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Implement Alley Discussion Forum

Advice on Hay Crimper

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Kevin in Ont.

01-04-2004 06:57:52




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I cut hay w/ a 12 ft swather w/ a conditioner. Works great but heavy alfalfa 1st cut has a hard time drying. Was talking to a guy who cuts w/ swather then crimps it the next day, says it cuts the drying time by a day or so. Any ideas on this? Is it worth my trouble? I want to make top quality hay for our horses and sheep possibly sell some locally too. Any crimper advice???

Thanks in advance




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Loren - Minnesota

01-11-2004 22:42:06




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 Re: Advice on Hay Crimper in reply to Kevin in Ont., 01-04-2004 06:57:52  
I think the difference is a crimper compared to a crusher. Our old New Holland was just a crusher. I think that might be what you have on your swather. Two round rollers that just squezzed the stems, as compared to some of the other models (like John Deere) that had notched rollers that messed together (not a real good explaination, but), hence breaking the stems, not just crushing them. Neighbors hay alway dried faster than ours with the JD Crimper. Maybe Steve from New Holland can jump in here for better clarification.

Loren

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Loren - Minnesota - Sorry

01-11-2004 22:45:22




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 Re: Re: Advice on Hay Crimper in reply to Loren - Minnesota, 01-11-2004 22:42:06  
Sorry I'm so late on getting in on this one, been gone a few days.



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Flurette Farm

01-04-2004 19:22:52




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 Re: Advice on Hay Crimper in reply to Kevin in Ont., 01-04-2004 06:57:52  
Kevin, set your swather windrow as wide as the settings will permit (check machines fluffer panel setting) and make sure your roll presure is set correctly. (read your manual) Then follow (Guys) instruction and use a tedder. If you cut in the morning ted that evening or early the next morning. Good luck...



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T.J.-N.J.

01-04-2004 17:14:56




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 Re: Advice on Hay Crimper in reply to Kevin in Ont., 01-04-2004 06:57:52  
I have to use my cunningham crimper while the hay is still crisp like a piece of firm celery much more than 45 minutes and it starts to wilt. The crimper then becomes a salad shooter and grinds up the hay into a pulpy mess. It would totally destroy any leaves once they started to dry. The Cunningham has steel rolls so I can't say how a rubber rolled one would work. I don't have a tedder, I use an old horse drawn (someone modified it long ago to be pulled with a tractor with a draw bar) International hay kicker or "fluffer" which in action is like having a dozen or so hay forks pick up the hay and let it fall back down it does a nice job and is pretty gentle on the hay and if the ground is soft I can even pull it with the Cub if need be, so I don't grind a lot of the hay into the ruts with the bigger machines. Hope this helped T.J.

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Dan

01-04-2004 11:33:14




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 Re: Advice on Hay Crimper in reply to Kevin in Ont., 01-04-2004 06:57:52  
May be a difference in the type swather. When NH came out with the "chevron" style crimper in the late 60s and early 70s they claimed and so did some of the farmers, that it cut a day off curing time. Perhaps what the neighbor is accomplishing with second crimp is more of a fluffing action. In my area guys harves heavy crops of Timothy hay, to get it to dry usually they use a fluffer, simmilar to tedder I believe. Some swathers will leave a sort of tunnel in the windrow while others don't.

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Sid

01-04-2004 10:07:55




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 Re: Advice on Hay Crimper in reply to Kevin in Ont., 01-04-2004 06:57:52  
I agree about using a hay tedder. I do not understand why a swather one day then crimping it the next. Not meant to be an arguement but a question.



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JMS/MN

01-04-2004 12:23:20




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 Re: Re: Advice on Hay Crimper in reply to Sid, 01-04-2004 10:07:55  
I did that on a few occasions following a JD800 14 foot swather. The crimper rolls on the swather are only about 40 inches wide, and do not crimp as well as a moco. Even following a moco, you are doing additional crushing of the stems, so it would increase the rate of drying. I chopped haylage behind the swather, and especially after a rain, with 80-120 acres on the ground, it was an advantage to get an early start on chopping, because rain re-wets ALL that is on the ground and makes it equal again. Too much to chop in one day. The old hay conditioner cost about $150, less than a tedder, plus, a tedder is made to fluff up the hay to dry faster, and if it gets rained on again, it looks like it's already been through the cow! The additional pass with the conditioner did not rip up the windrow as much.

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Sid

01-04-2004 16:59:44




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 Re: Re: Re: Advice on Hay Crimper in reply to JMS/MN, 01-04-2004 12:23:20  
Thanks what we call swathers here do not have rollers. They are used to lay grass or clover sometimes small grains in a windrow for a combine.



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JMS/MN

01-05-2004 07:40:37




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: Advice on Hay Crimper in reply to Sid, 01-04-2004 16:59:44  
Same machine here- we just unbolt the conditioner unit when we swath small grains. Over the years the mountings were simplified and they got easier to unhook, but older machines were a bit of a pain. Too much muscle work. Never liked baling behing the swather- especially first cutting. Difficult to get the hay dry enough without tipping it. Each cutting is different throughout the year because of the weather. Mid summer it dries much better here. We'd hope to get 6 good days, cut 40 each day for three days, then the first 40 was ready to chop on the fourth day. Discbine was a better machine, 9 footer could cut 5 acres per hour, just like the 14 foot swather, but chopping went slower; ok to bale behind the discbine.

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GUY

01-04-2004 08:10:18




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 Re: Advice on Hay Crimper in reply to Kevin in Ont., 01-04-2004 06:57:52  
A rotary tedder a few hours after mowing works well for us



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