Started my second hay cutting

This afternoon I started my second hay cutting.   I was waiting for the alfalfa and grass in the hayfield to dry some more.  But Donna watched the weather forecast and says there is a chance of rain starting Sunday.  She suggested several times that I should start cutting my hay right now and get it cut and baled before the rain comes.  During the first cutting of the hayfield in June rain was predicted over-and-over and barely any rain came.  So I wasn't as concerned.  I wanted the hayfield to dry some more and maybe for my irrigation work to end.  But today the north irrigation line finally started the return so that means I have about a week left of moving irrigation pipes.

So I started my hay cutting this afternoon.

I planned on starting a little earlier but what I thought would be a quick fix after moving irrigation pipes this morning took more work and lasted longer.  I have a small area near the river in the middle pasture that I fenced a little away from the river.   That protected a few willow trees I had planted there.  Earlier I had been working on protecting some other willow trees in the north pasture, and trimming some of their branches I then put them in the ground in this middle pasture area in case they would also grow.  That is when I discovered one of the cattle may have jumped the fence as the grass was eaten a little and the existing willow trees eaten down.  Maybe the beavers got to these two willow trees?  But I did find a cowpie in this area.  A quick fix was to put in a new metal post and some wire to prevent a cow jumping the fence.   But I decided that instead of patching this fence once again, take part of the fencing down and rebuild it so I don't have to patch it yet again.

Then breakfast, some sleep and then I started the hay cut.  Once again an odd start.  Like when I started the irrigation pump last month and the electricity wouldn't work, then did, this time the haybine's hydraulics wouldn't work after I attached the hydraulic hoses.  Over and over I connected the hoses - nothing.  Then it did work.  I'm sure that was how I initially connected the hoses to the tractor.

The alfalfa and grass are full of water and harder to cut and process through the haybine. Which means driving slower. The slowest speed.  And I've learned over the years to drive the slowest speed the first time around.   This time it worked. I never had to stop because the haybine clogged up and stopped the cutting.

I didn't start cutting until 4:30 pm and cut to 7:30 pm as the cutting was going well.  Usually I would stop at 7 pm as that is when I move irrigation pipes.   In three hours I cut 5 rows.   In the last row the haybine started to make a new noise.  A piece of metal was loose in the side "door" covering a belt and wheels.  Tomorrow I will fix it before start to cut hay again.

If I remember correctly the hayfield ends up with 37 rows.  If it takes me a little over a half hour to cut each row, I have 16 hours left.   Due to the irrigation pipe moves, eating, sleep and other things it may take me 3 more days to cut the hayfield.  Maybe tomorrow I will be able to cut at a slightly faster speed.  We'll see.

The blue arrows point to the loose piece that would swing and hit the end of the sickle bar to make a noise.   This "door" is in this damaged state due to me cutting hay too fast previous years in the first go around in the hayfield.  On occasion this side of the haybine would catch on the fence or the fence posts.  Going slower on the first go around helps me not to let the haybine catch on the fence.