New, to me, hay equipment

Last month I picked up some hay equipment; IH 990 7ft mower cond., Ferguson 20 rake and NH 275 baler. Yes, I bought manuals for each.

The gentleman I purchased the equipment from has had them for over 15 years and only baled about 600 bales each year. The machines are well greased and seem nice and tight. I know they are not perfect but they should be just fine for me. I towed the mower and baler home with my truck (about 25 miles) and the wheel bearings were as cool as cucumbers.

I only plan on baling about ten acres. It has been since high school since I did hay and I never operated a baler, I was the kid on the wagon, so I am excited/nervous to give it a go.

My father in law has a little 30 head heifer farm and my friend has an excavating company so getting rid of bales shouldn t be an issue.

Thanks for reading
wels

Have fun !!

Nice looking 'iron'.Personally,I don't like a PTO rake.I find they can be problematic in the driveline area.Lots of guys have em and love em.One thing to watch. Some of those ferguson rakes were ground speed PTO.engine speed PTO will turn it a bit fast.You might want to hook it up early and find out.Good luck,have fun!

For 10 acres you have great equipment. The Fergie rake is great for small fields where you can pick it up and make baler turns easier. It is a ground speed rake, so use it that way.
A NH275 super sweep baler is a very good baler and will get the job done. Small and easy to maneuver.
Have fun. A fresh wagon load of quality hay is a very satisfying accomplishment

I had been looking for a NH 56/256 rake but the price people are asking for them is more than half of what I paid for all three pieces. I ll see how how I like #20 and give some feed back.

The manual says their are two different drive pulley sizes; one for ground speed pro and one for 540 pto.



I just need to check and see which size I have and operate accordingly. Though I m not really sure what "ground speed tpo" means.

(quoted from post at 04:50:55 12/08/19)
The manual says their are two different drive pulley sizes; one for ground speed pro and one for 540 pto.



I just need to check and see which size I have and operate accordingly. Though I m not really sure what "ground speed tpo" means.

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Ground speed pto was something the Massey tractors had, if the other guy wasn't running a Massey chances are the pulley will be for 540 pto

I had a 990 that I ran for about 5 years until I added ground and went for a disc mower conditioner. It was a good machine, and all posts that I have ever seen about them tell that they were very good. The super sweep on the baler is a big plus. Get three bales of hay to run through the baler to test it. Keep tripping the knotters every eight inches of bale to make it tie many times. Any baler that has sat for a long time will have stiff hay dogs, so those and the tucker fingers need to be loose and smooth before you put hay into it.

If your Massey has the ground speed option, you'll see it on the PTO lever.

The gentleman I bought the kit off of was running a AC 6060, so I am hoping it is set up for 540.

My everything tractor is Ford 4000 SU

Thanks for advice. I have plenty of hay bales lying around that can be used for testing.

I still use that Ferguson 20 rake, I like
it for smaller fields. As others said if
you don't have a MF with ground speed pto
hope it has the correct pulley. You can
still get replacement tines/teeth at
Tractor Supply Co stores

The 990 was a very good machine. Dad had two seven ft ones and other than breaking the reel shaft on one we never had any problems. Some 990's had two rubber rolls and some had one steel and a rubber. If yours has steel turn it over by hand and make sure none of it is loose. Neighbor had a piece come loose and hit him in the head while mowing. Nasty gash that almost knocked him out and required stitches. If any appears loose just have them rewelded. Most often happens the ends.For several years in the late 80's we baled over 20,000 small squares a year all cut with two 990's. We went to NH as in thick hay we felt the intermeshing rolls helped dry hay better. If your budget allows look into a hay tedder. The rotary ones are the best and a two basket one can often be bought reasonable. If making horse hay it will speed drying. Another thing to consider is buying a hay crimper to run you hay through to condition it again after mowing. Anything you can do to speed up drying makes better hay and it seems we have different weather than years ago and making dry hay seems harder every year. Tom

Thanks Tom

Mine has two rubber rolls.

Get yourself a 8x18 flat hay wagon with good tires on it and hopefully that young man inspecting the pick up head on the 275 will be stacking it like a pro in no time.

(quoted from post at 19:40:29 12/08/19) Get yourself a 8x18 flat hay wagon with good tires on it and hopefully that young man inspecting the pick up head on the 275 will be stacking it like a pro in no time.

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2X what Shaler said. I was stacking at 14. My son who has a degree in divinty and my daughter who teaches brain surgery at Harvard, both worked in the field, and both of them are grateful for their upbringing and are raising their own kids similarly.

Looks like a good starting setup. I ran a 9 ft 990 IH for a
number of years and always had good luck with it. I agree with
Showcrop , you should run some hay through the baler and
test the knotters . Be sure to grease and oil it up first. Pay
attention to the chain that drives the knotters , I had to weld
the needles on a NH 277 for my neighbor a few years ago due
to that chain being stiff causing the shear pin to break and
with an inoperative plunger safety stop it broke the needles. If
you can try to store the baler inside.

I found a good wagon last year. It has come in handy for all kinds of jobs. Collecting hay will just be one more.

I made sure I got the baler inside.

Good luck. Read the manuals, go over each machine slowly and carefully. Look for sloppy bearings.
Grease and oil everything. Run the machines and try them out on something before the real thing. And
don?t forget, safety first. Zero injuries. Make sure your boys know the dangers and the rules. Farming
with my kids is the best. Dogs too.

Looks good - read all you can about all of that equipment before going into the field next year.

Keep an eye out for a low cost two basket tedder and a 50 gallon sprayer. Wagons and running gears are cheap, does your baler have a wagon hitch? We pulled
wagons behind our New Holland 68 and that worked very good. Still pull wagons, but different baler with pan kicker and racks now on our wagons.

Good luck,
Bill

That 4000SU will handle all of you newly acquired hay equipment just fine, they're hardly little tractors.

Here's a photo of mine with the 601 side mount picker we'ed just pulled out of the barn in the photo.

Wish you were closer, I'd like to trade bumpers, the one you have is the correct one for my 801.

Darn auto correct.

They're handy little tractors

(quoted from post at 11:24:46 12/08/19) Last month I picked up some hay equipment; IH 990 7ft mower cond., Ferguson 20 rake and NH 275 baler. Yes, I bought manuals for each.

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How about that! I also bought an old NH 275 in the last few weeks so that we can make a few small squares in addition to the rounds. I used to do the raking but never operated the baler. First time operating a baler for me was on the old but new to us John Deere round baler that we only just got this year.

I'm looking forward to trying my NH 275, but our next hay season is not until October (I'm from the land down under) so I'm thinking I might have to test it out some time before then by unrolling a round bale.

Fred.

(quoted from post at 13:11:19 12/08/19)
A NH275 super sweep baler is a very good baler and will get the job done. Small and easy to maneuver.

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I had actually been wondering about super sweep vs standard pickups so I think you've answered my question without me having to ask it! My NH 275 doesn't have the pickup teeth as close together as this baler here, so I guess mine must only have the standard pickup. Not that I'm worried mind you, it still has a lot more teeth than our old NH 69 that was retired many many moons ago!

Fred.

I measured the pto drive pulley and it is the correct size for 540 rpm so that it good news.

I also fashioned a belt guard out of some spare stuff I had around. The PO said the hay would wide up on the drive pulley, hopefully this helps.

I too started from "scratch" a few of years ago with all new-to-me, older equipment.

My learning curve (in no particular order):

1) Equipment brakes down. Every. Bloody. Season.
2) Don't bite off more than you can realistically handle: i.e. don't cut more than you know you can rake, bale and get into the barn (before it rains).
...and in complete conflict with 2):
3) Don't not cut enough because you think you can't handle it all, only to find out that you never get another break in the weather to tackle the remaining fields.
4) Equipment brakes down. Every. Bloody. Season. :wink:


There's NOTHING like the sense of achievement you get looking at a full barn of fresh hay that you "made" yourself!
:lol: :lol: :lol:

(quoted from post at 07:34:11 12/29/19) I too started from "scratch" a few of years ago with all new-to-me, older equipment.

My learning curve (in no particular order):

1) Equipment brakes down. Every. Bloody. Season.
2) Don't bite off more than you can realistically handle: i.e. don't cut more than you know you can rake, bale and get into the barn (before it rains).
...and in complete conflict with 2):
3) Don't not cut enough because you think you can't handle it all, only to find out that you never get another break in the weather to tackle the remaining fields.
4) Equipment brakes down. Every. Bloody. Season. :wink:


There's NOTHING like the sense of achievement you get looking at a full barn of fresh hay that you "made" yourself!
:lol: :lol: :lol:

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Pig, a corollary to your rules is that when you make the step from a sickle bar moco to a disc moco you have the capability of getting twice as much hay rained on.

BUT a very important thing to remember is that early cut hay is hurt far less by rain than late cut.

(quoted from post at 11:32:56 12/29/19)
Pig, a corollary to your rules is that when you make the step from a sickle bar moco to a disc moco you have the capability of getting twice as much hay rained on.

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Hahaha, how true!

I still have a sickle bar mo-co (JD1209), and it's "fast" enough for me!

Agreed about good used equipment. I use a NH 273 and have a NH 275 that I bought for parts but got it running as a spare. Never needed it. Those are good balers. Both of mine have throwers. The one thing you musn't forget to grease is the safety bar that swings into action to spare your needles from catastrophic failure, in other words getting busted into little pcs. I forgot about this on my NH273 and ended up welding the needles back together. They have held for many years now, but I have seen them beyond repair as well. On the 273 the zerk fittings are harder to get too but doable. My NH275 has grease lines and are much easier to grease. My 273 had sat a few years when my neighbors baled my hay for me. When I went back to baling my own the safety had froze. I might miss an occasional fitting but never the safety. The timing I think needs to go out for it to eat your needles like that but a broken chain or Mr Murphy can make it happen. That baler can be a body grabber so treat it with respect.

I do not know why I still do it. The stress of making dry hay in small squares is for me quite a bit. You can't trust the weather man to tell the truth about rain. Right after you cut hay the weather forcast goes from 5 days of dry weather to Rain chances the whole next week with high humidity. I look at this as a personal challenge to bale only good dry hay. Most of the time I do well. The last two years have been horribly wet in WI at least in my area. Not sure about the rest of you out there but I obsess about when to cut to the point of insanity. Quite often I nail it but the last two years has been tough to get it off without rain.

Cheers, John.

John
thanks for chiming in.

I will be learning as I go, hopefully with as little stress as possible. I play at my place as therapy after working at my normal stressful job. So if I mess the hay up or it gets rained on I will just run the brush hog over it and try again next time.

Well good luck with your plans. I would plan on a learning curve that you will learn a lot from. Many a times I wish I had a chopper with a hay head on it to clean up hay I didn't want to waste time with. Most of my buyers are horse people and many of them are insane as far as expectations of the quality they are getting. Truth is good grass hay is all most horses need. Many are afraid of mold which is warranted. But if you miss that the bales are getting loose or tough you are a suspect seller. Having that chopper would be ideal for getting rotten hay off if it is really bad. I tried a brush hog mower once and it sure did not work for me. I think making good hay with small squares is a "learned event". In perfect weather with good luck it can be enjoyable. But start having problems like running out of twine, flat tires, catastrophic failure of some function, and you become a hostile farmer and risk biting the heads off of anybody helping you. Most farm wives I knew refused to help as they got yelled at too much. Not trying to discourage anybody, as I must get off on the challenge myself. But it can be stressful and a lot of work. As much work to bale up junk hay as it is to bale up good hay. If you have to run it up in the barn and stack it, that much more fun. Having help makes it easier for sure. But all the people who offer to help are busy that weekend and are not on call do to weather changes. You can find yourself alone at haying time, the last two years I had a neighbor stacking for me. Thought I died and went to heaven. I could just keep on going like your supposed too goes pretty quick then. I am getting older and I am the only one I know that is stupid enough to make hay every year by myself most the time. It is good work but from start to finish by yourself is a job in my book. So best of luck to you and recommend a friend or family member who had done this a lot so you don't miss some thing important. Some machines can be temperamental, more so when the conditions change while your out there so you need to learn your hay and your equipment. Helps if your using your own product. In the past I had three horses so I only sold some of my hay off. I lived with it. But if your planning on selling it is different. Best of luck to you. Regards, John.

(quoted from post at 14:14:19 01/21/20)
John
thanks for chiming in.

I will be learning as I go, hopefully with as little stress as possible. I play at my place as therapy after working at my normal stressful job. So if I mess the hay up or it gets rained on I will just run the brush hog over it and try again next time.

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I wouldn't bush hog rained on hay.
Get a small two basket tedder to spread the hay and fluff it up off of the ground, give it a day to dry and bale it. Sell that hay to your friend with the excavating business at a lower price, usually they're just wanting something for a ground mat or to block drainage, he'll get a good deal and you'll still make money rather than writing it off as a lose.

Still looking for a tedder.

But yes, my buddy will take anything in a bale. The last batch of bales I got out of his stash was basically all thistles.

Thank you for the advice.