Cutting hay by hand?

FarmboyBill · #41 02/06/08, 08:25 PM

Most times, it didnt happen. In and eithe side of Civil War times, and all the way back from that time, Farmers each went to a field and cut it, all together. Maybe up to 6 to say 10 farmers in the same field. Think about it. If one farmer cut all day long in a 5 acre field. Then the next day, he went back and cut again all day, and then the third day, he went out and cut again, Then on that day, his wife and kids would have to rake the first days cutting together. Then, on the forth day, he MIGHT finish cutting the entire field, with or without the time needed to gather in the first days cutting. Then for the next 4 days they would alternately rake and bring in ea ch strip of hay. DONT you think that rain would catch that field somewheres in a nearly week and a half haymakeing operation?, No, they pooled operations. I went along with all your neighbors and we cut your field. Might take a day, or two. Then we raked it, with bull rakes, then you and your family, and maybe close neighbor or relation would help you get it in. IMMEADIATY after getting your hay in, you would join the crew wherever they was and help cut their field, and so on and so on,. With me cutting your field, true, my hay wasnt getting put in the barn, but it was still standing and growing, and not much harm would come to it until my turn came to get mine cut. Haying is a process calling for the utm ost speed to get it down and mowed into the barn as quickly as possible

smwon · #42 02/23/08, 07:37 PM

Here's a link about using a scythe y'all may find interesting.

http://www.scytheconnection.com/adp/techn2.html

Up North Louie · #43 02/23/08, 08:41 PM

We made all our hay loose when I was a kid, with horses, and I'm not all that old. I'm as nostalgic as the next guy, but I don't miss it.

I could do it again if I had to, but it's not on the short list for this summer.

Don

BeltieBandit · #44 02/23/08, 09:00 PM

I assume you are talking about square bales. If you do not have a tractor, or other heavy lifting equipment, then the round bales will present a problem for you. They weigh between 800 and 1500 lbs.

sammyd · #45 02/24/08, 04:05 AM

To get the most from your hay, as mentioned above, you need speed in harvesting.
Messing around with a scythe all by your lonesome on an acre or two may tone your muscles but you will probably end up with some low quality hay.
It has to be cut at a certain stage of growth, it has to dry, and it shouldn't be rained on.

A David Bradley or Gravely or BCS walk behind tractor with a sickle bar attachment will speed up the cutting and give you a better chance of getting a field done before it rains.

An old tracor and tow behind mower will get it done faster and is pretty handy for keeping the weeds in the ditches knocked down.

Loose hay is risky. It must be at a certain % moisture before you try putting it in a stack.
If you put it up wet it'll mold, char, and maybe even burn.
That being said, lots of hay was put up for a very long time with the loose method and it works well if you know what you're doing.

When we moved out to our place we had visions of a more old timey set up. That's changed quite a bit. I decided to forego making hay until I had the equipment that would allow me to do it in a timely fashion with good quality.
Nothing is more useless than 5 acres of hay that's been rained on twice because something broke, something else really needed to be done, or the neighbors tractor had a flat tire the day you wanted to bale.
We buy stuff that is tested so we know we are getting good feed and we don't have to worry about budgeting time for hay making.

Riverdale · #46 02/24/08, 08:49 AM

The biggest problem with Reed's Canary grass is that the moisture content is so high, it will-

1. Take much longer to dry if not "conditioned" (ie the stalk crushed between rollers).
2.Not much nutritional value, because of the high moisture content (RCG is mainly water).

We had a pasture along side of a creek that we pastured heifers on, mainly RCG. One year we had several heifers dad deemed "too young" to go back on "the flat". Well, at the end of the summer, the ones that got pastured (and grained every other day) were smaller than the "too smalls"

YMMV

Missy M · #47 02/24/08, 10:18 AM

Instead of an english scythe which most are familiar with, so some research on australian sythes. They are supposed to work with less effort.

smwon · #48 02/24/08, 11:21 AM

Ya the Australian scythe is what are talked about in that link I posted. I think 1 or 2 acres is very feasible if a person takes the time and effort to learn how to do it. We have become soft... and exercise is a dirty word. Large scale farming with a scythe wouldn’t be feasible, at least I don’t think so, not as just one person operation anyways.