Making hay is always a challenge. Do you trust the weather forecast? How much should you cut? Is everything going to hang together?

I figure I need about 1400 bales to make sure I can get through the winter. The rule of thumb around here is that you need to have your first cutting done by June 21st to ensure maximum nutrition. With all the rain this spring and the cooler weather I think things are a bit behind this year (perhaps as much as two weeks).

My first field cut June 2nd yielded only 60 bales, less than half what it normally would. The good news is that it’s growing back nicely now so I hope to get a good second cut.

The next spell of good weather wasn’t until June 22-25 I cut about 8 acres and got another 350 bales. These fields are a bit lower, and are still very wet. The tractor tires were showing water about 75% of the time. The good news is that the long, hot days with a good breeze dried out the grass just fine. Here’s a few pictures taken during the past few days.

While I was re-raking one field just before baling I looked back and thought the rake looked a little “wrong”

I managed to get the rake back to the workshop without breaking completely in half. My friend came over to help bale the first field. He drove and I stacked (as it should be). Here we are heading home with a wagon load of hay and the broken rake on the forks.

I welded up the rake, with a good bead all the way around the joint. It was clear that it was very close to a complete failure which could have been a real pain. Once again happy that I taught myself how to weld many, many years ago!

With the rake operational, I could rake the hay ready for baling. I must say that I love the windrows that this rake produces. They look just like the ones in the brochure, even. Susan came out to drive the tractor (on her day off from the Cafe). Stacked another 158 bales onto the wagon. Here’s a birds eye view from near the end.

And the fruits of our labours

Not long after I took this picture we started baling the last field left, the main drive chain came apart on the baler and it stopped un-gracefully. I think the joiner link broke, which is frustrating as it was new last year.

Yesterday was a win-win. Our friend John had been having trouble with his baler. He brought it over and I managed to sort out the problem with his knotter and then we tested the baler by baling the remaining hay.

There were thunderstorms forecast so I made sure all the wagon’s were under cover. The forecast today has changed and it’s looking like there may be another three day window starting tomorrow. So time to fix the baler, get the wagon’s empty and be ready to go again.

UPDATE: added rake repair pic, and I should have kept my mouth shut about the forecast. The rain is back.