This seems to be the only way to make hay this summer, dodging rainstorms. When the best possible forecast is given for the bit of haying we want to do, a sudden cold front sweeps across the area and another half inch of rain falls on the haying job. But we persevere, waiting patiently for the sun to dry things out. So we started off this week with an actual baling run in the neighbor's field and baled up about 90 bales of mixed grasses.
Until this time, we had only been able to "barn-test" the baler by pulling a large round bale apart and feeding it by hand into the cross conveyor section of the baler. This was a good exercise as it allowed all portions of the baler to be checked for proper operation, after many evenings of maintenance and general care. From the large knife on the plunger that makes the sliced edge of a square bale, to the amazing knotter assembly that has to be able to tie each bale up or the pickup system that takes the hay off the ground and feeds it to the cross conveyor, this is really quite an amazing piece of equipment.
The field we baled was very wet during the cutting and raking sessions. With a few sunny and windy days, the standing water was gone but the ground was still soft. The baler sank it's wheels several times and the tractor had it's work cut out for it, both pulling through the soft ground and powering the baler at the same time. It was a lot of work! As we started baling, the hay wagon was also being pulled behind the baler to minimize the work of handling bales as the bales slid up the bale chute right onto the hay wagon. As the wagon started to fill, the load became too much for the tractor and the balance of the job left the bales on the ground to be picked up by hand.
So a few photos and a link to a video of the McCormick # 45 hay baler at work below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xI8FM4hG4k4
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| Working along the windrows |
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| Looking back over the baler |
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| Hay rake |
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| Hay going into the mow |
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| Hay elevator in the mow door |
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