Anyone made any hay yet?

bobk

Member
Location
stafford
Weather has done nothing all day until now .... it's raining , wrapped the last 3 acres , so done until friday when we get another 3 days whoop di doo
 

Longlowdog

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Aberdeenshire
Baled hay in Aberdeenshire yesterday after one day of sunshine and a week of rain. It's now sat outside in the rain. I brought one bale inside to see how hot they would get having being baled somewhat hastily before another forecast week of rain. Slightly warm after 24 hours. I've stuck a metal rod in it to keep an eye on temps to see if I dare bring a few in at a time and surface dry them before stacking or whether they would be safer left outside.
Forecast on day of cutting was for 15 minutes of rain and 7 grand days. Next day it forecast 15 minutes of dry weather in a week. Welcome to forecasting for land in the lee of the Grampians.
If they are going to heat how quickly will they do it, when will they have done their thing?
 

glasshouse

Member
Location
lothians
Baled hay in Aberdeenshire yesterday after one day of sunshine and a week of rain. It's now sat outside in the rain. I brought one bale inside to see how hot they would get having being baled somewhat hastily before another forecast week of rain. Slightly warm after 24 hours. I've stuck a metal rod in it to keep an eye on temps to see if I dare bring a few in at a time and surface dry them before stacking or whether they would be safer left outside.
Forecast on day of cutting was for 15 minutes of rain and 7 grand days. Next day it forecast 15 minutes of dry weather in a week. Welcome to forecasting for land in the lee of the Grampians.
If they are going to heat how quickly will they do it, when will they have done their thing?
Dont bring them in.
Leave the wind to cool them outside unless you want a fire
Or put thrm on a ventilated floor
 

hendrebc

Member
Livestock Farmer
This seems to be the thread with all the haymaking experts so ill ask here.
What speed do you ted at? I usually ted slowly the first time round not sure but guessing 4-4.5mph then go to 5-5.5 or even 6mph if its dry enough. Saw a post on FB about it and people on there were saying to go as fast as the tractor will go :confused:
I used to help on a farm that went flat out tedding and they used to get a lot of wet lumps in grass and have to ted a lot more times to make hay than ive ever had to do to make hay. I went at my usual pace to do the first field for them before getting bollocked for going too slow. That field made a day before the others that had been tedded at speed. I alwayd found a first slower pass helps whats peoples thoughts? Can of worms maybe :bag:
 

David.

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
J11 M40
Go as fast as you can, so long as it's moving ALL the grass; as you say worst thing is finding an unmoved green underlayer that's laid in the hollows when the crop is otherwise fit. Short stuff is worst as there is less bulk for tedder to grab. I usually try and put in a pass at an angle to previous pass too.
 

Poorbuthappy

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Devon
This seems to be the thread with all the haymaking experts so ill ask here.
What speed do you ted at? I usually ted slowly the first time round not sure but guessing 4-4.5mph then go to 5-5.5 or even 6mph if its dry enough. Saw a post on FB about it and people on there were saying to go as fast as the tractor will go :confused:
I used to help on a farm that went flat out tedding and they used to get a lot of wet lumps in grass and have to ted a lot more times to make hay than ive ever had to do to make hay. I went at my usual pace to do the first field for them before getting bollocked for going too slow. That field made a day before the others that had been tedded at speed. I alwayd found a first slower pass helps whats peoples thoughts? Can of worms maybe :bag:
Personally think 6mph would be tops.
But I don't like shaking my gear to bits either.
 

Pan mixer

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Near Colchester
Slow forward speed for a start to make sure that you are splitting it all up, that ryegrass I was tedding yesterday for example was at about 4 mph and 1700 rpm engine speed.

As the crop gets drier you can go faster as long as the field is smooth, up to about 8 mph max for me but reduce the pto revs especially in the afternoons when leaf shatter will be happening - I sometimes use groundspeed pto for that.

That is the worst fault of the haybob in my opinion. you have to rev it like hell to get the tines to stay down.

A lot of my fields aren't very smooth for various reasons and I go more slowly to preserve me and machine
 

Pan mixer

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Near Colchester
The bales that were warm to the touch yesterday are cool today. I may have sneaked a win from the jaws of defeat despite using antiquated and reviled machinery (Zetor and haybob).
Now if only it would stop raining and get up a breeze so I can fetch them in.
The first day heat is not the worry, it is the one in 21 days that gets the fire brigade on site.
 

Hurdle bunter

Member
Location
shropshire
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this stuff is abit lively still but I think I’m going to take a chance and get it baled later, the forecast is poor for a few days from tonight. I’ll leave them on trailers for a while
 
Last edited:

rob1

Member
Location
wiltshire
This seems to be the thread with all the haymaking experts so ill ask here.
What speed do you ted at? I usually ted slowly the first time round not sure but guessing 4-4.5mph then go to 5-5.5 or even 6mph if its dry enough. Saw a post on FB about it and people on there were saying to go as fast as the tractor will go :confused:
I used to help on a farm that went flat out tedding and they used to get a lot of wet lumps in grass and have to ted a lot more times to make hay than ive ever had to do to make hay. I went at my usual pace to do the first field for them before getting bollocked for going too slow. That field made a day before the others that had been tedded at speed. I alwayd found a first slower pass helps whats peoples thoughts? Can of worms maybe :bag:
First pass is the most important IMO, normally around 6/7 km/hr max then rest about 7/8 pto around 350/400 on our lely slower makes a much better job but it does need patience not to belt on at least with 6 rotors you are still getting over the ground
 

Martin Holden

Member
Trade
Location
Cheltenham
Go as fast as you can, so long as it's moving ALL the grass; as you say worst thing is finding an unmoved green underlayer that's laid in the hollows when the crop is otherwise fit. Short stuff is worst as there is less bulk for tedder to grab. I usually try and put in a pass at an angle to previous pass too.
Strange, I would say the opposite. The first pass with the Tedder is the most crucial one. Get it not quite right and it stays that way
 

hendrebc

Member
Livestock Farmer
Pretty much what i thought then go slower first pass and then a bit quicker. I nevee go over 500rpm with mine im surenit said in the book with it not to but usually go 450ish as it suits te forward speed and gears better to rev a bit less.
I find i can go quicker with my kuhn tedder than the haybob to move the grass the same way. Someone mentioned that was the worst thing about a haybob was needing to rev the hell out of it to get rhe tines to stay down. Just do what i did and not replace the springs when they go weak so they move down at nothing :oops::bag:
 
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