Hey all! I been pretty busy but to everyone that responded to the previous post a big THANKS ! After all was said and almost done the rain wasn't a problem after all and my wife made sure I didn't get overheated and that I drank plenty of water . I got some nice pale green grass hay still , soft enough to sleep in ;') I should get it tested to really see how I did but the horses like it so that's all that matters . Sunday was hot with low humidity and the rows dried quickly . I raked them a couple times and started bailing about 3pm . With just my wife stacking and me driving and stopping every 10 bails or so to help get them up to the top rows on the rack it took us till 2:30am Monday morning ( Sunday night ) to get it all out of the field ( 1 load stacked in the barn and the second one waiting to be unloaded ). We had to go to wally world and get tarps to cover the second load because we were beat . We got close to 175 of those 24" bales on each of the last two loads and 165 on the first . The bales weigh about 30 - 40 lbs each and are packed like bricks . But the good news is that at least the 14t bailer did a superb job ! The counter quit working but it only missed one tie out of close to 500 bales . Whatever I did to it a while back must have helped it . One question , and maybe Old can answer this one ; How many turns down is normal for the tension cranks ? I had mine turned down 18 on the left side and 22 on the right side . The bails got consistant ( square ends from all angles and equal lengths ) and I can't even push my fingers into them 2 " to see if they are getting hot . But I can still get a good hold on the twine to pick them up . I'm satisfied ! It needs more repair but it did good ! The bails are still a bit ragged on the cut side and I just had the knives out and sharpened them but I think the gap between them is to wide . Still sheared a bunch of shearpins because of how tight they were . Near as I can tell I still only got about one and a quarter tons per acre . But half the field is a realitively new seeding , less than a year old . It'll get better as it fills in . John In Iowa - Thanks for the tip on the sitrex rakes , I'm going to look at them asap . I live just south of Charles city so we're about an hour apart depending on which way ya drive . Don - Ya got me beat on difficulty of belt renewal ! Mine is the last one to get to but it's just a matter of loosening the tensioners on the others and slipping them off . One chain and what IH calls a poly-V belt . It's just that when I do those kinds of repairs I can't help but to tear things apart and fix more than just what's broke if I have the time . RickL - you live just to darned far away to buy stuff from you ! I would be interested in that six wheel rake maybe if you shot me a price I couldn't refuse - I'll warn you though , anything past free is usually a price I can refuse :') - I'll call you about it . Take care everyone ! ...Randy
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