First Time Square Baling From Scratch (Start to Finish)

[@colinschulte4353]

A lot of people are going to be giving you advice on how to make hay. I put up around 15,000 small squares a year, and another 5,000 5 X 6 rounds. Trust me, you are doing good for your first time. You will slowly figure out how to do it the best you can. If it means anything, I wish my first 1,000 bales sold that easy. You are doing well. Welcome to haying!

[@spencerhilbert]

Good stuff!

[@zackarystaples238]

Shoot yeah he is. You can tell he's getting the knack for the farming life.

[@ottoneidlinger4938]

Colin thank you for giving Spencer positive comments. Exactly what he needs to read.

[@jimray1111]

Your comment said all I needed to see.

[@edzimdahl1158]

Yup, him did fine, Dad purchased a new holland 268 hayliner kicker baler in 65 and it worked great till I retired in 2011 average was 55-60k bales of hay&straw a year, just kept it properly lubed ,,, as with all farm equipment most failures I've seen result from lack of maintenance and lubrication

[@mwnciboo]

You need a little jockey wheel on the end of your sickle bar, just to stop it bending too far and ground striking. New teeth might be expensive but once you get two sets, you can resharpen one set each winter and fit them in Spring. Fun job in March

[@joewynjones4580]

Love how you put the cost and profit into it very rare these days 👍

[@spencerhilbert]

That’s the goal with this channel. Be super transparent on stuff like that. Helped me a lot when others do it.

[@colewidner8185]

​@@spencerhilbert Hey Spencer great vid a good way to tell if you hay is dry is to grab a handful and twist if the hay breaks when you twist your ready to bale. Just a tip great vid have a good day.

[@tinosmo1]

@@spencerhilbertI live in the city and have recently become fascinated with farming equipment. I would love to see an episode where you take a blue collar city worker and teach him to farm.

[@quasaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrr]

This is essentially a real-life survival challenge at this point.

[@NathanSteers]

This is exactly like watching an Austin farming video

[@jakedevillier5863]

Is he a farm sim streamer or connected to one ?

[@NathanSteers]

@@jakedevillier5863 I wouldn’t be surprised but idk

[@KingKongTTV]

@@jakedevillier5863The Squad and Spencer TV

[@parkerjohnson5890]

@@NathanSteershe plays with them

[@tomholmes1350]

I know I personally will never have a reason to product hay bales but I found this to be a fascinating video. I never fully understood what it takes to start producing a salable commodity ( tractor, rakes, baler, trailer, labor….). Thanks for including us on your journey!

[@spencerhilbert]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ryanashby3640]

Awesome series, I grew up in the 90s/2000s on a dairy farm using the same equipment you have (except we had a New Idea disc mower). Older equipment if maintained is still pretty capable. Matt from Diesel Creek put it pretty well, "These machines were meant to be maintained, not just replaced." Keep up the hard work, and hopefully you have a decent crop this year.

[@arvendrakushwah8498]

केएनएम

[@Hasio-Maszkietnik]

@@arvendrakushwah8498 what

[@greybear3090]

I'm 70 now but I remember my parents used to go to upper michigan deer hunting in the fall. We stayed at this farmers place and would help with the chores in return for room and board for a week. I was the tractor driver when they bailed hay, it was the best! driving the ford tractor all over the place. I couldnt have been more than 9 or 10 at the time, but I loved every minute of it.

[@Elger77]

I left a Iowa farm over fifty years ago and never looked back. As I was watching I could almost smell new cut hay. Farming really takes a lot of skills and knowledge, often much of it gained the hard way. You seem to have some fundamental skills and knowledge. Time will provide what additional skills you require. I marvel at how ill informed most Americans are about how food is raised. There is often a built in prejudice that farmers aren’t very smart. Of course to be successful the opposite is true. As you were cutting the hay I could almost hear from grandfather yelling, “you doing it wrong”. Good luck in your endeavor. There is a freedom in farming (of course less so today) that is difficult to emulate.

[@isaiahbrewer4875]

John Deere Sickle Mowers can be a real pain, but if they’re adjusted well they cut like a dream. The angle of the cutting bar is something important to keep in mind that makes a huge difference in the way it cuts. It looks like your bar drags behind you as you drive, but the tip of the bar should be slightly angled forward as you cut. This will keep it from breaking apart so much. The sickles are like scissors too so the gap between the teeth and the rock guards makes a difference too. You wouldn’t cut a piece of paper with scissors that have a gap between the blades and cutting hay is no different. Besides that for a first time cutting you did great! Love the video keep it up!

[@Lackieestatesfarm]

You’re correct. Cutter bar should have a slight “lead”. Also I find my massey sickle bar works best when the front of the bar is angled slightly up so the grass falls away better. Keep pto rpm up. Also sometimes it’s counter intuitive, but if the bar keeps clogging try going faster. It keeps the bar clear of cut material and will sometimes work better

[@johntomasini3916]

This was a real step back in time for me, I haven't used this type of hay making equipment for fifty years. Very brave to take this on with some limitations you have. You have learned a lot about the equipment, I know why we replaced all of these models over the years, I could see it in the issues you were having. Thanks for the video, jogs a lot of great memories for me. Btw, I'm an ex Dairy Farmer from Victoria Australia.

[@stephendawg1]

Your baling rig is exactly what I owned in 1976. I had a ‘68 4020, 336 baler, New Idea rake and 6 hay racks on JD running gears. I custom baled hay all through high school. Ran 15-18,000 bales a year. Great business for a 16 year old farm boy. Never wanted to be an athlete going to practices all summer long. Wonderful memories of my youth. You’re doing great! Best wishes for continued success!

[@spencerhilbert]

Dang that’s awesome. 15-18k bales a year is a lot! I have some work to do… haha. Thanks for the interesting comment! Have a good 2024 👍

[@Canadian_Living_in_Mexico]

I like channels like this. Buy old equipment, fix it up, maintain it properly and put it back into production and make a living. I find this more interesting than channels that get sponsored and the videos become commercials. Show more of your maintenance work and how you refurbished the equipment

[@spencerhilbert]

Thanks for the tips!

[@johnbatkie9695]

When you are stacking on the wagon you need a couple of hay hooks, pick up at a farm supply. Let the bales come up the shoot a bit more then hook on the top and bottom, flip over, hook either end place your knee in the center pull up to straighten the bale. They will stack better on the wagon and stay in place. Good luck!

[@spencerhilbert]

Thanks for the advice!

[@Bradleyandsonsconstruction7880]

​@@spencerhilbert also make sure that you check the string in the baler.

[@jedle009]

Hey, love your vids, I have a 250 acre horse farm so we do hay every single year for the past 30 years and i think if u want to do the hay better maybe you should buy a hay tedder to just turn the grass and then it will dry better

[@fazeobama8872]

small tedders should also be cheap used since the smaller operations are closing for good all the time so they have equipment to sell

[@tfik3754]

Or too be cheaper you can rake each windrow into more compact rows because what a rake does is flip the hay over and then before you rake you can put each row together instead of spending more money and buying a Tedder

[@seriouslyconfused1]

@@fazeobama8872 my area a "cheep" old almost scrap tedder will run ya close to $1000. However I to agree drying will be greatly shorter and better quality feed

[@GaryHeald-uv5im]

I started out like you about 35 years ago. I bought old equipment, fixed it up, used it for a while and then sold it for generally a small profit which I then put into a newer, better piece of equipment. You are doing great. You've probably figured out there are as many different ways of doing things as there are people. Listen to the advice then interpret it to your situation. A tedder and a mower/conditioner will make your life easier, especially in less than ideal conditions. I'm still working on my first cut. We had 22 days of rain in June and July is looking to ne the same.

[@cedricbroussard8738]

I love hay baleing it's pretty fun!! The racking and cutting and the smell of cut grass I just love it all!!

[@joshuafish3698]

God bless the American Farmer. My grandfather had a small, small farm and had the exact equipment of a sickle bar mower and square bailer. He also had difficulty with the mower and replacing teeth. The bailer we had was painted red, so I don't think it was John Deer. As a kid, I was amazed on how it made the hay bails square and even tied the string around them. A true engineering accomplishment.

[@dr.vonslifeinvesting6485]

May have been a New Holland

[@kylekeller2996]

Just stubbed across your channel and let me tell ya you are doing amazing I do antiques farming with a 1945 jd model A nothing more satisfying than running a old sickle bar

[@logansmith630]

I love this series

[@mattweiss672]

Man this is so awesome to watch. I bought old tractors to take care of my property and I barely knew anything. I’ve learned that there’s no shame in trying to figure things out and making mistakes. Don’t be too hard on yourself. We are all learning how to do things.

[@alexabeyta378]

You're doing fine. Learning is the easy part. Implementing your knowledge is all the hard but fulfilling work yet to come. Sometimes old machines just need to be used again.

[@aviewwithoutborders]

I'm beginning my farm journey and it's great to watch your videos of your upstart and equipment. I hope you continue to post because it's informative and entertaining.

[@FsLiveIOWA]

If I were you I would just replace all of the rock guards. It’s best not to mess with the old ones since they’ve seen a lot of wear over the years. I did that myself and my sickle has almost no clogging issues. Also making sure your bar is slightly tilted back makes a great difference.

[@dejavu666wampas9]

Very much enjoyed the fact that you showed us the whole learning experience, equipment tune ups, and all. Just like we did it in the 50’s and 60’s. Awesome. If you’re going to be doing this in the future, get yourself a bale hook, or blacksmith yourself one or two, for pulling the bale from the baler on the hay rack.

[@colonialroofingofnorthcaro441]

Glad to find a farming channel where someone will be straight about cost and the ups and downs, I don't know if other farming channels have something to hide or just don't want to which I'd say then wh u have a channel putting your business out there if you're not willing to share, America is in desperate need of more farming and like a lot of the people following is to learn and grow as fast as the Lord will bless, God, bless and keep the video coming

[@Mmac-qt8jn]

Btought back memories when we used to have to pull the bales and stack on wagon. Thanks for this was fun watching older equipment used and brought back to life

[@adams1625]

Dude this brings me some great memories. When I was about 13 or so, I was trying to fix an old snowblower, and I needed 2 small pieces of metal (wheel cogs), to make the thing work. I put up an add on craigslist in search of a machinist, and I get a call from a man named farmer Greg. I go to his farm, and he made me those cogs for free, and told me to pay it forward. One day, I was across the street from his farm at a friends house. I had honda three wheeler, and I needed a place to ride it. So I park the 3 wheeler at the end of the farms driveway, walk up and ask farmer Greg if I could ride it on his property. Not shortly after, my parents and I went over for dinner to meet them, and we made a deal that I would work on the farm and for every hour I worked, I got an hour to ride my 3-wheeler. I would help with bailing hay, putting it up in the barn, spreading manure, cleaning stalls, and whatever else needed to be done. I could talk for a long time about the great memories I had working with farmer Greg. When we would bail hay, he had a bailer that would throw the freakin bail into the wagon like a catupult! hahah that was harrrd work. Fun times

[@kimgarbe2464]

Hey spencer I have done hay my whole life. I have some advice for raking do it in the morning so you don't lose the nutrients in the seeds same with the bailler cows and other animals love the seeds farmers look for that stuff in hay. And if thay really like it thay will come back to get more

[@spencerhilbert]

Thanks for the tips!

[@Ninety-ou8re]

Nice video! Its nice seeing someone running a siclebar mower. They are the newest craze here in germany, because they protect the insects much more than the disc- or drum mowers. for your siclebar, you might want to cold rivet the blades to it, because of the clearance, and for easier maintenance. For removing them just get a flat sharp chisel with which you can knock the keads off. Then its just a matter of punching the headless rivets through the holes, it speeds up the whole maintenance process. The problem is, that the bolts are gonna rust and wear to a point, where its nearly impossible to unscrew them again so rivets are the way to go. Also they are much cheaper for an item that doesnt have that much lifetime. Best wishes and sorry for my bad english.

[@shelia9342]

I THOUGHT YOUR ENGLISH WAS GREAT!

[@randybedker1584]

Good luck. Brings back lots of memories working with my grandpa and my uncle. The had a small dairy farm.

[@frontagulus]

What you can do with those two hay patches, is brush hog them low, then clean them up - rocks, sticks, and fill in any holes and knock off high spots. When you can run a high speed mowing, raking, and baling, you can get the production up and lower your labor rate

[@spencerhilbert]

Thanks for the tips!

[@JohnCarter-qv1ie]

That scrub hay is excellent for goats.

[@hampster221]

Learning step by step, you are patient and not afraid to ask others for help and/or information; good trait to have. Lou in Apopka, Fla.

[@markb1487]

As a beef farmer in the UK your going back in time with the sickle bar mower,,,we used to use these in the 70s 80s.. Great video.Great content.👍💯👍💯

[@spencerhilbert]

Thanks 👍

[@indrektomingas915]

Hello i am farmer in estonia and i make a lot of good hay for horses. first thing to do is buy youself a good tedder that helps to make a good dry hay then upgrade your hay rake and after that upgrade your mover thats the things you should do after that you will make good hay. But right now if you move dont leave spots and make sure you mover is cuting like 5-7inch off the ground and make sure your hay is very dry like 10 max 15% moisture not more. i can tell more if you have some questions ask me.

[@willblackerby9055]

This reminds me of when I was a much younger man. Hauling hay on a hay crew. Made six cents a bale to load and stack. I hated the heavier alfalfa bales. Lol. Nice job Spence. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@spencerhilbert]

Yeah these bales were on the lighter side. Never put them on a scale, but guessing 45-50lbs. It was nice just leaving them on the hay rack and not unloading.

[@Diesel.09]

​@@spencerhilbertidea for 4020: put a straight pipe on it

[@3069mark]

I started a hay pickup crew in the Summer of 1975. I was only 17 years old. I hired fellow high school classmates. We picked up small round bales that farmers let drop in the field. I paid my crew 2-1/2 cents per bale. I started out paying by the hour but I had a couple slackers and the by the bale motivated them to work harder. It was an experience. LOL.

[@ronroberts8968]

Looks like your doing good for just starting and you can and will make adjustments as you go. Live and learn

[@whjerts]

The sickle bar and baler should be run at 540 rpm. The tach should have a line that says pto, which is about 1900 engine rpm.

[@dkenney3076]

Your farm and grants farm are so different and i love it, thank you grant for showing yiu dont need a million dollars to farm

[@davehughesfarm7983]

You did good job....Learn something everyday.... Yesterday I learned I aint no spring chicken and helped out bucking 800 bales of straw hungover....Lol

[@HossMan48]

The JD4020, mower, rake and baler really took me back. You really did a good job and learning to adjust equipment is not always easy. Great content and please keep it up.

[@spencerhilbert]

Thanks 👍

[@brianfelmlee8804]

Two things I've learned about mowing with a sickle bar, they don't cut really fine grass well, and sometimes the grass has a "grain" to it and will only cut well in one direction. I have a 346 baler, same baler except my pickup is wider, Your bales are shaggy on the edges, you need to look at the plunger knives either sharpen or replace them.

[@spencerhilbert]

Yes that’s what I ran into. The fine grass would clog quickly. I put new sickles on and that helped!

[@randywilliams787]

@@spencerhilberthe is talking about the baler not the sickle bar mower. There is a knife on the baler also.

[@mikemcevoy1940]

the knives on the baler plunger/side wall of chute could reversible. If nothing else remove and try to sharpen. The person on the hay rack will thank you when they don't have to pull the bales apart! It will also produce nice clean flakes which are a lot easier to separate when feeding horses. Good stuff! great content.

[@billsmith5166]

Nice job. This sure brings back memories growing up as a kid. Baling hay was hard work but it sure beats cleaning out silos and detasseling.

[@CuriousEarthMan]

That was really good, man! You did a great job all around! You definitely brought back a ton of memories. I LOVE the old school approach too; what better way to learn your stuff?! It's a pioneering mindset. Very healthy imho. And money making projects like this one are really great, and stir the motivational juices too.....I'd say this shows some of how much you have learned in the last couple of years/your comfort-competency zone is getting much bigger. Also, really glad for the nice long length of video, and all the detail you put in. When I listen to your commentary, I feel exactly where you are, and it all makes sense to me what I'm hearing/which things you choose to accentuate. That is: I do feel I am seeing it through your eyes, and that's a good essence of communication! So thanks again Spencer! Glad you are cluing us in on your adventures!

[@spencerhilbert]

Wow appreciate the comment! That’s the goal with these videos. I want to make high quality videos that document projects like this. Yeah definitely learning a lot as we go.

[@CuriousEarthMan]

@@spencerhilbert I'd say you're succeeding at making quality videos, Spencer. Thank you!

[@dr.vonslifeinvesting6485]

This is inspiring you did good, wish I knew how to weld and fix things.

[@Skippy2539]

Good stuff mate. Looking forward to seeing your farm and seeing how it grows with time

[@SnackPack913]

The square bailer is one of the coolest pieces of mechanical engineering I’ve seen. It’s like a clock inside that thing with all those gears and linkages. And all powered by one PTO that’s cool

[@vandewieljeroen]

I'm not a farmer. At all. Nu guess is they your doing alright. Maintaining a bit of land, getting a few bucks off of it. There is something so satisfying about watching this old stuff being used. I liked it. Thanks for the video

[@bennorris6389]

I’m a 4th generation farmer in Oregon and we grow grass seed and that ground is not hard on your equipment. When we cut grass or hay we’ll will go though two sicle bars a night cutting and have to replace 1-6 baler tines a day because of how rough our ground is but great start up and showing that the American dream isn’t dead yet

[@franciscronin-in8qh]

I super proud of you and grant 🎉

[@tinosmo1]

Best part is the sketchy part when he took the rake of the trailer lol I’m city dweller recently fascinated by farm equipment great channel

[@Military-Museum-LP]

I think the sickle bar cut is the best. It does not chew up the grass so much.

[@Rob89139]

Another great video Spencer. Funny I remember when you were clearing that land a year ago and here we are a year later putting it to use. Great idea haying the unsuitable acreage near the corn/beans bean fields and just another example of you thinking outside the box. Keep it up kid, you're doing great

[@spencerhilbert]

Thanks appreciate the comment!

[@Farmboy-bb2gg]

I really love how the video went from mowing, raking and haying hay to the progress show showing not only his brother's new game but also meeting Nick Welker from Welker farms Really awesome!

[@repairmanjoe8081]

You did well for your first time Spencer. Up until 3 year's ago, we baled about 6000 bales for our dairy cows. Now we bale about 2000 at the farm for selling and feeding to our small calves and for selling. We also contract out round bales of hay and beanstalk bales to large dairys. We also have a horse stables and small bale about 2500 bales a year. Other than having a large haybine at the farm and a discbine at the stables, I think our balers and hayrakes are even older than yours. We literally have been small baling for exactly 50 years. Weird. Keep up the good work my friend! The only way to learn is to do it. Also looks like you got yourself a really good baler! Take care and stay safe!😊

[@tedpreston4155]

Back where I grew up, haying all summer every year, our local school teams were the cyclones too! (different colors, though) I was around ten years old when I started work in the hayfields, pulling a rake just like yours, with a little Fordson tractor. Dad was pulling the baler with a John Deere tractor like yours. I never used a sickle bar mower, since grandpa had a windrower.

[@duaneschomer3780]

That is the only way I learned to bale hay. Tip: Start with a bale in the middle...the two on each side...alternate moving up....stacks better and more stable...loved it. From an IOWA farmer.

[@kennyc.3238]

Similar situation here, first time bailing on my own, bought a JD number 5 sickle mower, wheel rake and using my grandpa's JD 60 to do all the work. Trial and error has been the way I've been learning as well. Keep up the good work!!

[@levesquejp4964]

probably the most interesting youtube channel for poeple that are thinkin to go back to farmland thanks a lot to share !

[@spencerhilbert]

Appreciate the comment!

[@andrewveitch8515]

Love that you are buying old equipment. That stuff was built to last. Regular maintenance and care and a few spare parts will keep them running well for years to come. Glad you got your bro to put in some sweat equity as well LOL

[@spencerhilbert]

That's right it looked like a different shirt at the end. haha. Thanks for watching!

[@Military-Museum-LP]

Spence I like your plan. I’m getting into the hay crop myself. No experience but I’m committed to make it work. All my land must produce including water ways with hay.

Awesome content! Love it! Greetings from Poland

[@RedDeadSpearhead]

Sometimes I wish I could go back to doing it this way, but I will say that the air conditioning and satellite radio isn't bad when I'm cranking out big squares all day. Glad to see some guys are still out there just doing it, and making a little out of what they've got.

[@garrethuber9198]

We always made the bottom layer have 1 bale long ways in the middle, and then 2 sideways on the outside of each side. Then we would do it like you, alternating putting one on the outside long ways and the the rest side ways on each stack, alternating sides each layer in the stack. It is important to make sure that the long bales in each stack don't line up, so if the long bale in layer 2 of stack 1 was on the left, then the long bale of layer 2 of stack 2 would be on the right. It helps with stability of the stack. We would always go 7 or 8 layers high (with 2 people receiving though) and never had any issues.. I can't say that i ever stacked any other way though.

[@jeremiah5313]

Hey Spencer great video! 👍 Love the “ old school “ equipment. Much more fun to watch than all the new stuff. I remember the days of bailing hay, covered in hay and dust. 😂 You have a great channel!

[@spencerhilbert]

Thanks for watching!

[@Diamondboi-pj2in]

Badass 7.3 powerstroke dually!

[@danmcguire3030]

I have always found the best thing to have happen when running a cycle bar mower is hitting a yellow jacket nest, fun times. Making square bales is how I spent a good portion of my teenage years. However, we dropped the bales in the field and came back to pick them up. Work like that made going to boot camp kind of like a vacation.

[@WiliamBennettwildarbennett]

Well for this old man Youve brought back many years of memories. Started as 10 yo steering a 68' F100 pickup then 13 i was wlaking behind the baler chunking bales at 10¢ a bale hired out by my mom to our land lord. Then by 15 was running a 9 N Ford @$3.00 a day cutting, & raking, then getting 20¢ a bale loading and stacking. Best ever made was $1.50 a bale hauling 125 lb. Alfalfa. Oh Dear Lord the sore backs.

[@spencerhilbert]

Wow thanks for sharing. Sounds like honest work. Crazy how times have changed and prices of everything. Thought doing these square bales would be a good thing to learn and enjoyable work. 👍

[@captainchaos77]

you are now my favorite youtuber..keep up the good work

[@robervin9107]

Bro if the horses love your bales then your doing it right it’s the love 😂 you made them with and I’m proud of you for doing this I was hoping you would definitely you and grants farms need I’m curious to see what you can get from them love you bud you truly are a golden child 😂 This was wholesome. Also awesome thumbnails bud keep it up very captivating

[@roblonsdale8927]

I,m just wondering whether it,s the horses or their owners who are loving the hay....:)

[@calerussler288]

I love how your basically doing a 70’s rp in real life. I love it.

[@Fixologist1]

Great video. Thanks for disclosing your numbers and showing your problems.

[@dannfish]

Cool time lapse of the bale stacking. Thanks for posting.

[@stevenbeatty3872]

I think you should keep doing it

[@jessles2010]

Glad to see that you still have the maroon truck. 😃

[@edsel6818]

You keep working hard my friend, you will learn new ways to fix things, and you will learn new ideas, for new projects, keep going AND certainly DON'T WORK TO HARD, 👍🇺🇲😁👌💪🤠👍

[@alexhood7961]

Hey, just stumbled across your videos. I have been having fun watching them. I thought the house looked familiar. Then I saw it was burning and thats how I remembered it. I drove past that house on my way to work that day. Crazy.

[@spencerhilbert]

Haha dang that’s interesting you remembered it. Was pretty cool watching it go.

[@Donnie_M.]

Great job, Spencer!

[@adamkjenkins]

Hi Spencer, just wanted to say how much I’m enjoying your channel. It’s well-shot, honest, and cool to see your experience as many of us learn with you. I grew up in SE Ontario and worked as a farmhand for a couple of summers and always had that “what if” I pursued it instead of my city life. Nice to scratch the itch of one of my interests through your videos. Keep up the good work, man. Thanks for these videos!

[@spencerhilbert]

I appreciate that!

[@markthegunplumber8376]

Started with a sickle bar mower many many years ago. Lots to learn there. Most PTO equipment is designed to run at 540 rpm so look on your tractor tach and run the engine rpm's up to where you see a little 540 line there is where the pto is running at 540 rpm's. This is very important on the baler. There is no substitute for sharp blades and gopher mounds really eat them up. there are gringing wheels triangular shaped for sharpening the knives pull the bar and you go knife by knife and sharpen them. The bar needs to ride the ground if you try to hold it up at a certain level like you are trying to do the ground isn't level and the tractor sways to and fro and up and down giving the hay a bad hair cut like you are getting and leaving alot of hay behind. adjust the cutter bar cutting height with the top link bar on the tractor guards down in the front for short and guards up for longer(guards are also called duck bills here) and adjust the tip height on the cutter bar with the box level on the 3 point arms. Be very careful bailing up anything other than hay you will knock that bailer out of time and you will bail up a hay needle and be very sad. always always check the bailer timing at the begining of every hay season and before big jobs and at various times during the hay season. Anything John Deere is expensive to work on. I ran a Massy 128 baler for 14 years it had a huge mouth to eat hay with and I had very little trouble with it. my neighbor had JD 336 balers and lets just say he got really good at working on them. you'll sooner understand what make a Woman tick than figure out a 336 knotter. I miss custom farming, I don't miss the breakdowns though. Looks like you are having fun, keep it up it's rewarding and good excercise. Hay is running $8 a bale here depending on weight and quality to as much as $10-$12 a bale. www.farmshow.com/a_article.php?aid=10157

[@Bendy237]

thats a good ole tractor

[@lindgrenvalleyfarm983]

I grew up using a sickle bar type mower then switched to a new holland haybine and wow what a difference. Having the hay conditioned cuts off at least a day in dry time and is much easier to use than the sickle mower.

[@ronbrendag7131]

We used a similar mower and rake when I was growing up. I didn't learn until in college in one of my Ag. classes that you have to match your forward speed to the cyclic rate of the mower and the length of the teeth parallel to the direction of travel. It's like a gang of pairs of scissors moving through the field in formation. If the teeth are 4 inches long you can (should) only go forward 4 inches per half a cycle of your mower if the cutterbar moves one guard tooth per cycle. This will help minimize plugging and laying grass over and it getting cut longer than intended.

[@antnewbon2673]

Respect dood. Glad the weather held out for ya

[@GSF1935]

I remember when me and my brothers did square bales, now we only do round bales, and we only use Case IH, I love your channel by the way, keep it up!

[@ryanmoeller9609]

Looks like a really nice baler! When storing it try to make sure you get the last bale out of the chamber and keep it inside if you can, that's the best way to keep a good square baler good!

[@ppomm]

After cleaning it out at end of season I used to pour some waste oil over the knotter assembly and cycle it a few times (without twine) just to lube it all up for the off season and keep rust away. No idea if this is official recommendation or not but it seemed to work for me back in the day. That baler does look like it's working great!

[@viktorfruehauf2690]

@@ppommI would do that, or even spray some diesel or other water repellent solution with a little hand sprayer, gets into all the nooks and cranny’s

[@williammerry4746]

Most interesting!! I grew up on a farm using equipment just like you are using except we had Allis Chalmers tractors. You are a fine young farmer, Spencer. Keep up the good work and documenting it with videos. Good on you.

[@spencerhilbert]

Thanks for the comment! I appreciate the kind words!

[@KBG_savyy]

you dont know till you try, im loving this farming series this is so cool to watch

[@jakecarruthers6513]

Nice work. I grew up on a farm and spent about 7 years after high school as a custom harvester from Texas to Canada. I've changed a few sections in my life. You can save some money on sickle guards by sharpening them with an angle grinder and grinding disc rather than replacing them when they get dull. Of course, if the guard is busted it needs replaced. To really see how worn sections are, look at the bottom side of them when removed from the bar.

[@spencerhilbert]

Thanks for sharing!

[@comeandtravel1]

Experience is priceless...and you're gaining experience.

[@Snowtruckdriver]

Back in 1968 ti 1972 Dad did custom hay work for a man in Basin City Washington. He had 1000 acres of alfalfa. My sister ran the 880 John ??Deere swather cutting 100 acres a day. Mom, Brother and Dad baled at night when the dew was on with three John Deere 214 Wire tie balers and I ran the Haro Bed stacking 3 to 4000 bales a day.

[@Montross4440]

God bless the farmers! ❤

[@kylejones8690]

These videos are great. I hope you succeed at farming and YouTubing!

[@wootripy]

hay kook helps while loading wagon, makes it easier, nice to see some one out doing the simply and small scale , with that said it not easy work and your doing great job keep videos coming.

[@bigtractorpower]

Neat video to watch. I collect farm equipment sales brochures. The 336 Baler was new for 1975 and produced through 1982. It was upgraded to the 337 in 1982 and built through 1988. The 338 was new for 1989 and is still in production in 2023. Have you considered taking a bush hog or flail shredder over the harvested grass to smooth out the stubble for even re growth?

[@spencerhilbert]

Thanks for the info! I watch you videos all the time. I probably should have done that a few weeks ago. It’s already starting to grow back.

[@Onealfarm9967]

I love watching young kids learning the art of farming but I have to say for the equipment like the mower and the rake you can do better for the money mainly the mower but over all you learn that’s priceless

[@extremesheep5986]

Dang these Fs22 graphics are unreal

[@davep9199]

Thanks for sharing your journey. Great entertainment.

[@spencerhilbert]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@AutoCrete]

WOW! What a trip down memory lane! Some memories are great, some... not so much. First off the baler was pulled by a John Deere D, you have to hear it to appreciate the sound. We made 70 lb bales that were about 75% alfalfa and 25% brome. My biggest nightmare was a day stacking 1100 bales by myself, I hurt for a couple of days after that but that was the last day of that cutting. Back then those bales were selling for 50 cents per bale so yes, that was more than a couple of years ago. I really like the switch from rivets to bolts on the mower knife. That side delivery rake looks way too complex. IMO rakes belong on two wheels.

[@spencerhilbert]

Yeah I should have gone with the two wheel style rake. 1100 bales a day alone is a lot if they weight 70lbs. Thanks for watching!

[@talaty67]

Great video, love the transparency.

[@dr.vonslifeinvesting6485]

Good call on that square baler, I remember my grandfather had a ford square baler sitting in the yard as a kid. I never saw it run ha.