still has water in it, which is a first. It is always dry by this time of the year. I have never seen it with water in it this late. Annmarie and I talked about maybe fencing in the pond so the farm animals cannot get into it. It does dry up but if we fence it off they cannot disturb the plants.

I did manage to get a single picture of the first calf. I came back by thirty minutes later and there was no calf to be seen. It had vanished! The first month of their life they are very elusive. The mothers hide them very well.

Tomorrow I have to fix the rake first thing then tear into the baler. Annmarie was less than impressed with the new mistress’s name. She stated that she was not going to call the new Kubota “Juicy”. I suppose there is some rationale in that as most wives don’t like their spouse’s mistresses.

Getting lucky

Steve HardinLeave a comment

By the third dayI figured that a little bit of sunscreen on my face was not going to help if I spent all day on the tractor again. I had already managed to sunburn my lips. I took the, still in the box, sunshade that had been purchased for the older Kubota (Clementine) and installed it on the new one (Juicy). It took a couple of hours to get it all pieced together and up on the tractor. This one has a very nice locking mechanism that virtually makes it impossible for the shade to blow off the tractor. It is quite clever. After baling hay for an hour I asked myself why I did not do that two days earlier! Keeping that direct sun off of your face is a huge relief.

The hydraulic takeoffs do work! I only need one to get the dump lid on the baler to work and it worked great once I got the port all cleaned up. It had a lot of dust and dried grass in it. Unfortunately, I did order dust caps but do not order them by the size of the plug. They are ordered by the size of the hose. I did not know that until the wrong ones arrived in the mail. The correct size is now on order.

I spent all of Sunday baling hay until 2330. I really wanted to keep baling but we had scheduled help to come out on Monday at 0800 and help us with shear the alpaca. The haying got a lot easier once the sun went down. The moisture started to come out and the grass was not as slick. It baled super nice, no jams and it just wound up without any difficulties. I made twice as much progress after darkness hit. I started to just pick the big rows to bale as it was so fast. I figured I could get the smaller rows after we sheared the alpaca.

We had four alpaca that I had managed to get pinned on the back hillside. I thought they would cross the back creek. Nope, I ended up taking a header into the creek when the alpaca I was attempting to drag across the creek suddenly jumped and scrambled up the opposite side. Of course that same alpaca ended up jumping back across the creek to be with his buddies. One of the babies kicked Annmarie in the lower leg. It was a solid blow. That same alpaca proceeded to try and give us all the rear kick anytime we walked up behind it. So we grabbed it from the side when we drug it into the shearing area. It has grown significantly, it is probably our biggest alpaca now.

We did eventually get all four alpaca across the creek and I did not end up in it again. We only have six to shear, trim feet and inspect/cut teeth.

The shearing table makes it pretty easy to do everything. Our helper, the Quiet One, had never sheared alpaca before but she had just paid someone to come out to her place and shear her two alpaca. It was decided that she can just bring hers over to our place and we can just shear all of them on the same day. We had all six done within three hours. After three days of riding on the tractor my upper shoulders were killing me but I am getting much faster at shearing the alpaca than I used to when I started. I passed the trimmer off to the wife and Quiet One but ended up going back to it as I wanted to be done. I only cut three of them with the razor. No stitches have ever been necessary.

We dragged a tarp with the last two years worth of discarded hair over to the garden so we can use it as weed barrier. It makes great barrier. I showed the Quiet One how to work the new tractor and she will come out and mow the cheat grass down during the week. It needs it. I have been trying to mow the cheat grass while haying but once I started to bale nothing else gets done until hay is all formed into round bales. Once the bales are made I will leave them in the field for a couple of weeks. This is why I like the round bales so much better. They work for my delayed schedule.

I called in to the house and the wife brought me coffee out to the field! It was one of the best cups of coffee ever. I needed that coffee. Going around and around and watching the baler is monotonous. Even if I did manage to knock out two audio books over the weekend.

I went out and started to bale for another seven hours. I had enough material on the ground for approximately 12 more bales when the big boom was heard. The shear nut gave on the baler and I tried to replace it. I could not get the baler tines to move so I figured I better look closer to see what made that noise. One of the pickup tines exploded and broke some stuff that pinned the pickup shaft solid. I need three hours to tear into it and replace all the parts. It is close enough to finished to call it finished!

I now have to fix the sickle bar mower, the rake and the baler before I can cut some more hay. My plan is to fix the mower, cut hay, then fix the rake, rake and then fix the baler! As long as I get it fixed before I need it I am good to go.

Haying

Steve HardinLeave a comment

I have embraced the mechanic option out of necessity. All of my hay equipment is out of Italy and no one around here will work on it. So I have to fix it myself if I want to use it. I had to fix the sickle bar mower before I could go out and cut the first batch of hay on our place. Luckily, when I placed the order for parts I ordered everything I thought I would need except for one bolt that was going to have to come from Italy. That single bolt would have cost me $50. I figured I could find a bolt that would work for less than that.

I got the end of the sickle bar torn off and the new parts on. I was able to find a workable bolt to substitute for the Italy special. I went out and started to cut all of field #1. About halfway through it the mower stopped working. I had lost a bolt on the bar itself and one of the retainers had spun around. I drove back, replaced the bolt (I had purchased spares) and then tightened all of the bolts on the entire sickle bar and regreased everything. I went out and finished cutting the entire field. I did have to work past sundown. I did not want to come back and cut the last section in the morning. It would screw with the drying rate. When I got back I did notice that the Italy special replacement bolt had already bent. I am going to have to tear that fin off and beat on it with a very large hammer. I think I have gotten a sharper angle bent into it than it should have over the years of just normal usage. It needs some hammer therapy on the anvil to set it straight, literally! I know there is a second bolt available so I will replace the bent one when it is reassembled.

I found two batches of pheasant chicks out in the field when I was cutting, both were in the far middle of the pasture. I had to work hard not to run them over or cut them up with the bar. I managed to not hurt a single one.

I went out the next afternoon and turned and rowed the hay. So some of it had just barely had 24 hours or less since it was first cut. It was not super hot out but the hay was drying out fast. I rowed it with the power rake but again by the time I was done with the rake I had broken 8 tines! It was set too low and I had a lot of old tines on it. I do not believe there are very many old tines left. I had to go past dark again before it was completed. The hay was pretty dry so I knew I would be baling the next day. I will now need to repair this piece of equipment before it can be used again. I have instituted a repair personal priority system. The order in which the pieces of equipment are going to be needed are the order in which they are repaired. So the sickle bar mower first, then the powered rake then the baler.

We have our three yearling calves in the orchard near the houses and driveway. We are just tired of the butcher calves just being crazy because they never have to deal with humans until we run them into the pen to be killed. We are hoping that by us being able to talk to them and them being around us they will calm down. They are a little calmer currently than last year. The real problem is that Annmarie thinks we missed a testicle when we banded the calves. So far we have not ran them into the chute for a definitive grab/inspection. We are usually pretty careful about the cows when they are getting banded. Time will tell on this issue.

Baling done, now real work begins

Steve HardinLeave a comment

Well, I did it, I managed to get all the hay baled. It was not a smooth process. I wish it would just happen but it just doesn’t seem like that is possible. I am sure that the key to being a farmer is to expect that stuff will break when you want to use it and stubbornness is a necessity to succeed. I was headed over on Saturday by 0715 to bale with some moisture on the hay so it would be “sticky” enough to bale. I was headed up the last little hill that has a horrible washboarded section when all of sudden I heard a loud clanging and the tractor shifted. I slammed on the brakes and looked behind me. The baler had jumped off the tractor pin hitch and was sideways in the road. I had bent half the pto shaft under the tractor and the hydraulic hose and pull rope had come disconnected.

I ended up using the broken pto shaft as a wheel stop and pushed the baler with the tractor to get it lined up with the road. I had used a small strap to tie the two 3 point arms together so I used those to lift the tongue of the baler so I could put the bent pin back in and limp home. Once I got home I ran to town and got a new PTO shaft. Unfortunately, I picked up a shaft for a 3 point hole auger. Those have one connection that is different so I ended up pulling apart a short one I had and using it on one end and the new one on the other end. It worked great. I got a new bigger pin and drove over to get some baling done at 1030. I was just pulling into the field when it dawned on me that I should check the hydraulic dump on the baler. I managed to shoot hydraulic fluid all over the tractor and myself. I had torn apart the hose and not noticed the connection broken at the baler. So I once again had to drive back to the house and unhook the hose and take the parts into town to see if a new end piece could be attached to old hose. For $25 they were able to repair the hose! I have lots of extra hose so I can break the end off a few more times before it becomes an issue. It was now 1430 and too hot to bale hay. The hay will have to wait till Sunday. I was able to get some of our front hillside weed eated. I also got the water hooked up for the hillside and the lavender and put on timers.

Sunday I was out the door by 0515 with water, breakfast sandwich (cheese, tortilla and precooked sausage patty) and coffee. I was able to finish the top field pretty quickly but when I went to the lower field I started snapping shear bolts. I ended up going back up to the top field and stacking bales to the outside and in a few piles then went over the entire field again picking up the sloppy edges. Once that was done I went back down to the lower field. I really should have turned the lower field a third time. I need to remember that it needs one more than the upper field. I ended up lifting the back half of the round baler and using it like a rower to fluff five rows so I could bale them. I think there are about five bales on the bottom that I will have to leave out of the barn and test for moisture content. It is not hard to tell which ones are wet as they weigh twice what every other bale weighs.

I ended up with a total of 170 bales made. We feed 6 bales/day in the winter so I have one month already done. Now the hard part starts. I have about 100 bales in the second hay area that are 2 years old. They need to be moved onto the overhead platform to be used as bedding. I will then clean out the hay room and get the new hay into this room. I alternate rooms every year and we always feed out of the previous year’s hay. So I will be moving hay most every evening until this gets done.

Making Hay bales!

Steve HardinLeave a comment

I have turned the hay twice during the week after work. It took about 4 hours the first time to get it into rows and then it took a little over 2 hours to turn those rows. The first pass took a lot longer as I had to move all the poison oak to the outside of edge of the field so I would not bale it up. The tractor has a pretty good light system on it so I can keep working after dark.

I knew I was going to have to bale on Friday. Usually I don’t start baling until around 1000 in the morning. I like to let the morning dew dry off a little. The hay is super dry on the upper field! I was at it for two hours and kept having pickup problems due to the hay being so dry and slick. I finally gave up after I had about half the field baled and went down to the lower pasture. It is down by the river and holds moisture longer into the day.

There was a lot more moisture down below. I kept pulling in slugs of wet grass at the last minute. I broke three upper shear bolts and two lower shear bolts . The lower ones require multiple covers to come off and are harder to get at. I also had a lot of dried grass trapped under various covers. After I broke the last bolt I just gave up. I took all the covers off to remove any loose hay and will change the shear bolts at home. I am definitely going to need to blow out the entire baler with the leaf blower tomorrow before I get started. I will need to replace the shear bolts also. My plan is to get up and outside by daylight and be baling by 0630.

Annmarie called me, while I had baler covers off, to tell me that we had a bee swarm in the raspberries. After her arm got swollen to twice its size last week I didn’t really want her fighting a swarming hive. I got done as fast as possible and was home in under 30 minutes but the swarm had taken off! We did not really need a fourth hive, I do have a spot for it out in the barn lot but again we don’t need it.

We are still fine tuning the garden water. When we add in more troughs it takes a while to figure out what types of sprayers are needed. I will need to get the front hillside hoses laid out and the lavender garden hooked up to auto timers also. We have multiple auto waterers all over the yard for every little thing. Once they are all set up it makes the rest of the summer go smoothly.

I had to call the microhay equipment dealer today and order a new hydraulic hose for our Abbriata M50 round baler. When I called the company stated that they no longer sell them. There is a cheap Chinese knock off that drops the price point so low that no one will buy an Abbriata. He said they would have to sell them for over $16k now, but they still carry all the parts for them. They had all the parts I needed on hand. I had to order some new netting also there were only two new rolls left in the shed and I had to take an extra today. I managed to not change out the roll but I will have to put the new one on tomorrow.

Our sheep are now allowed onto the back hillside in a specific spot behind our house. They love to go up there just before noon and do a little grazing then fall asleep on the rocky warm hillside.