How'd it go today?

finished piling brush this morning from Timbertramps' felling spree yesterday...saved out a few logs for HO and bucked the rest into firewood.

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Knocked out 3 other Ash in different pastures brush stacked and firewooded in 14" chunks.

Done here for now...and for this week. I'll miss coffee time on the cabin porch by the pond...
 
stig said:
When you live in a wet cold climate and can't be sure of getting the hay dry enough that it won't go moldy, the bales are wrapped airtight.
Then it starts a malo-lactic fermentation that keeps the hay fresh.
Think of sauerkraut, just made with grass.
Click to expand...
Done all over Northern Europe and Scandinavia.
Hardly anybody makes hay the old way any more.

Normally the bales are made much bigger 500-1000 pds, but with only two horses it is better to have small 60 pds bales, since once you open then, they only last a short time before going bad.
Easier to handle as well.

You really don't have this in the US?

What moisture content do you bale at?
 
Cobleskill said:
What moisture content do you bale at?
Click to expand...

For horses, as low as possible, almost like baling hay.
For cattle, sheep etc. you can go with higher humidity.

With the weather we have, sometimes you just have to say " Screw it!" and bale it up, cause it won't be getting any dryer.
 
Yeah Stig that's what we had to do here for first cutting. Had dry weather up till hay got mowed. Been raining every other day since. Won't get a second cutting without getting the first out of the field. A lot of silage hay this year. I'm glad they round bale that stuff here. I'd be less likely to help out if they did kicker bales for silage.
 
We got 1 1/2" last night. I have about 30 acres baled but it is the lightest fields. With the rain in the forecast I hesitated to cut the heavy stuff, cause it takes longer to dry. This coming week does not look that good either.
 
You know, this is the kind of stuff that I love about the 'House.
That you can sit and commiserate about the poor conditions for making hay with guys on the other side of the world.
 
I don't know if it could be poorer than in Asia. Bringing in the hay coincides with the rainy season. Bales get wrapped. All six cows in the country need their nutrition, or maybe it's sixty of them.

Our version of beef is very excellent, though. Damn expensive as well. (Small photo in deference to Stig)
 

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Back in the day for me...6 string bass played on steps of State Capital in Sacramento for a cause....

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Girlfriend got a kitten today.......she can't handle the kids she has and tends to yell at everything...even the fridge.......
 
Wagu? Or Kobe.

We are started haying. It is dry, we have only had two inches of moisture this year. We windrow it with a mower conditioner, rake it together the next morning and bale it. Sits less than one day. Wetter years we might let it cure for a couple of days. The irrigated farmers let it sit for a week.

I see that you mow your hay Stig. No conditioning process? My father in law does it the same way, with a disk mower, then a rake. They bale and then wrap it in big rounds.

We did start a fire today. The skid on the mower hit a rock and made a spark. This probably wont be the first fire making hay this year, us or others.

Not a big fire, only about an acre. We roll all the fields to push the rocks down, that helps too.

Sucks to start a fire so early in the haying season. We still have 1200 acres to go.
 
Wow that is crazy how easy it is to start a fire like that, I had no idea. Rolling the fields, good idea!
 
Got all the trusses in for the deck. Scored a bunch of hangers from a couple locals that were just collecting dust. Probably saved myself about 50% there. I used some salvaged/recycled wood and milled ponderosa. The decking will be milled mostly except the 2X8 boarder on 4 sides. I need two 20 footers for tat and the mill is only good for 16. I want seamless on the boarder.
the main part of the deck planks will be 2X6 inside the 2X8 boarder.
I had to put back the temp floor so family could get in and out. This is the PITA part. Every bit of work I get to do I have to pull it up and then lay it back. I had 4X6 beams under play wood for a while because of the expanse I had to cover.
 

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Did the one-man band yesterday. So relaxing.

Lowered a spar
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Anchored a stub to keep it from cratering the asphalt. Tried the outdated "cut a lowering crotch" technique, once I decided on two pieces instead of one. Just a very light catch... The ground did most all of the catching.
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Easy peasy.

I left the wood to load when I have a groundie and/ or a hand truck.
 
Jim, I'm not sure what you mean by " Condotioning"?
If it means whacking it into smaller pieces to break the stems, some do it here, but in such a wet climate as ours it is risky, so I prefer not to.
 
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