the basics of baling and storing hay
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ย. 2024
- It's time to bale hay! In this video I cover the basics of baling and storing hay. I review how square and round balers work, how to check the hay to see if it's ready to bale, baling the hay, and knowing when the hay is ready to load into the barn. I use an International 656 diesel hydro tractor and a Farmall 504 tractor to do the work, as well as a Gehl 1860 round baler.
website: justafewacres.com/
Facebook: / just-a-few-acres-farm-...
Instagram: www.instagram....
email: peterelarson3@gmail.com
To order Pete's book; "A Year and a Day on Just a Few Acres:" www.amazon.com...
Brings back memories , when I was a kid we had a family small farm . My Dad did the baling 12,000 small bales , older brother did the raking I did the cutting . First with a 7 foot mower and then a Massey self propelled swather . My dad hired 4 high school guys plus the Barber boys Billy ( flyers) and Tommy to load and haul load after load . Our haying started the day school was out for summer and ended 2 weeks before school started in the fall . By the by my Dad passed away 6 years ago at 87 years young and was still putting up 170 to 200 big core 6ft round bales . My brothers and I still have the equipment and for the last 5 years I took over the drivers seat in the hay making but not to the scale of years before . Thanks for the info and sorry about being long winded. Be safe
What a wonderful authentic post. God bless your father and the FLYERS!
Cool stuff! Thanks for sharing your experience.
Kay
Not at all! It was a joy to hear a family working together with neighbors. May your father rest in peace. God bless you
What a great series! Thank you for your great presentation style. A lot of work! -Ed
I bucked "small" hay bales in Wyoming as a teenager in the 70's, I'm humbled to hear you and your wife put up thousands of bales alone! Thanks for the videos, you have a great delivery style.
Thank you David!
AND .... 50 years later .... a wife/husband duo bucked 14"x18"x3' (1400) grass bales off 30 acres taking 5 days. AND ... these two .... where 69 years old. No membership in any athletic facility needed. we call it "Ranch Therapy".
From a 5th generation farmer from Midwest Ohio thank you for the information given in the video. I just graduated high school last year and have been buying equipment and getting myself into farming through baling straw and hay and raising bottle calves. I couldn’t agree more with your statement on making hay like a real farmer with a cabless tractor. Thank you again for the great content!
I never knew what went into making hay. What an involved process. And the inventors that come up with farm machinery never ceases to amaze me. Great video series.
I'm not a farmer, but I do enjoy watching you work you're farm.
I found this video that I missed somehow. What a pleasure to find your post.
loved seeing the old baler in action! interesting how they work without all the electronics to activate the prcoesses
As someone who records videos on a tractor you are honestly phenomenal narrating These
Tou are the best farm channel there is. Hands down.👊💥❤
We had a Gehl 1450. I miss the farm. Dad decided to sell out in 1988. The year of the drought in western Wisconsin. That baler did a amazing job
Hi Pete. Thanks for helping me learn more about baling.
Thanks for the great videos Pete! You are so good at explaining the process. Great information!
Use to bale my grandfather's farm with my dad. We baled approx 30 acres. Just the two of us. Now im trying to bale 20 with a friend and wishing dad was still young enough to help or give advice. Thankfully I found your series! So much info but not too much. Great job!
Love that shirt, I live 15 or 20 miles from Syracuse and when I was a teen on the farm 6 or so decades back there was only square bales, well rectangle which we had to stack in the barnexplanation on round bales was terrific.
Hello, I really enjoyed this 3 video series. While I grew up on a farm, we never did any hay and it was such fun to go through the operation with you as you explained it.
I appreciate your clear explanations of all your equipment! Your awesome!
Thanks Vicki!!
Thanks! great info! At 69 I'm just beginning to "get into hay" - while rotationally grazing horses, soon cows too, sheep and goats and I suppose we can set the chicken tractors out there too. Seems a lot of work just for winter feed and or bedding and on 38 + acres! I'm eager to see how many bales we harvest. Thanks for all the great info - bountiful wisdom, humor and wonderful advice. You are invaluable to so many of us!
Another great video!!! I just have a “feel good “ feeling when I have hay in the barn for winter!! Thank you for sharing.
Me too Anita!
The process of rolled hay fascinates me and the change over from square to round. You explain the how to so well. I could follow your explanation. I have a new respect for hay when I see it in the fields
I don't miss throwing small bales for a nickel a piece when we were kids. Great presentation, I had made all the grand kids watch at first, now they look forward to your videos!
I'm really glad you made these videos. My uncle just started a really small farm and I've been helping out with it as much as possible. We have aspirations of expanding and I hope to own my own land in the future. It's likely at one point we will have to know how to do this and I know I have a lot to learn. You're an amazing teacher and I feel like I was able to soak a lot of this up. Greatly admire your work.
You are awesome, sir. Watched all three in one sitting and will look at your others, too.
I grew up throwing bales up on trailers in summer on family dairy farm in the heat of summer. I do not miss square bales lol but glad I did it as a kid probably kept me out of trouble. Love your channel.
This channel is awesome. Cant stop watching it. Like how you explain everything. True farmer and hard working man. Good luck and health to you!
The best job that I have ever had is when I worked one summer on a dairy farm. I was fifteen years old . The farm was located east of Cobleskill in the Catskills. The year is 1957 .There are lots of things that I do not remember. And many good memories that I do remember. Our day began at about 4 A.M. Milking you know . Breakfast was about 7:00 or 7:30 A.M. We had already done full day's work before we had breakfast. So we did have an appetite. If I ate a breakfast today as I did then , it would probably kill me . lol
What am I going to do today ? I'm going to mow hay using a sickle bar mowing machine. But , no tractor . My horsepower will come from a team of Belgian work horses. Judy and a gelding named Jerry. I was fifteen and I learned to drive on the farm with a Farmall tractor. Sorry but I do not remember the model number.
Believe it or not , I always preferred working with the horses over the tractor. I've thought about that over the years and I think that it's because there was more personal interaction with the horse. You could talk all day long to the tractor until you were blue in the face and it didn't give a hoot. Whereas the horses would listen to you. You could tell because they would turn their ears toward you. You had to pay attention while mowing because there were a few rocks that poked up out of the ground. You could really damage the mower if you hit a rock. You simply say stop and the horses would stop while you raised the sickle bar with the foot lever. Say okay and the horses would move forward a few feet until the bar had cleared the rock and they would stop while I lowered the bar again. They knew the drill . The tractor was too dumb to learn to do that . lol
Tractors are great. But , you can talk to horses !
I grew up with a Massy Ferguson that you could talk to.
Mostly just cussing it out for the short that caused the battery to die or the smoke it would make when at idle.
Just park it at the top of a hill and you'll be good.
I talk to my tractor all the time but luckily it never repeated what I say.
You may be right. It never listens.
@@allenferry1268 ,
When I was working with horses I would talk to them. You could tell that they were listening because they would turn their ears towards the sound of your voice.
Rhe team was a gelding and a mare. Jerry & Judy. Jerry was pretty smart as well as lazy. He would slack off until Judy was doing most of the work. As I have said , the horses would listen to me. I would tell Jerry , if you don't start pulling your share , I'm going to pop you with these reins. And he would begin pulling his share. Which made it easier on Judy. However , before long , Jerry would begin slacking off again. All of which made mowing hay more interesting. Oh and another thing that they would sometimes do that a tractor won't do. When a rock was sticking up out of the ground that would break a tooth on the mowing bar , they would stop. Which gave me time to raise the bar to clear the stone. With a tractor it was up to me to see the rock in time.
The fun part was when the horses knew that the work was finished. After plodding along all day, they suddenly had pep in their step when headed towards their barn. Being Belgian work horses they didn't actually go very fast. But riding that mower on a two track farm road over rough ground made for an exciting ride. More often than not I had daylight between me and the seat .
Outstanding as always. I’m a new farmer starting at 68. Next step is obtains equipment. Enjoying the channel. Tks for the education.
Excellent explanations. I use a 5209 grey NI discbine. It takes a few more horsepower, so I used my 986 that I traded services for. It has a lot of blow by, and either needs a valve job or in frame overhaul. I rake with a Gehl wheel rake and a gas 656. I used to use my M, but I like the power steering on my 656. I bale with a 4020 hooked to a JD 447. The 4020 was my first tractor on the farm 22 years ago and will never leave. I found an old GMC 7000 flat bed with a hoist that will haul 11 bales. That sure beats pulling them off the wagon. I can load in the field, haul it a mile and a half and dump in front of the barn. As a member of ffa (father farms alone) that helps. My wife has asthma, so no hay work for her. Your system and mine are remarkably similar, except that we have highlands rather than dexters. Farming beats working for a living any day. I do get a bit jealous of my daughter and son in law, who have over 4k acres and very large, very nice, very expensive, and very comfortable equipment. I enjoy helping them, but I do like my old equipment. My Farmall M and I were born the same year, and my Ford 8N is a year older than I am. I hope to last another 10 years at it.
Your explanations of this baler, and other aspects of your farm is completely understandable.... I appreciate your details. Thanks for showing the process.... And the part about "industry" standard bales vs what your Gehl does was something I didn't know.... Of course, I don't know much about farming... Thanks
Very informative Pete, if I didn't read your history would have guessed you were/are a teacher.
He might not be a teacher in the strictest sense of the word (college education and degree), but he is an educator.
Arquitecto!!!
I used to wonder why Farmers were making hay when I was commuting to work in Midland Michigan. I put a lot of miles on my Alero, but then working at Meijers at the gas station I had pretty good health care, but I'd watch the farmers make hay, now I know wwhy, because you make these videos on how to do different things on the farm, keep making these informative videos Pete.
I really appreciate how you explain how all the machinery works; and how you show the whole process of making hay.
Thank's a lot!
My best square baler was my John Deere 336. And my round baler was a John Deere 810 narrow belt. Loved haying. I quit farming in 1996. Thank you for your vids.
>
So what do you do now that you aren't farming? And what is happening to the land you used to farm?
Just curious.
"Old soldiers never die, they just fade awa......"
But what about farmers?
I've watched a lot of farm videos and you just hit the niche perfectly! I feel like I'm there having a conversation with you. You hit all my questions and explain everything so well. Really nice work man
Thanks so much Nicholas!!
I worked on my wife boss's farm in the mid 80's, he did round bales. I cut the hay then had the job of hauling it. He had another guy who raked and baled. We did square bales 1 time in the 3 years I worked for him, that was 1 long day especially since I have what is called hay fever. What a miserable night i had, lol. Really enjoy you videos, miss being on the farm, it's hard work but it is also relaxing.
Thanks so much for your wonderful efforts in educating us some of the very important skills to be a successful farmer. Heartily greetings from Uganda.
I never worked baling round bales but one summer I got the chance to stack and pickup the square bales, cousins had a good laugh. Thanks Pete for this video series.
What great videos,
Thank you Sir!
Butch
Ashland Ohio
I loved watching this series. You really did a great job of explaining the process and how the machinery worked, what you need to look for to prevent spoilage and over-fermentation.
Great explanations. As you said, most haying videos have a lot of footage of machines running, but no explanations, the what, why, when and how. You've got it all covered and more. Thank you so much!
Exactly? I always wanted to know how those things worked. Now I know a little bit about them.
Thanks for the awesome series of hay videos....
This was the most interesting thing I’ve watched in a long time (I watched all 3). Looking forward to checking out more of your videos!
Outstanding job. Thanks
Yep, best hey videos on the net!! Keepem coming.
Very nice video, glad to see another old school farmer out there.
Your hay making videos are AWESOME ! Your explanations were clear and concise . Thank You!
From Australia - mate you are a legend! Thank you Sir.
Loved the explanation of how the 'old' round baler works. I learned something new today, thank you! I grew up in the square bale days and don't miss them especially the days of stacking over 1,000 bales a day by hand. The tractor has a lot less sore muscles in the morning. After watching quite a few of your videos I think I figured out the reason for part of your success. Your narration sounds a bit like Andy Rooney and who doesn't like that? Well done Pete!
Andy Rooney lol! I can be cranky just like him! Thanks AutoCrete!
Well Pete !! One of the first mistakes I made was to build a new house and Shop/Warehouse. Building the Shop/warehouse was ok, But should have used the New Home funds for farming needs and growth !! Yep !! God Bless Kennyman
I had a chance to work with a IH 966 with the seat turned 15 degrees or so to the right. this was about 20 some years ago. But the difference was significant enough to eliminate neck strain by half. It was a custom seat job and I have not seen one like it since.
Greetings from Ireland. Thank you for your great video.
I just found your channel and what a great resource. My wife and I just started making hay on our 40 acre farm. We plan to add beef cows in a few months. I have a John Deere 336 and a Massey Ferguson 255 and can definitely relate to the amount of work it takes to put up small square bales. Like you, I bought used equipment and saved a lot of money. We have a hay loft so small squares are a necessity at this time. At 57 I couldn't agree more that small squares are tough on the body. My 2 grown sons help when they can but most of the work is done by my wife and I. We are currently selling the hay until we get a herd when we will keep some to feed. We also plan to use rotational grazing and your videos are incredibly helpful. Thanks again for sharing.
Hi Mark, I'm glad you found our channel! Working in a hay loft in the heat of summer, right under the hot roof with the air filled with dust is about the most brutal job ever. We put hay up this way when I was a kid and I don't miss it one bit. When my wife & I were doing square bales, we were stacking them on the floor of one of our pole barns & that was much easier. Best of luck to you & your wife!
I thought I recognized that scenery! You’re not far from me! I’m in skaneateles, I also run a farm with my family where we run 25-30k small square bales and a few hundred round bales
Hi neighbor! Been to Skaneateles many times.
Thanks Pete.
We are keen to learn more about hay making. Your video was very informative particularly when you should ted rake and bale. Thanks very much from Warragul Australia
Great video Pete. I have picked hay up, but never knew exactly what the whole process was. Very nice! 👍
Thanks for a great video. I miss doing hay with my grandfather.
My grandfather made 13500 60 pounder square bales in one cut. I love seeing fellow New yorker farming on TH-cam
Well done, your presentation and video editing style makes it very easy to watch!
Great video! Tie twine to the pin so you can unhook the wagon from the seat.
Awesome idea! Thanks!!
Love to see some of your 2nd and 3rd cutting!!
The level of detail is so helpful! Thank you so much!
You are a fantastic teacher. Thank you.
As a kid had to help with small square bales. Always a great time in the hay barn at 90 degrees.
Hi Bradley, it builds character!
Great series ended up watching them all.
Great 3 part video! Clear to the point and very informative.
Nice job explaining the process!
Thanks for sharing your experiences, it certainly helps!
I did enjoy the video, I watched all 3 baling videos one after the next. I really like the way you explain everything all the way through. But where is your straw hat? I always have a straw hat when I am working the tractor. That sun would cook me to a crisp. Entertaining and informative, great format, and is easy to follow. thanks.
Great stuff. I grew up in WV around a bunch of small hilly farms. Haying in WV in summer was brutal. The baler dumped on the ground and us kids rotated between stacking on the wagon or picking em off the ground. I was 10 or 12 years old, maybe weighed a little more than a bale of hay. At the end of the day the old farmers might give you $2 in quarters.
Loved this hay series.
Pete’s the man!!! Thank you sir! For the tips
Stop farming and go into the video production business. This is the best video I’ve ever seen. Thanks. I grew up on a cattle farm and we baled small bales. But my dad had free child labor lol. Now I’m 63 and have one good arm and one useless arm. Mom died and left the old place to me and I’m dying to buy a few cows. We have a Bumblebee down here in south Louisiana that would eat your pole barn down in five years. I can’t find anything to kill them. I shot one with a shotgun and blew it 50 feet and it just flew away.
Very interesting about hay making.
Really enjoyed this series, thank you!
You are very efficient at what you do. In Trinidad, gardless of the brand, all wheel tractors are called FRAMALL. This ,I think was because the earlier tractors that were bought into the country were FARMALL.
I was wanting to know if you could do a video on how to hook up and unhook the haybine, hay Tedder, hay rake, round baler and square baler and how they work and operate and how to operate them and how to get them ready for hay season and a walk around and an overview of the tractors and hay equipment this summer?
Outstanding video as always Pete. I really do look forward to your videos as I am starting my own little herd shortly. I would love to chat with you sometime about it. Keep up the good work!!
In the summer of 1962 I witnessed a barn go up, due to spontaneous combustion. The event was pretty dramatic. We’d just unloaded 1320 square bails into a neighboring pool barn and heard loud bang, and the barn went up on flames. We along the snake river.
Cool video! Can I offer a tip, put a string on the hitch pin so you don't have to get off the tractor to unhook the trailer
I learn so much from your videos! Thank you!
Thank you, for sharing very informative and helpful for us new farmers just starting out.
Clear & concise, excellent.
I miss thumb UP this video last time i watched your work story.
Today is done. :)
And yes - open cab is real farming expirence! 😀💪😜
I can’t say I’ve seen many twine bales that look good. But I will say, those are very pretty twine bales
Always enjoy your videos - informative and interesting- Thank you
Wonderful!
Pete your right I use a super m or a John Deere 630 in my haybine I use the H or the super c on the rake and Tedder and the super m or the jd630 on the baler and the super c runs the hay wagons around
Great video. My Dad and I do round bales, we make a 4×41/2 bale we also stack them in the barn, but we stack them what we call barrel stack. The bottom two on there ends and top one the way you pick it up in the field. It seems like we have a lot of wasted space.
Nice job Pete.
You have a shade on your tractor? Luxury...I watched this whole series very good. I would encourage you to switch over to a wheel rake though, the time/diesel savings is incredible.
Hey Pete! New subscriber here love the channel very informative. I'm in the process of buying a 40acre smallholding here in the UK loved all the hay making videos from start to finish! I'm sure to be watching plenty more of your stuff! Excellent channel keep up the good work and videos!
As always I enjoy all your content and l always learn something. Thank you Pete!!!
You will reach million subscribers in no time. Mark my word .. I subscribe when you have 7.5k subscribers and it’s climbing quickly
Our Gehl baler makes 4x5 and we store a majority of the bales outside, ours calls for 135 psi but if you ever need to store your bales outside I’d suggest finding what yours takes and adding a little too it but not too much to have premature failure in tensioning parts and add a 3rd pass on the wrap... I’ve even experimented with the cows by sneaking in a few 2-3 yr old bales and they don’t even notice! Good quality balers for the money.
Thanks Carson, good tips! I think I have ours set to 110 psi.
If you had a pull pin actuated by a rope, you could unhook the trailer by pulling on the rope and freeing the tow pin. Maybe even hook up that way.
I love making 5’x 66”bales. I’d hate moving and putting out 20% more hay! And we still run them 2 wide on a trailer to haul them home sometimes, if we’re not using our inline trailer.
I hope you’re able to grow and upgrade to a netwrap baler and cabbed tractor some day!
We run a Deere 569 silage special baler and wrap some wet hay every year too. We usually bale around 1000 5’x66” bales every year, weighing in at 1250-1400lbs.
Hi Drew, those are some big bales! I could use a cab today, it's in the 90's & humid.
Just started watching your series and this has been really helpful and enjoyable to watch. How many acres do you have in total out of curiosity? Much appreciated for the videos!
Just watched the series. Excellent information, thanks. New sub here.
Great stuff Pete👍👍👍👍👍
As usual another GREAT video... Thanks ...