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Little River, TX | To me these 40 to 100 acreage hay fields are large acreage. Really there are a number of hay growers in the west who cut 3 or so circles of hay each day for several weeks running.
A good measure of a large acreage is the amount of ground that must be baled with more than one small square baler. Some of the real hay growers bale using 3 large square balers.
The first tedder I owned was a 4 basket machine. It did well working up the hay from a 9 ft NH Haybine, mower conditioner. I would ted two swaths at a time. That Haybine mostly built a 4 maybe 5 ft swath, but I usually dropped the hay into a narrow windrow, then. Plum ignorant of me I know but that is the way it was.
With selecting better alfalfa varieties and doing a better job of fertility management I now cut with a 9 ft 411 Diskbine. I both ted and rake using a NH 254 combination rake tedder, carried on a Ford 30 hp tractor.
My limitation here is I only have two sometimes three hours between the time the hay is too tough to bale and when the hay is shattering leaves excessively. ( I have became too old to bale at night and work all day 20 years ago)
Now on a good cutting I will ted the hay the day of cutting. Then the third morning at first light, rake a loose windrow with the rake set out full width, 13 ft. The fourth morning the hay is raked into a narrow windrow to bale out of.
If it is a reasonably good cutting I will set the rake for 7 or 8 ft coverage, have one basket raking and the other basket as a tedder again. Then the third morning I will rake this together with the rake set out full width. Sometimes I will bale this windrow but many times it will be raked into a baling windrow the fourth morning. Counting the day of cutting as day one.
On a light cutting I will adjust the swath to have enough to rake. Usually 3 to 4 feet wide. I will rake the hay the second morning with a roll bar rake combining enough swaths to make a good baling windrow.
My third cutting is usually in June. For this one I will cut with a simple disk mower to reduce the potential of blister beetle contamination. During June the sun is right overhead and there is 0.40" of evaporation each day.
The last cutting will be in late September early October and this is again cut with the Diskbine. | |
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Tedder opinions.
