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The winds affect on drying time of hay

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Phil

04-12-2001 05:54:57




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All this talk about drying hay got me thinking about the wind and direction of cut. At my place it is very windy, if I don�t literally tie my trashcan down it tends to roll around the yard quite frequently. My question is does the direction of the wind, with respect to the direction of a windrow, have any affect on the drying time. I have one field where the wind blows across the field, perpendicular to the windrows, and another field where it blows down the field (this is a cornfield but if it was in hay the wind would blow parallel to the windrows). I don�t really have the option of changing the direction I mow but I was just curious what the opinions were of the affects of the wind direction (if any).

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david

04-13-2001 08:59:21




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 Re: The winds affect on drying time of hay in reply to Phil, 04-12-2001 05:54:57  
Just a couple of thoughts on the subject. When and how much you tedder depends on geography. As water evaporation greatly influences color we try to minimize exposure to dew. We cut and then immediately tedder to help bruise the stems and scatter it out. Then try to cure for 1-2 days, tedder again if needed or if forecast is clear rake to finish curing in the windrow.

As far wind direction rotation around high or low pressure systems will influence many air properties. The saying here is an "east wind" sets a green color in tobacco. East winds (here) are usually cool and dry and accompanied by bright sunshine. Last year I had a field of fescue cure down to 12% in 2 days, couldn't roll it, too dry.

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joe

04-12-2001 11:21:47




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 Re: The winds affect on drying time of hay in reply to Phil, 04-12-2001 05:54:57  
you must be lucky and not have to ted hay. if you did it wouldnt matter. wind is bad when we do second cutting as the hay blows as it is short and fine regardless of cut direction.



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Phil

04-12-2001 13:00:23




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 Re: Re: The winds affect on drying time of hay in reply to joe, 04-12-2001 11:21:47  
Is it common practice to ted hay all of the time? I have never used a tedder and the only time I have heard of people using one is when it rains on a raked windrow. Other than that the standard procedure is to cut, let it dry on top, flip it with a rake to dry the bottom, combine windrows with a rake, and then bale. Sometimes instead flipping it with a rake an inverter is used, that way you know what was on the bottom is on top and visa verse.

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Bill B

04-13-2001 21:17:03




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 Re: Re: Re: The winds affect on drying time of hay in reply to Phil, 04-12-2001 13:00:23  
Hi, back east here you would never get hay to dry without a tedder.From my experience wind is a great help in drying out hay. A tedder would allow you to cut down the drying time. I realize you can do it with a rake, but a tedder is faster. Bill



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Charlie

04-12-2001 16:15:26




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 Re: Re: Re: The winds affect on drying time of hay in reply to Phil, 04-12-2001 13:00:23  
You can certainly get good hay with out a hay tedder but there never seems to be an extra day to dry hay before it rains. A tedder definitely saves some drying time. It will also spread out any bunches that occur during cutting and prevent wet wads in bales. A tedder becomes more useful on younger and greener hay than on older stuff. Concerning the value of a wind blowing, I made some second cutting alfalfa one year that never saw any sunshine - just a warm stiff breeze. The hay was dry and just as green when it was baled as when it was cut. I had to keep looking at the bales to convince myself it was dry. With that kind of cloudiness I did spend 3 days expecting rain at any minute. Sometimes getting good hay is a matter of luck.

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Warren

04-12-2001 09:38:39




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 Re: The winds affect on drying time of hay in reply to Phil, 04-12-2001 05:54:57  
Phil,
The wind will have a tremendous affect on the drying time along with temperature and humidity. The wind will cause the hay to dry much faster.
Something to keep in mind if you have a choice about the direction of cut and it is in a consistently high wind area, is to align the windrows in the direction of the wind - not across the wind. When you rake the hay across the wind, the wind will take the windrows and scatter them all over the place! If you are like me, you will then have lots of blue smoke coming out of your ears and the neighbors will talk about your foul language!
Good luck!
Warren

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paul

04-15-2001 18:54:07




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 Re: Re: The winds affect on drying time of hay in reply to Warren, 04-12-2001 09:38:39  
Agreed. I don't think it will make much difference on drying for direction, but keeping a nice straight windrow will be easier with the wind than crossways.

--->Paul



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hay

04-12-2001 08:05:05




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 Re: The winds affect on drying time of hay in reply to Phil, 04-12-2001 05:54:57  
you bring up a good question. i would think the wind would have some drying effect, after all it dries the soil so why not the hay. there is still no substitute for nice warm sunshine for drying hay. i usually cut my hay when we get a generally good dry weather forecast. i cut and let the hay dry for 3-5 days in the sun and then rake and bale it. if it turns off cloudy you might have to rake it one more time to get it all dried throughly.

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Erika

01-17-2005 14:14:15




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 Re: Re: The winds affect on drying time of hay in reply to hay, 04-12-2001 08:05:05  
How does weather affect paint drying time?



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