The past several weeks in northeast Tennessee have been hot and dry, which means that every farmer in the area has been out cutting hay. For all the non-farmers in the area, that means there have been tons of picturesque hay fields to stare at while driving by, with tractors driving through them at seemingly relaxed speeds. But I'm going to let you in on the secret...that beautiful pastoral scene you pass on the road...all is not as it seems. Let's take a quick ride on the tractor....
You've checked the full level on the tractor - running a tractor out of diesel puts the machine out of commission for hours while you crack open the fuel lines - you've got a full tank. Time to fire up the tractor. Pull the lever into run position. Push the clutch. Turn the key. Alright, it's running now. Let's start out with the transmission in high range and put it into reverse as we're hooking up the round baler. Let out the clutch slowly. Back up to the baler and line the draw bar up with the tongue of the baler. When you're lined up, put the transmission in neutral and climb off. Now drop the draw bar pin through the hole in the draw bar and tongue. Hook up your PTO shaft to the tractor, and hook up your two hydraulic lines on the baler to the tractor. Make sure you get them in the right order or all the hydraulic controls will be reversed! Did you remember to check the level of your hydraulic fluid reservoir? Climb back on, we're ready to go bale hay. Oh wait, no we're not. Turn on the PTO so the baler chains start turning. Now climb up on the side of the baler and pour oil on the chains while they are turning so they get nice and greased. Ok, now climb back on, we're finally ready to start baling.
Shew - it's 90 degrees out! You're already sweaty as all get out in the full blaze sun! Let's drive on down to the hay field. At least there will be a slight breeze while you're driving to the hay field...the breeze from the exhaust pipe blowing right on your face. :)
Ok, we're in the hay field. Here's where things start to get interesting. We're lined up with the first row of hay we've raked up to bale. With your foot on the clutch, put the tractor in high range, second gear. Pull the PTO lever to engage it spinning. Now as you let out on the clutch, increase the RPMs on the tractor to 1,800 RPM. That means the PTO shaft on the back of the tractor is going to turn at 1,800 rounds per minute to spin the chains in the baler. Not only is that fast but it's also loud - I hope you remembered your ear plugs! Let's increase the fuel too as we let out on the clutch to increase the tractor speed and run the PTO. In the meantime, the hay is pretty thick so we better turn on the torque amplifier to slow down our ground speed. Ok, now, we're going forwards so you better keep the tractor lined up on the row of hay we're baling. Quick, look over your right shoulder to watch the hay feeding into the throat of the baler. Make sure you're feeding it in evenly. Better pick up a little more on the left, now the right, oh yay the row is big enough to fill up the throat so feed it in the middle. Don't forget to look forward to keep an eye on where you're going. Now look backwards. Now forwards. Now backwards. Watch out for that hole in the field! Don't run over the dogs either as they run around following you. We're at a corner. Don't forget that your baler turns sharper than you so overrun the row a little. Straighten back up. Watch your chamber full indicator. Keep it straight. Look forwards, backwards, watch out for tree limbs, duck! So on and so forth for a few minutes. Uh oh, the chamber indicator on the side of the baler is lined up with the full mark - the bale is ready to wrap with twine. Push in the clutch and put the tractor in neutral to come to a stop. But keep the RPMs up and the PTO running - gosh it's so loud! Turn around in your seat and kick the twine wrapper handle all the way to the left. Now don't get the twine too close to the edge of the bale. Keep your eye on the bale turning. Let it wrap for a few rotations (about 10 seconds). Turn the twine handle to the right a few inches. Let it wrap a few more rotations, count to 10 or 15 to make sure it's rotated enough times. Move the handle and repeat. Again. Again. Now you're on the right hand side of the bale. Don't let the twine get too close to the edge! Ok, the bale is wrapped. Turn the wrapper handle quickly so it cuts the twine and returns to its resting position. Turn off the PTO. Now pull up the hydraulic level so the bale chamber will open and push the bale out the back. Uh oh, the bale didn't roll out all the way. Engage the PTO just barely so the chains will push it out. Now turn off the PTO. Lower the hydraulic handle so the chamber door will bang shut. Slow your RPMs. Push in your clutch, put the tractor in gear and start over. All that in just 4 or 5 minutes tops! Now repeat, over and over until all your hay is baled! And don't forget to check your twine occasionally so you don't run out - that's manual, no indicator to tell you you're getting low. If you run out of twine, you've got to restring it. Not a big deal, but it's time lost.
So now let me ask you, was that as pastoral as it looked speeding by in your car at 55 mph? Somehow I doubt it. If you'd like to find out for sure, I'm sure there's a farmer close by this week who will give you a chance to try things out for yourself! Do your local farmer a favor - give them a gift certificate for a neck massage after hay season is over. There's going to be a huge crick in their neck that needs working out from all that back and forth head turning.
P.S. That's a haybine cutting hay in the picture, not a round baler. But you get the point.
