Best Hay Week All Summer

This week started with the last video of running two mowers. Making 1000 bales in a week is doing very well for myself.

[@lukestrawwalker]

One other trick I learned that will help with hay bunching on the draw pin... I forgot to mention it when you talked about it doing that in a previous video. Get you a piece of round baler belt about 2 feet long or so, and bolt it under the drawbar hanging down in front of the hitch pin... there's those two handy bolt holes through the drawbar to hold on a hammer strap, a couple bolts up through there through the belt from the bottom, with a couple fender washers under the bolt heads, works great. Put the nuts and spare bolt up on top out of the way. I trim the corners off the belt piece from the drawbar out to the sides to a 45 degree angle so that hay won't snag on the front of the belt. In heavy windrows, the belt will simply be pushed up against the bottom of the hitch pin and lower clevis of the hitch and allow the hay to slip right under it and keep going without dragging, bunching, or rolling up a wad... works great. The rest of the time the belt can just be along for the ride, even in tillage, pulling a shredder, etc. it will keep stuff from getting snagged on the hitch pin or lower clevis below the drawbar...

[@PapawsDadillacOEMplus]

The tractor and wagon setup i feel is common to every farm in my area. some are tractor tires, some are truck tires, some areas the floor is soft or see through, the equipment is older but works. To experience it really is something. Best times of my life, farming. You really learn what work is, and how much goes into earning a dollar. Love your channel.

[@lukestrawwalker]

Best thing in the world for fixing a bent tine like that-- the loop on the end of a crescent wrench... slip the loop over the tine up to the bent part, and then turn the wrench by the other end and bend the tine straight. I have that happen now and again even with the steel coil spring teeth (I had rubber teeth on the 260 nine foot rake I bought at auction and hated them... the original 50 year old NH rubber teeth from back in the day on it were pretty good, other than the metal pads the rubber is cast to was rusting and making them turn loose, but the replacement teeth from TSC cost twice as much as the spring ones and NH rubber ones are twice what the TSC rubber ones are. The TSC rubber ones were a joke-- I had some turning loose within a few days of putting them on... some of my fields are a little hummocky and a bit rough, so the tines sometimes hit the ground. I've found that when they bend the tend to bend easier next time for some reason. The steel teeth on my old #55 straight axle NH rake from the 50's or 60's, the teeth on it were incredible... I don't think I ever broke or bent one of those. Bolts sometimes break or the tine itself usually just below the bolt loop on the upper end of it where it attached from the bar, probably from sheer metal fatigue over all those decades of raking hay. These new ones are WAY softer steel and will bend much easier than the old ones, that's for sure, and they break more often. The rubber ones are no better... I had some of the new TSC rubber ones simply rip or split the rubber, funny when there's a 50 year old NH rubber tooth right beside it still going strong after all those years. I got tired of every time I came in from raking a cut of hay, I'd have at least 5-10 rubber teeth to replace. I started replacing them with steel and after 2-3 years most of the rake had steel teeth so I went on and bought the last dozen or two teeth and finished switching it over. Just have to buy the bag of clip teeth from the NH dealer or on an online parts outfit... they're not high. Then the steel teeth bolt right on. I don't understand why it happens; I absolutely DO NOT run my rake too low... usually the tines are at least an inch off the ground or just barely touching with the tips in rolling fields, so you get the hay out of the low spots. A rolabar rake is set right that if you stop quick in the field, the basket should make at least 1.5 more turns before stopping. I know some guys just run the rake like a tillage implement-- down in the dirt so they get every last blade of grass off the field. Course that just tears the guts out of the rake-- wears out or breaks the dogs and clutches, driveshafts and U-joints, and the gearbox and bearings on the bars... I don't know how many rakes I went over before auctions when I was looking for one that had been gutted that way. Grab the tine bars or tines and rock them front to back-- if they cock back and forth, the bearings are shot from plowing with the rake. Driveshaft U-joints are another good indicator-- if they're loose and sloppy, they've been worn out from overtorque turning a rake dragging in the dirt... Took me a long time to find one that wasn't ragged out. Still, the teeth will take a hit now and then... in our area we have fire ant mounds, those can be pretty rough when roots grow through them and make them hard and hold them together. The occasional rut and hole or high spot can hit just right for a tooth to really dig in... if it happens to spring forward just wrong and get caught on the bar in front of it as it's rolling forward near the bottom it can get caught by the bar in front of it and pulled up and over as the bar turns, bending the snot out of it. Then you have to take the loop on the end of the crescent wrench to it and bend it back by going WAY over center the other way so it will come back straight when you let pressure off it... Then you have to keep an eye on it because usually once they get that bent, even bent back straight, they do good to finish the season...

[@willowbranchfarm]

Nice video, thankful to be done with hay and have plenty put up for winter here in TN.

[@skipruckert4605]

Jake, always like your videos you tell a good story with everything that's what I like. And it's amazing but here it is October and I saw three this month, July and two in August. I really do miss your videos. I'm watching the Best hay week all summer! And the computer says this was two days ago. I think somebody's is messing with you thanks hope your dad is okay, Skip, Western PA

[@boehmfarm4276]

I'm just way behind editing. Having a girlfriend doesn't expedite the process.

[@skipruckert4605]

I completely[ 100% understand ]!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@faFsman]

That vacuum can cause problems leading to airlocks. Should vent automatically, guess that’s aftermarket for you. Great video thanks

[@johnnyholland8765]

I used to run one of those rattle bar balers and was so glad when we junked it. We now have a 400 series Deere baler with the big fat tires and the mega mouth pick up. I bale 8 to 9 miles per hour. Has a monitor with auto wrap. You just go and go. When you here the beep it starts wrapping then 10 seconds later you spit it out. Balers have come a long way.

[@boehmfarm4276]

And you dump out a lopsided bale?

[@train1962]

Looking forward to your harvest videos.

[@jimpolk]

Glad you got it all up.

[@frankscruggs4749]

Good video.

[@JMo268]

Holy guacamole, 1000 bales is my entire season! If I could get that done in a week I'd be a dancing fool.

[@corerlt]

We used to do 1200 in a good day. The trick is to never pick a small bale off the ground by hand. Stacking 1000 bales on the rack behind the baler is a good workout for a high school kid. Once did 600 bales in an hour on 4 hay racks. We had 2 of us on the rack that day.

[@dehavenfamilyfarm]

Well, for once the weather guessers where right!

[@waynejones5239]

Nice video

[@brianjohnson1346]

what happened to yur fancy V rake?

[@larrybg9293]

Good stuff. What up with the 2 bi 2 tractor?

[@willyfindlay4398]

New to your Channel, what model of Ford tractor is it please??? The decals are a bit faded. Great to see classic tractors still working well.😊

[@boehmfarm4276]

2810

[@willyfindlay4398]

@boehmfarm4276 not seen one of those before in Scotland. I have a 1986 Ford 4110 4wd with grass pattern tyres. Thanks for the video and reply.

[@lukestrawwalker]

@@willyfindlay4398 We've got a 2310 nearly the same tractor, but his has the planetary rear axles I think the 2310 is like an 8N rear end with bull gears. It's a little workhorse though with the 3 cylinder diesel engine and 8 speed transmission... We bought ours brand spanking new in 83, when we finally retired and traded in the old NAA Ford Grandpa affectionately nicknamed "Junkpile"... he used it for light jobs at Shiner and the Golden Jubilee model with overhead valves for hay work... Ol' Junkpile and Jubilee he called the two of them...

[@Hinesfarm-Indiana]

Good video 👍. How many acres of hay do you cut?

[@hobsonbeeman7529]

I’m curious myself as to how many acres it took to produce 1100 bales

[@jankotze1959]

That little 2810 use it's pony's very effectively with that load in 7th or 8 gear

[@boehmfarm4276]

8th gear is flying!

[@boehmfarm4276]

8th gear is flying!

[@hobsonbeeman7529]

Carry a 4 foot pipe that you can slide over those rake, tines, and then bend the hell out of them to suit your needs

[@lukestrawwalker]

How do you get a four foot pipe up over the bottom of a tooth tine?? I could see a foot or two long maybe 3/4 inch pipe, but FOUR feet?? I just use the loop on the end of a crescent wrench. It's perfect for that. Basically what he did with the box wrench just find the spot you want to bend and then cantilever the wrench to bend the tine to your liking. It's a little tough when they want to slide but if you get your grip right and push in as you bend to overcome the springiness of the tooth it works. Loop on the crescent wrench end is perfect for putting in gate hinge pins into the fence posts too... get it started slip the loop over and just crank the wrench around in circles to screw the hinge pin into the post.

[@345farm]

Maga super sweep?… Make haying great again!!!

[@loganpaulsen3133]

when will the 2+2 be back?

[@boehmfarm4276]

At least you're not like my girlfriends family wondering when we're getting married. 2+2 will be back eventually. I'm hoping for next spring.

[@lukestrawwalker]

@@boehmfarm4276 Uh oh want her married off?? Danger Will Robinson, Danger! OR do they think that highly of you?? Hard to find an honest hard working young guy with gumption anymore... If she's a keeper, go for it when you're ready. Just make sure she's a keeper... plenty of "Disney Princesses" out there 23 going on 14 thinking they'll get married to "Prince Charming and live happily ever after"... in a castle with a BMW for her carriage and all that. Not likely with a farm boy no matter how hard you work. So long as she's realistic and sensible and got her head screwed on straight, and willing to work for what she wants that's the main thing... It's teamwork that makes the dream work...

[@Hinesfarm-Indiana]

Have you been able to find another double rake setup anywhere?

[@boehmfarm4276]

I know where the 260 rake is that I need. But it's in Oklahoma.

[@Hinesfarm-Indiana]

@@boehmfarm4276 oh ok that’s a little drive away

[@lukestrawwalker]

@@boehmfarm4276 Not a bad drive in the pickup with a 16 foot trailer, they can set that rake up on there for you strap her down and DRIVE! I pulled a Donahue trailer back from northern Indiana to south Texas and I bought a 16 foot Dunham Lehr cultipacker I bought up there back on my 16 foot lowboy trailer... chain her down with the tongue straight up and go! Be a nice little 3 day trip for you if you take it easy, go see the world!

[@pocketchange1951]

👍👌❤️🇨🇦,