55 years old now, but some of my best memories and longest work day came from putting up hay for all the local farmers growing up, worked many days from daylight until after dark, and earned a honest day's wages and got fed lunch under the shade tree and big dinners from the farmers and their families each day. Most of our local hay farmers were our school bus drivers, teachers, and football coaches. Those were the days 😊

When I had the farm we used to cut the grass right down to the ground and it dried out lovely and the fields used to grow back very quickly so we took a 2 crop and sometimes a 3rd crop of silage bales and we had no problem at all getting it dried out enough to bale mate you have done the right thing

Lovely old baler sounds very quiet, love baling hay, when Tractor and baler are singing, all is good

We always cut our long stem grass hay 4 inches or so above the ground. Cuttings it that tall helps the new growth regenerate quicker and also helps with weed suppression. Bermuda hay was done different. It was cut about an inch or so above the ground. The grass hay was always fertilized in the fall or early spring where as the Bermuda hay was always fertilized in the early spring and after every cutting. I hope this info helps. Thanks for the video.

I like that baler. My dad and I had one years back and we were both impressed with how tight and square the bales were

Howdy ya'll, I hope ya'll are doing well, I gotta say, youve done a Great job with that little patch of ground, I remember when you first ran a piece of equipment on that ground, it was rough, full of garage, and other surprises, you ran several implements over that ground, and eventually seeded it down for hay, and as I said, you've done a Great job, and produced some decent hay, really enjoyed watching ya'll turn that very hard, and neglected land, into a decent little hay field 👍 Keep it up, Stay safe, God Bless, and Farm on my Friend's, Peace

And that’s how you make good wind rows! Ol rake does a nice job!

That old rake makes a nice windrow

The 1800 just looks perfect with the baler.

Well done Ethan. Thanks for taking us along. Fred

Looking good Ethan! Been there, done that hooking up implements, yep.....definitely a process! Praying for rain in SE Michigan too.

When I owned my own farm south bank we used to keep the hay fields clean and clear from lambing time and if any of the pasture fields got away on the stock we used to cut it down and bale it as well and also the road sides it really tidied the area up and it was lovely to see we used to put 20 10 10 nitrogen on the hayfields at a ton to the acre and the sewage men would ask if they could empty their wagons on the fields and we said yes and you should have seen the grass shoot up we used to do 2 or 3 cuts of hay and silage and haylidge

That little Su 55 is a nice match for the raking job. Finished first cut hay Mon 05 Jun. No problem getting it dry...the only damper spots were in a couple of shaded areas along tree lines. Typically bale those areas separate and feed to cattle right away (4x5 net wrap round bales). Need rain bad in N. Central OH.., Corn is coming up surprisingly well, beans are trying to come up, supposed to get rain Sun 11 Jun. Good luck with your crops!!!

Beautiful hay!! Those bales and the quality would be $15.00 a bale here Western SD. You should be very proud of your accomplishments in getting such a good stand. I’ve put hay up for over 60 years and my opinion is leave your stubble 3-4 inches that really helps your regrowth plus your mower will not get plugged as easily and sickle further away from foreign objects. Your rake and baler picks the hay up perfectly. But, you can’t go wrong with ALL OLIVER!!!

The rear drawbar on that rake is a great idea. I used to have a couple old David bradleys and they were a rear pain to pull . Found they pulled better with one rear wheel. But I wasn’t going far. I always got nervous raking with a pull type bar rake in an awkward field. There’s no lifting so you gotta plan out your route .lol

Probably in here somewhere.. Grass regrows from the stem Alfalfa and clover from the root... Depending on moisture you can kill newy seeded grass by cutting too low

Nice looking hay. We did get some rain here in iowa here and there but we could all sure use some more

You do awesome work as always

Nice looking hay bale for older baler still getting the job done

The tractor and bailor, really do look good together brother!!

Always nice when all that hard work pays off. nice job.

Thanks for the ride.

We had a old Ford Baylor that grandpa had a draw bar out of an old tractor cut and drilled so we could bold it to the draw bar of RB so we could get the bailer further away from the tractor and the PTO shaft would work And another thing I really like your vidiots and I see this other fellow that just goes out and bi's Oliver tractors and stuff I never see him working on them or doing the work to preserve the old tractors as you do so we know who the real person is and who's right none whose shirt tails I really enjoy your videos thank you

That baler works like a dream. Hopefully you guys get some rain soon. Also I got a email from autmuan auctions there is a guy who has all sorts of oilver memorabilia really cool signs and tin work. I thought of you when I saw it

Good work Ethan! Longer stubble, around 4+ inches is healthier for the stand and it will regrow faster/better too.

We had a rake like that however I don't remember it having the cover guard on it. The story goes my uncle lost part of his pinky finger with that rake. Nice to see an Oliver baler running.

First cutting of grass hay, I leave it a little longer to help it sprout back better for a second cutting. At the second cutting I trim it short to get the extra feed.

Back in the day we had a 720 ? Oliver baler . Always knew if the hay was a little tough , it would miss tights on the one side...I enjoy watching the baling now if only the computer could put out the smell of fresh baled hay. 😊

Great video😊!!!

That's the fun part running the baler

Looks really 👍👍👍👍👍👍 great

Seems to me like we have our disc mower set to cut that short, but we cut a lot of Bermuda hay as well, so that may be why. Pretty good looking first crop hay. Your 60-T sure is a nice baler. May not have the capacity (as far as strokes per minute) of a newer baler, but she looks like she'd keep up with our Deere 336 (which isn't new by any means) all day long.

Love it Ethan

Me too, on that hooking up! It seems I just lack a couple of inches being back far enough, wind up backing up four or five and still have to wrestle with that tongue 😂

Gee that brought back some memories the old suicide bumper jack

Wow looking good buddy be safe out there your buddy from Nebraska

Back ages ago when I helped my relatives with hay, they cut fescue 3-4 inches. Well tried to, its a bit all over with anything but a disk mower which they did not have at the time.

Thanks for sharing

Leave it aleast 3" plus of stuble, otherwise you will kill it off. I cut over 400 acres a year.

not only have i thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of these vids,,your camera angles are so good,,good enough to be agricultural training vids very well done!

Ethan is nice that the super 55 is working today. When I was a kid on the farm I always liked the smell of the hay. Hopefully somebody could give you an answer on your stubble, it seems to me like being a kid on the farm Dad had the stubble about 3in long I thinking 🤔. Thanks Michael

Very nice hay OFB, that field has come along way from where it started. It’s cut a little too close, another inch and a half I think would be better, IMO. Hang in there bud, I think everyone everywhere needs about a 2 to 3 day soaker🙏🏻keep plugging away young man🇺🇸

You can cut alfalfa that short. It will just grow back a little slower. But also cutting it with a sickle mower will make it grow back faster than with disc mower. Due to cleaner cut and less damage to the stem.

You sure did a great job with your hay Ethan

Agco had a video out where they had a forage specialist that explained for the best yield without hurting the plants you want to cut aflalfa at about 2 inches and grass closer to 4 inches

A lot of comments about your cutting height. The main reason I try to cut 3-4” high on everything I cut, is for drying. If it’s short the cut hay is on the ground and doesn’t dry good. I custom bale for a guy that scalped his alfalfa. The hay laid on the ground and never did dry.

I am in central VA and its been weird. We were wet too early, So I am worried for my neighbors that they are going to have issues.

I’m down south but I try to cut my alfalfa and try to leave about 3 to 4 inches if stubble so it will come back better and not bake the plant and roots as much

My dad used to say "WTH! Less than a hand-width high & you're too nigh to the ground!" & then some other shit that kind-hearted folks might find offensive (yeah, I've scalped a few acres once...or maybe twice) lol. 60 bales ain't a bad crop considering it's just an acre & the beginning of June. Best we ever got was only 75 & that's cutting in the late 3rd week of June or 1st week of July even.

👍👏👏 Thanks

No matter how high you cut it this year it's gonna turn brown, mine has,we need the rain! These disc mowers get really low and it comes back ,I think the hay will be good if you get some rain!

I hear ya on the dry weather. Pete over on A Few Acres Farm is buying extra round bales from neighbors in case he doesn't get a second or third cutting.

About 95% of our corn is up. We still have some trying to come up but need rain. We planted beans the weekend of Memorial day and they still are not up last I checked. Need rain bad here in southern ohio

Buy yourself a haybob they are fantastic and you lift it up when you get to the end of the row you can pick them up cheaply at farm sales mate

Are you in Ohio? You just described our weather perfectly, until today when we got our first good rain in over a month.

Nice first load. If only you had 100 A of that :)

Most people with a new seeding will leave it a tad high just because the soil isn’t compacted yet an if set to low it can pull out the plant and for rocks that may surface but in my option it’s set good I’d keep running it how it is

Nice lookin' hay!

NICE

We always tried to leave 3”-4”. It is best not to cut to short. Keep up the good work and videos.

We cut our alfalfa at 2” with a disc mower. We strive to cut it every 28 to 32 days, obviously depending on weather. Alfalfa is a tricky but very plenty crop. Moore Farms Southern Indiana

Looks like nice hay!

The weather directions are weird this year. Normally everything comes out of the southwest the last few rain shots have came straight north and out of the north east.

Nice job

Do you have any leads on parts for that #2 hay rake? I picked one up and need a bearing for it.

No I think about as low you’d want to go, some good looking hay imo

I leave my stubble about 2 inches, almost on the nose 50 50 alfalfa grass up in wisconsin. Hit a record yeild too for first crop, 631 bales off of 8 acres

Usually when I rake hay we get a downpour, I’d mow hay just to get rain I wouldn’t be mad. I don’t remember a year this dry in a long time

Good looking hay.

Looks alittle short to me. Nice looking hay. Didn't really have much down time with equipment and that's good. See in the next one.

We had 3 days of east to west popup storms in eastern Kansas. Got a whole tenth out of it. 8" behind for the year after an overly wet winter.

nice old Oliver tractor, but you mention that the bales wore around 50lbs? wow thats so lite, our bales here at that weight would fall apart before the harrowbed could pick them up, we go for 110 to 120lbs, and 130lb for alfalfa haym bale lenght is around 43 to 44 inches.

Can you gps a place needing attn so later fix or combine get a alert?

Do you have animals or do you sell your hay? Good job.

Stubble height is fine

An emergency tape measure is paper money. Exactly six inches long if you’re ever in a pinch

Never seen a rake pulled backwards before Farm Boy! Ha.

Been raining every night here in west Texas. Its called el nina

Is that super 55 diesel

I just picked up the same rake. Just wondering why do you pull it from the back on the roads?

Are you going to paint the tractor?

In my opinion that has been cut too short for new seeds and a dry (droughty) time. Recovery will be real slow as there does not appear to me to be much leaf left to photosynthesise and so new growth will have to be driven via the root system. With real dry weather recovery this will be very slow, although it is early June, without rain and a dose of fertiliser the prospects for a reasonable second cut look poor until measurable rainfall the Fall. Dan

I always cut my hay at 4 or so inches off the ground so I get better/faster growth

my grandpa siad it best the more you leave the faster it grows but you dont the weights you want

Im just curious but I've never seen a baler tongue as short as yours is. Is there a reason it's that short

Hopefully this drought breaks

In operation it's rake once bale twice

What’s a bale sell for these days?

I know this video was made a year ago but if you haven't learned the shoes on your hay bine you're stubborn when you're done should be about 4 in tall 5 you have a faster come back on your hay

i genuinely feel sorry for you feeling so stressed that you need to talk to the world on a camera . i empathize . take care of yourself . the lord has your back im sure.

Yes short stubble

21:48 time to bust out the sprinklers

I always try for 4 inches

Automatic last bale eject. Lol

Pray for rain.

I would drop it atleast one hole. Its a bit short

you should not be taking risks with pto running

Please give me jo tractor drive

I like watching farm shows but it’s hard to watch yours because you talk way way to much!!! And you live here in Michigan!!

Sorry , I can't watch your video due to very poor camera work and inability to see what the heck you are doing!