Round 2 Complete - 2nd Cut In The Barn

We tedded, raked our hay and finally baled it - some yesterday and the rest today. About 350 bales - yield was off due to spraying for weeds LOL! Everyone helped, my Wife, daughter and two boys. The boys did a little of everything as I roll them into this hay experience - from mowing with the sickle mower, tedding, raking and baling. Probably the biggest challenge (but they are fast learners) is a full/straight windrow off the rake and stacking on the wagon such half of it don't fall off the side....

The New Holland 68 fresh off a refurb this spring, along with lessons learned from the 1st cut, cranked out tight, solid, brick shaped, IMHO - beautiful bales. Never sheared a flywheel bolt and only had a few broken bales - usually from a cold start. Ran it at 540 rpms, mostly full windrows (though thick or thin didn't seem to matter). We made 32 inch bales, give or take an inch on some - very consistent in length. We calibrated our scales and set the tension to give us a consistent 40 - 45 lb bale. We noticed after some time, if the length was set at 32 inches and the strings were tight, we could reliably get that 40ish lb bale - which is our goal. In addition to full 540 rpms, dropped the ground speed and averaged about 15 strokes per bale. The rock solid bales really helped make a steady stack on the wagon and in the barn. Very pleased with the performance of the 68 baler.

Used the MF 50 diesel to cut and rake the hay and the JD 5055d to ted and bale. Both tractors did great! The JD was unfazed with the baler full of hay and a wagon full of hay. The wagon, 14ft x 8 ft deck, was a spring project too. One thing we need to shore-uo is the back stop on the wagon. I want a little backward angle/slope to it, but what we've got holding the backstop is inadequate and the backstop started leaning back more as you can see in the pic. We'll fix that over the winter.

Next up - finish the wood pile as Summer is winding down fast.

Bill

If you what I call criss cross the bales in the back when you start loading the wagon you don't need
a rear standard or back stop as you call it.Not having to use a back standard makes unloading a whole lot easier depending on your hay shed. Hay looks pretty good and will look even better on a cold snowy morning(LOL)

The ladders on the backs of wagons that I have been involved with have never been over five feet high. You want them solid and as vertical as possible. Even a little lean puts a lot of stress on your attachment system on even a slight slope, then there is movement backwards and the load loosens up and gets sloppy and less stable. It is apparent from your pic that the back of the load loosened up after your boys stacked it.

Keep it up straight, no lean and you are one cross board too high.

Those boys need a lesson on bale stacking.

(quoted from post at 05:58:34 08/16/15) Those boys need a lesson on bale stacking.

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The boys are in a learning curve - it's all good, but I appreciate the Captain Obvious reply.

I think everybody stacks hay differently, whatever works best for them. We have our own system that we have used for years and years. Works pretty good and I don’t ever remember losing any bales. Each layer is tied in together by alternating what way the bales are faced. It is hard to explain but the pictures give some idea maybe. We also have very short backboards, maybe 3 ft tall at most, and the way we stack you don’t need them at all. The only bales it even touches is the first three laid crossways on the back of the wagon. It is nice to have it to push those up against hard to start the load, but it isn’t needed. We stack so that all 4 sides of the load gradually work in towards the middle the higher up you go. We use 8x16 wagons and put 124 bales on each load, 6 layers high. I agree with other posters, I would not recommend making the backboard lean back any.

<img src ="http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz143/cjheizer117/20150802_192117.jpg">

something i have learned it turn bale over the cut side of bale to front of load

Looks like someone can back a haywagon in a shed. Don't ask me to do it.

(quoted from post at 09:44:42 08/16/15) something i have learned it turn bale over the cut side of bale to front of load

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I was taught 52 years ago the way that I have done it ever since. We always put th cut side forward as well, except for the fist tier on which the cut side went to th back. I Suppoose that I can't really claim to care about it anymore because for the past fifteen or so years the wagons have had sides on them and I don't go more than three layers above the sides.

78 bales?