Close as I get to a swamp

[Big Muddy rancher]

Up here we call them sloughs. :? This one is on my son place and last year it had water in it all summer and grew wetland weeds. This year it had some nice grass similar to Slender wheat grass and not very much rip gut.

Baled 90 bales and it sure surprised me as I figured 40 would be pretty good.

Colt helped me put some gravel in Grandma's shed she stores her Chuck wagon and Stage coach.

Here are one of my single battery/panel solar pump somehfrs and some cows.

I slipped a couple of pics of the bulls in with the commercial hfrs.
Now some cows along the creek across the hiway by Big Beaver

 

[burnt]

Nice green hay coming out of that coulee. Quite a contrast between that and the color of the pasture around the cows and bulls.

 

[Zilly]

Nice pictures BMR! Before I made it to the end of your photos, I thought that looked like windmill country. Then you go and show a solar pump. Do you use windmills at all?

 

[Nicky]

Looking good!

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

Nice pictures BMR! Before I made it to the end of your photos, I thought that looked like windmill country. Then you go and show a solar pump. Do you use windmills at all?

I have used one but the wind tore it down twice. Most of our water comes out of the ground from springs or deep wells. There have been a lot of dugouts(ponds) dug to catch snow melt run off for use in watering cattle.

 

[gcreekrch]

Those feathers add up when you start putting twine around them.

Finally getting machinery back together and it's turning into a bale wrapping kind of week.

Cattle look good.

 

[per]

Good to see you and gcreek are getting some work done. The few meadows I have look like more fun to graze than to bale so they never see equipment. Could you take a pic of that mower? I kind of like the system of mowing and raking. Do you crimp any or is this your only system?

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

Good to see you and gcreek are getting some work done. The few meadows I have look like more fun to graze than to bale so they never see equipment. Could you take a pic of that mower? I kind of like the system of mowing and raking. Do you crimp any or is this your only system?

We had a neighbor come and swath the rest of the hay as he weevils were hitting the alfalfa pretty hard. That wasn't crimped or anything. The grass hay run through a conditioner does seem to bale nicer.
That slough wasn't fenced so we cut it but some out in the ranch just get grazed.

 

[Silver]

Nice pics BMR. I'd sure be interested to know more about that trough set up.

 

[Denny]

How well does that rake work on mowed hay. Actually how does the baler pick up the strip that does'nt get raked. I'm looking at getting a v rake and wonder if the center kicker wheels are necessary.

 

[Soapweed]

How well does that rake work on mowed hay. Actually how does the baler pick up the strip that does'nt get raked. I'm looking at getting a v rake and wonder if the center kicker wheels are necessary.

We have an H & S v-rake. We don't think the center kicker wheels are necessary, and haven't used them for many years. The secret to raking hay mowed with bar mowers, is to rake around and around in the same direction that the mower traveled. This allows the hay to pick up nicely, with very few scatterings. If you try to go back and forth, the hay doesn't pick up in the baler nearly as well.

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

How well does that rake work on mowed hay. Actually how does the baler pick up the strip that does'nt get raked. I'm looking at getting a v rake and wonder if the center kicker wheels are necessary.

The rake did pretty good on that long grass. It is a 14 wheel and I pulled out on the heaviest. On heavy hay the baler does pick up that center pretty good but on light hay I do leave some behind.I got the rake for putting 2- 18 foot windrows together behind the haybine and didn't even think about missing the center when I switched to mowers.
I'd look for a better rake then the Sovema but since I started running it more myself I don't seem to have quite the problems. :?