New to me haybine

[Rob30]

I just cut my first fields with my JD 483 haybine. Its an old one, but what a difference. I was using a JD 8 sickle mower. The haybine has to be 3 times as fast, and much easier to use.

[brosil]

You're a lucky person. I just brought in my first field of hay. I had to pay a friend to finish baleing when the needle broke on my Oliver 520 baler. The replacement needle cost more than the baler. I don't think I'll be getting a haybine anytime soon. I'll need a stronger tractor than my old Farmall H. It's trying hard but can barely handle the baler.

[FreeRanger]

I hear your pain Brosil....First crop story this year.... I tried cutting with a 9' New Holland haybine and my 1955 Ford 640 with no hydraulics on a Saturday. Chain drive for pickup and rollers kept coming off...so I switched to a New Idea 251 sickle mower which worked for about 2 acres before the pitman arm broke. Sunday, fixed mower and cut another 3 acres. Monday noon, raked with a NH 256. Then spent a whole afternoon trying to bale with a NH 66 baler. Broke down six times and baled only six bales. 200 feet then jamb-clear hay, five more feet and old tire blows out-go to neighbors to retreive my spare tire from his tractor, five more feet and jamb-replace shear pin, go another ten feet and jamb-clean jamb, go another ten feet shear pin-replace bolt, try picking up as little hay as possible then jamb again. In the end one side stopped tying. The field was a very good growth of orchard grass and timothy. The raking into a winrow caused it to become one big rope of hay. Baler kept picking up more than it could handle. My Ford goes too fast in 1st gear and does not have a live PTO. Ended up calling in custom baler to make about 350 bales. My father and I put the bales in the loft on a really hot humid day. Neither one of us is healthy enough to be doing something like that but we did it anyway. I paid the price and was sick for the next five days (three of which I was camping in a tent with wife and two daughters).

Still needed another 4 acres of hay to be made so hired custom operator to do cutting and baling. I just did the raking. Sold all 200 bales off the wagon to horse owner neighbor.

I need a bigger tractor with hydraulics and loader. Then also a round baler...if only I had some money...