Forum Replies Created
- AuthorPosts
Donn Hewes
KeymasterFirst glance, You need a pitman stick (#7’s and #9’s are different lengths – get the right one), evener, Tongue and neck yoke. That doesn’t say anything about all the cutting parts. Knife, guards, ledger plates, etc. It is all available and pretty easy to work on with enough wrenches. It looks like a nice machine. You could check for slop in the wheels, also were the shaft comes out of the gear box. It should kick in and out of gear freely. If it is out of gear the shaft should spin freely. Good luck. Donn
Donn Hewes
KeymasterForecast for rain today! So what do I do? I mowed about five acres yesterday with the hopes that I could dry it and bale it by Wed., before it rains again. I will let you know how it works. Donn
PS. Connie’s first day on the haybine – She is open faced and she did great. I let her get a good look at it from about fifty feet while it was running early in the day. Once they were hooked and I engaged it she acted up for about 20 seconds and then went to work. A very good horse.
Donn Hewes
KeymasterSomething Neal said made me think of another small aspect of plugging. He mentioned running the inner shoe on top of the swathe. It occurred to me that in mowing an acre at a time you are returning to the same spot pretty quick. It is amazing what five more minutes will do to set the swathe down a little. Just look at the difference between the one you just mowed and the swathe from three laps prior. Not a big point but larger fields will be slightly easier for this reason. So many subtleties.
I am still sitting here throwing the weather radio around.
Donn Hewes
Keymasterthe haybine only involves the guards. The knives I use are made for a sickle bar mower. As such the guards are not intended to be sharpened. The haybine guard may be able to be touched up with a grinder how ever, as there is no separate ledger plate to take off. The knives vary as to whether they are meant to be sharpened. I use a mix of different knife sections on different mowers. A top serrated knife is no way sharpenable, but is wicked sharp and has been for a long time. Bottom serrated are sharpen able, but still stay sharp a long time. Some folks have good luck with the non serrated. I personally think brand new knifes are made of good steel and worth the money. I would expect your knife to stay sharp a long time. Those knifes were designed for a motorized machine that runs much faster and gets less attention than you will give it. They are expected to mow many acres with out any trouble.
Those of us stuck in the rain would still like to see more pictures, George, Neal?
Donn Hewes
KeymasterHi Thousand Hills, Just my opinion, but the best thing for a beginner is a broke team. Doesn’t matter if they are mules or horses if they are truly trained as advertised. The reason I say this is because you will learn much more quickly and safely with their help. Considering your general knowledge and skill with horses, and other teamsters near by that are willing to help will assist you in determining what other options for less trained animals are open to you.
Donn Hewes
KeymasterGeorge and Kristan, way to go. I think you have the first dry bales on DAP. Your prize is on the way. I am going to guess your knife will stay sharp for alot more than two acres. The knife I am using now is still sharp after 40 acres of clipping.
Mowers will plug for a variety of reasons but 95 % of the time it is getting grass hung on the tip of the guard were the knife can’t reach it. This wad of grass rides around and soon plugs the guard next to it. The reason the inside shoes are plugging is simple. You are hitting the mowed grass instead of the unmowed. Mowed grass from the round before is laying down and perfect for hanging on the end of the guard. That is nice thick hay; is the grass board making a good clean path to follow? Often a change in the wind direction or heaviness of the cutting will effect how the grass board makes a path. Once you have a good clear path it is just a trick of driving to keep that inside head of the cutter assembly right there in that clear path. Easy to say but it takes some practice.
A few years ago I visited an amish farm were they were mowing alfalfa with out a grass board because they didn’t want that little uneven drying. They could do this with two stub guards on the inside of the cutter bar. These stub guards will usually (but not all ways) plow right through the mowed grass that is laying in front of it and just chop it as it goes. I don’t use a grass board for clipping now, and it is fun to practice the technique that keeps it from plugging. I don’t think the stub guards have anything on your knife setup if the grass board is working right. I just added it as a point of interest.
Again, congratulations on making some nice hay with horses. Donn
Donn Hewes
KeymasterWay to go everyone! Amongst all the skills and attributes of a teamster is a healthy dose of perseverance. It is nice to see some folks finding that here.
As far as clipping goes; I am a big fan of clipping and do a ton of it. While you can pick up and feed most clippings, ( I agree with plowboy, I wouldn’t feed stuff from a lawn mower) you may not need to. In my view it is not wasted, it is green cover crop being mowed to feed the soil. I have been amazed at how much you can leave. Heavy clipping that you would think would smother any regrowth in a few days has shriveled to much less volume and cover and you see clovers coming up all through it.
When ever it is too wet to make hay I am clipping. Hopefully I will be mowing hay this week. Donn
Donn Hewes
KeymasterToday was weaning day, and over the years we have tried different methods for moving the lambs to their own pasture for the first time. There isn’t anything much harder to herd than about 60 lambs that are at most a month and a half old and have never learned anything but follow mom.
For the last couple years we have used this little trailer, ( same one we use for hauling to the butcher) and that has worked OK. Today, with the wet grass and the slight hill location I thought our two wheel drive toyota had a pretty good chance of getting stuck.
Quick put a ball in the forecart, and off we go. This the gravy. A fun, odd job that you know will work because of all the time you have already spent on the mower, harrow, and spreader. You gotta watch out when all the lambs run out of the trailer screaming for their mothers. One went under the mules noses. Good thing I was standing there. Too wet for hay now – I guess I will go back to clipping. Donn
PS. weaning weights were excellent, one 55 pounder!, There are a few yearlings in the picture. We don’t breed lambs and replacements spend the second summer leading the lambs around showing them the place.
Donn Hewes
KeymasterGeorge, I just realized I should point out I am filling the spreader with a tractor bucket. If I was filling it by hand it is a good example of something I would expect / teach / demand they do by standing without assistance. I think it also illustrates the point that you need to evaluate each team, your self, and what you are asking them to do. Err on the side of caution, but this is a valuable skill and important skill for them to have. For me, and my animals, on my farm the difference is between filling with a tractor and filling by hand. Each of us needs to figure this out for themselves.
Donn Hewes
KeymasterHi Jen, Just out of curiosity, when you headed up to Ted’s last week you hoped to work on the whoa, witch was needing some work. Did you mean stopping when you asked or standing after stopping? The reason I ask is because we have been mixing our terms a little and I just wanted to see what you were working on.
Standing (my definition) is a horse or a team, in harness with lines attached. Standing waiting until the next instruction to do something. They may be hooked to something or not. Someone may have the lines in their hand or not. Someone maybe standing in front of them or not. They are not tied up. Jason calls it Parked.
This is an incredibly important and useful skill for working horses, mules, and probable oxen. I think it is also often misunderstood or misused. I use it a million times a day to hook and unhook, to hook carts to other pieces of equipment, to rest, To examine hay, or nose into the shop and fix a loose bolt. I use it when tugs are tangled, or a neck yoke breaks. I used it to great effect yesterday when a mule stepped into a chain harrow I was looking for (found it). Everyone (three abreast of youngsters) stayed still while I lift his foot up and out of the harrow.
What I don’t use it for is to leave the animals. I don’t answer the phone or go in the house to get a drink. I don’t get in a car and go over to the neighbors. I don’t turn my back to them and start running a chain saw and forget they are there. I don’t fill my spreader with out someone else there. Other people will be able to do different things with different teams to a point.
I especially appreciated Jason’s comments. In my opinion here is a man who through 30 year’s of necessity, horsemanship, and close observation has developed his teams ability to stand to a high art. But he concludes with you need to know when to tie them up. Be cautious, learn your own limits and your horses limits. I don’t care if you use a halter under the bridle or not, but be prepared to tie them up in a safe manner when you leave them beyond your control.
Donn Hewes
KeymasterCongratulations Dennis! Far as vaccinations go you best bet is to try and not let him even meet a mule until he is eighteen. Even that can back fire – might run a way or start a mule farm down the road. just kidding, the lines are all the same. Donn
Donn Hewes
KeymasterJL, Here are a couple pics of the baler wagon hitch. This is a New Holland 68 model and the hitch is a normal part of the baler. Donn
Donn Hewes
KeymasterPretty hard to beat a Percheron mule from an American Mammoth Jack.
Donn Hewes
KeymasterJoel, What Kind of shanks did you put on? What ground were you in? Pasture? Were you pulling two shanks at a time or one? What were you pulling with? Hope you don’t mind a few questions. Donn
Donn Hewes
KeymasterHi JL, I will get the baler in the shop today to try and fix the chute that got damaged last day of last year’s hay making. I will take a couple photos. My wife loves to walk on the wagon and stack bales as they come off the baler. Baling and pulling a wagon would be tough work for three. I use four. Even so on a couple spots on the farm that have a little hill it can be tough to get the wagon full. I am getting some of Jason’s rain now; I think the next good weather forecast I might start to mow. There are a lot of pictures of us baling to a wagon on my web album. You can also see the same neck yokes used on a fore abreast. Donn
- AuthorPosts