I agree! Though there’s no conditioner on it, so that is probably a solid part of the quietness. Also the cutterbar is shaft drive rather than a host of intermeshing horizontal gears, which I imagine is quieter too? Thanks for watching!

Thanks!! I really appreciate that

Thanks for this! I did download the manual, but it says "so that the tines just brush the ground". I think I'm doing that, though the slightly uneven tines makes that a little difficult. I'll continue to play with it - and I agree, sometimes a slower forward speed really helps. Appreciated though, comparing notes really is helpful. Thanks for watching!

Haha, right? That’s one of my favorite things to see.

Thanks!! And glad that was helpful. I totally hear you on the $$ budgeting calculus - house projects and all. I hope that issue with your haybine was a fluke and that it can be back to normal as ole reliable, and you can keep your eye out for a disc mower (Vermeer or otherwise) for when the timing is right. And a shop is important, I wish I had one! Good idea on fawn scouting from above. I’d like to make the drone plunge at some point… that could be a justification. Anyway, appreciate our youtube hay community support group!

Thanks! Yeah, trying to figure out what forgiveness I have between the tines, arms, and cam/roller (😅). The removable arms are pretty key for my road travel and a lot of small field entrances, but there is a *lot* of wear and tear where the outer arms clip to the inners from previous owners/use. I worry they’re a weak point, so trying to feel out what I can get away with on ground contact. I appreciate it, as always! Sorry you struggle with fawns too - an unfortunate hazard of the business.

Thanks!! That’s helpful to hear. Do you find the re-rake helps too? I’ll keep playing with mine. Glad you had a good stretch too!! I was saying the same thing about the weather during this stretch - and I’m right with you about last year, I’m still ready for things to change at the drop of a hat 😅

@@windrowfarm We're on hold right now...seems like better weather starting Mon/Tues. The other thing about my rake is that it needs a new "curtain". Mine is old and "holey"! They are so expensive though....like $300!

@@andyrobinson339 yep, on hold here too. Watching the same mon/tues, maybe get a jump on something after rain Sunday AM? We’ll see. The curtain on mine is pretty rough too - I got some super thick waterproof gorilla tape, which seemed to help!

@@windrowfarm Ha...I'm already past that stage and now my gorilla tape has holes!

@@andyrobinson339 😂

Right?? They’re an awesome farm. Working on the first of their hay now (that was straw in this video 🙃). They come fetch the kicker wagons with their team, it’s pretty cool 🐴💪🏻

😂. Yep, I get that a lot. I can bale so much faster without someone stacking, and no labor/liability to boot. Plus overall wagon weight is usually my concern on these hilly fields, so I’m not sure I’d want to drag around a stacked wagon’s weight in bales anyway 😊. I just prefer more wagons and keeping bales flying as fast as possible. Thanks for watching!

Thanks!! The straw definitely was fun. Getting a little R&R, but hoping to hop back to it asap! How are you doing?

Thanks, I appreciate that! I usually do the same thing - either with the mower again or the tractor tire, depending - every time up until now it's just been so instant, I do that just to be sure. This was the first one where it was sitting upright, alert, and looking at me. It must have gone *under* the cutterbar, and while the blades injured it too much to survive (not to mention injury from the cutterbar going over it 😔), it was by all accounts very much alive. I just couldn't bring myself to swing the mower back in again. It was tough. I'm glad to hear you saved some this year! Any tips on how you managed that? Just seeing it in time to stop and chase it out? I've tried mowing fields middle-out, and I've hit just as many. At least up here, this time of year they're so small they just don't move for anything. It used to be a good evolutionary strategy, before mowers... Anyway, thanks! I appreciate you, and glad to see you're getting so much done! (And I agree on Massey Knotters - I broke one bale out of 1200 this year. Jinx alert!)

It's to bad, but part of it. I hit 2 12 hr old or less this past week. Buzzards took care of everything within the hour.

@@richardlawson6668 yeah, it’s all food for someone, ultimately!

Oh, that’s a good idea! I think it crossed my mind back in March when I was trying to get the rake adjusted in my driveway, but then it left the ole noggin. I’ll try it! Much appreciated.

Yeah, the regional variation is pretty wild! I wish I knew more about warm season grasses. A 42 day cycle is impressive!

A Hybrid Coastal is a Hot season grass, It grows best on sandy soil, and i likes Conditions that also favor Cotton, Hot and Dry.... Cool season Buncn grasses, will grow in the Upstate, nu the Sun burns the up here

That makes sense, I think it’s proven itself enough now to earn some new tines. Really not too many wheel rakes in these parts though - too many rocks and uneven and wet ground, though I know a few people still use them. Funny how rake choice really varies around the country like that. Thanks for tuning in!

Hey, that's great advice, thanks! I'll try to watch for that (I've certainly seen it happen) - good point about using the tractor tire to help compact that edge of the previous pass. I did install the swath board kit to help with a bigger space between swaths. I'm actually not sure I'm seeing a correlation with mine between the times the hay bunches under the shoe and the strip, but I'll try to watch for it more carefully. My fields have so many twists and turns it's hard to avoid it (usually happens on a right-hand turn) - I often just slightly pick up and set down the mower again to clear it.

​@@windrowfarmIt took me a long time to make that connection too. I think when it bunches up where it causes the problem, you can't actually see it without stopping and lifting the flap, but seeing it tells you the conditions are right. I am fortunate to have several 40+ acre fields, so it's not uncommon for me to start mowing at daylight when it's as wet as if it had just rained, and still be mowing in the same field in the afternoon. I've seen the problem appear out of nowhere and disappear again while mowing in the same field. It seems like it appears when the grass is just barely almost dry and doesn't go away until it's super dry. Also adjusting the float pressure to the lightest you can seems to help too and makes your guards and shoes last longer. Also, the guard that got hit by the blade. I've had that happen a lot. Have someone with a welder patch it up. I've gone as far as welding an extra layer on the bottom of mine in that area. Believe it or not, it CAN cut all the way though that guard and into the bar itself. You don't want that! I love watching your videos! I'm always intrigued by the art and science you use to overcome the weather!

@@jamesholden3049 thanks so much for all of this!! Unbelievably helpful.

Thanks, I couldn’t agree more! So reliable, and with so much character.

Hi, thanks so much! That's sad that there are no Tuskish subtitles. KZfaq just helped me translate your comment, so I hope it can do the same for you here. Let me know if you have any questions! Thank you for watching.

@@windrowfarm ilginize teşekkürler.

Slow down a gear give it more RPMs and it’ll sweep it clean used to have one😊

Thanks, that's helpful! Was feeling eccentric for even considering tine trimming (though I've had to trim the couple of new tines I've gotten so far anyway - they're almost 2" too long). I think I'll take the plunge for new tines at this point, so thanks for the encouragement! Guess I should keep playing around with RPM's and gear. A rotary rake at full 540 always just seemed really rough on the hay to me (and I worry about it throwing something at me in an open-station tractor - don't feel like yet another shield😅), but it's good to hear you're not having issues with that. I guess the sweeping motion is a lot different than counter-rotating heads on a tedder. re: roughness on the hay (and even then, I'm the one saying "don't worry about tedding grass hay" - so hypocrisy abounds!) I'm guessing our gearing between Fords/Masseys are still somewhat similar, as vestiges of the Ford-Ferguson days? 6th gear meaning High range, 2? No idea how the mph compares, but that's what I usually rake in. High-range 1 (5th) just felt painfully slow, though did have a little better results. Yeah, the "rake once" vesus "rake the day before and re-rake day of baling" is such a personal preference thing, multiplied by region, I think. With the wet ground and heavy dews, I always prefer to get it up in windrows the PM before, and then flop them over day of baling. (Unless I slam something in in two days). So I'm pleasantly surprised with how nice the re-rake has been coming out, but I know as summer goes on I'll have some 30-32 hour hay to try and will want to perfect the initial rake. Anyhow, writing a novel. Thanks, as always!