Hay is baled

I got my hay all baled today.   I got it completed before the rain came.   Donna called me and woke me up before 9 am to let me know that the dew was almost gone and I should start baling my hay.   She said she heard the rain would come at 6:30 pm.   I was uptown at 6 pm and the rain started there.  When I got home the rain was starting.  Donna lives near the weather service monitoring site and that site said rain started at 6:30 pm.

I got an early start to my baling.  Around 10:30 am.  Things went well.  Early afternoon I figured I had about a half dozen bales left to make.  I decided I would try to adjust the baler's diameter's sensor.  That is because, though the baler's monitor is set to make the bale to be 60 inches in diameter, the bales made are 54 inches in diameter.

The baler's sensor.

Here you can see how the sensor is positioned close to the outside indicator of the bale size.   How they work together - I don't know.   Red indicates an oversized bale.

How to adjust the sensor?  I looked for a YouTube video.  The only ones I found were for the new version of the monitor, with new features.  I checked my manual.  Two different descriptions were found.  I went with the simpler description.  I found the monitor's channel's setting for the bale diameter's sensor to be 56.  I adjusted the physical sensor and the channel's setting became 60.  I made a bale.  It was an inch or so smaller.  Huh?  I checked the setting.  It was now 59.  I adjusted the sensor so the setting was 50.   The bale was an inch or so larger?  Huh?  I checked the setting.  It was now 53.  Huh?   I adjusted the setting smaller to 46.  The bale was about the same.  The setting was now 49.  I adjusted the sensor to 41.  This time when I made the bale, and went to netwrap the bale, the monitor said the bale was oversized.   I wasn't sure the bale was netwrapped so I manually selected to netwrap the bale.  The bale was netwrapped.  When I unloaded the bale the knife didn't cut the netwrap, so I cut it by hand.  The bale size was 58 to 59 inches.  This is less than the 60 inches that is suppose to be the max size.  Why did the baler think the bale was oversized?

The monitor setting was 43.  I changed the sensor so it was 45.   I made another bale.  But this was my last bale and it was a touch smaller even though I went around the north pasture to try to get enough cut grass to make a full bale.  I couldn't.  So I did the manual override to wrap the bale.  This time the monitor kept wrapping the bale and would not stop.  So I stopped the PTO.  The baler's actuator had not retracted to make the cut.  I tried to manually - through the console - retract the actuator, but it wouldn't - no matter how often I tried.  Even though the bale had lots of netwrap around it, I manually started the netwrap again.  This time it worked.  It did a little netwrap and then cut the netwrap and stopped.  Finally.

After I unloaded the bale, and before I started to clean the baler, I decided to try to adjust the baler's diameter sensor using the other method in the manual.  This method's steps were a little confusing.  And the setting that was mentioned was "173".  No idea why this setting.  It made no sense.   But I did it.  Now I won't know until next year when I make a bale if this works to make my bales to be 60 inches in diameter.

This done, now onto cleaning the baler.  Cleaning the baler this time was even more work.  Because of the roller failure and fix earlier this year, I hadn't cleaned the baler back then.  Apparently the rain and moisture since then hardened the dust and hay.  This made cleaning harder and slower as I had to brush and scrape stuff to get rid of it rather than just using an air compressor to blow it away.

I was partway done when I realized the time.  I checked my mail and the check from the livestock auction had arrived.  Haynes the bull weighed 2015 pounds.  I got 1.58 a pound for him.  My last bull that I sold in 2021 weighed over 2400 pounds.  I got the low end for a price.  Bulls back then were selling for upper 70s to mid-90 cents pound and I got 70 cents a pound for my bull.  This time the price I got for Haynes was in the mid-range for what the bulls sold for at this auction.  I got over twice as much for Haynes as I did for the previous bull.  My, how prices have risen.  Still, prices the auction charges have risen.  The cost charged by the auction for transporting Haynes, and then feeding him overnight until the auction, was a little over $50.  Still cheaper than if I hauled Haynes all the way to the auction myself.

Then off to the bank to deposit my check before the bank closed.  After that, and grocery shopping, it started to rain for the day.  We got .13 inch of rain.  That ended my cleaning for the day.  I hope to get it done tomorrow.  And then work on putting my bales into the hay shed once they are dry.  At least my windrows didn't get wet before baling.  During my drive home from the bank I saw another field of cut hay into windrows laying there were wet.  Not good.

I ended up with 35 bales.  This is the most bales I ever got from a second cutting.  Don't know why. Usually I get 26 to 28 bales in a second cutting.  My time between first and second cutting this year may have been a week or so longer than usual, but 7 to 9 bales more?    This is year is the first time I got more bales from my second cutting than from my first cutting.  In the first cutting I only got 27 bales.  Much less than normal.

Haynes delivered to the livestock auction

Today I got Haynes delivered to the livestock auction.   I had planned to start loading him into the stock trailer at 8:30 am.   But I woke up earlier than usual and decided to start the loading at 7:45 am.  I had Haynes in the loading corral's runway by the time Donna and Rascal arrived.  Loading Haynes into the stock trailer was surprisingly easy and we had him loaded a little after 8 am.  We drove off by 8:30 am.

The drive went well.  Haynes was too large to lock him in the front half of the trailer but he didn't move around that much.   He is large enough that you can feel the trailer sway a little when he did move.

It was after 10 am when I got to the stockyards in Ronan, MT where cattle heading to Ramsay is dropped off.  The truckers weren't there yet.  Other people there dropping off their cattle said the truckers usually didn't show up until almost noon.  Another person showed me a pen where I could put Haynes.  I backed the trailer up and unloaded Haynes and he walked down the alley to the pen with an open gate.  I shut the gate.  Haynes was interested in the other cattle that were already there.  There were a couple of bulls in the pen next to his pen.

I left my name and a cattle description of Haynes on a paper in the drop box like everyone else did.   Haynes does not have a brand.  He also had lost his ear tag last year and I never bothered to put a new tag on him.   To put an ear tag on Haynes or a cow I need to put their head in the headgate so they don't move much when I put the tag in their ear.  I wasn't sure Haynes would fit in the headgate so I didn't put a new tag on him.  I hope Haynes doesn't get mixed up with another person's bull at the stockyards.  I'll see once I get the auction results later this week.  The truckers take the cattle placed in the stockyard to the sale and I was told the cattle would be to the auction yard by 5 pm today.

The stockyard I left the cattle at is old.  I guess it works.  I didn't get a chance to walk around it as several people were lined up waiting to unload their cattle and I didn't want to get in their way.

I got home right at noon.  Earlier than when I used to take cattle to the livestock auction in Missoula.  Since it was only Haynes and a short drive, there was less manure to wash out of the stock trailer.

In the loading corral before I loaded Haynes into the trailer.

Haynes at the stockyard.

Rusty rode along with us.

Flathead Lake from near Polson, MT.

Haynes can fit through

This morning I found Haynes laying in the loafing shed in the corral.  He is able to squeeze through the headgate in the loading corral.

I let him be all day.   In the evening it was time to put him back in the loading corral and also to hookup the stock trailer and move it to the end of the loading corral next to the headgate.  Donna came over at 7:30 pm.  After she arrived we found Haynes already back in the loading corral.  He did it on his own.  He went through the headgate again.  The stock trailer is now parked and we are all ready to load Haynes in the morning.  I hope tomorrow goes as well as today.

This afternoon I found that Haynes had broken a corral fence board while he was in the loading corral earlier.  Thankfully he didn't squeeze out of the loading corral this way.  I replaced the broken board once I found a 9 foot long board.

Getting ready to sell Haynes the bull

I'm going to sell Haynes at the livestock auction on Tuesday.  Haynes has gotten big.  Time for him to go.  I had the other bulls for four years each.  Haynes only three years.  But he is big now.  No sense keeping him another year to get even bigger.

It is a little more complicated this year.   The livestock auction in Missoula closed this Spring.   The next two closest livestock auctions are in Great Falls or Ramsay, MT.   They are close to the same distance away from me.  Great Falls though means driving over the Continental Divide to east of the mountains.  So Ramsay it is.

Still, it is a long drive.

I spoke to the livestock auction and they told me there is a person in Ronan, MT who will haul cattle for $2.20 per hundred weight.  So if Haynes weighs 2400 pounds, the cost would be $52.80.  This is cheaper than driving 446 miles roundtrip.  And would take less time.

I have to get to Ronan by noon on Monday.  That should be possible.

Now, loading the bulls in the past has been a problem.  The bulls have been too large to fit through the loading corral runway and the headgate at the end of it.  

Since the former bulls wouldn't fit, I had to load them by encouraging them to step into the trailer from the open part of the corral.  Here is the post about how hard it was to load the previous bull, Toby.

https://tallpinesranch.blogspot.com/2021/09/toby-is-gone.html

And the story of loading the previous bull, Buddy.

https://tallpinesranch.blogspot.com/2017/08/buddy-has-left-ranch.html

So the loading of Haynes on Monday may be another adventure.  I hope not.

This time I put the bull in the loading corral, not the south part of the corral.  The loading corral is smaller than the south part of the corral.  With Donna's help I got him in the loading corral by noon today.  I left the headgate open as a test today and on Sunday to see if Haynes walks out of the loading corral on his own.  Then I will know he will fit through the headgate and I will put him back into the loading corral to load him on Monday.  If not, then I will back up to the loading corral large gate and then have to get Haynes to step inside the trailer.  I will have Donna and my neighbor Curtis to help me encourage Haynes to get into the stock trailer.  I hope it goes well.

Photos from when Donna and I got Haynes into the corral.

Outside the corral the cattle and calves watched Donna, Haynes and I inside the corral.

Haynes in the loading corral.

As you can see Haynes has his head of hair again this Summer.

Hayfield irrigation done. And Haynes.

This morning I finally got the last of the irrigation pipes out of the hayfield and into the pastures.  It took three days.  First day, the south line. The next day the north line.  This morning the extra line.  It is some work to do as I have to lift the pipes over the hayfield/pastures fence.   But I am happy to be done irrigating the hayfield.  Now all I have to do is to wait for the hayfield to dry so I can cut my hay.   The alfalfa is blooming to beat the band so it is ready to be cut.

I estimate I have 12 days left to irrigate the pastures before I am done irrigating this year.  I can't wait to be done.

This evening when I was moving the irrigation pipes in the middle and north pastures I heard a commotion.   It was Haynes.  He was pushing on the large metal feeder in the north pasture just outside the corral.  So, yes, it is Haynes that pushes the metal feeders around.  I never seen him do it before.   He puts a lot of effort into it.  And for a long while with break in between.  His tail was swishing wildly back and forth.  The dirt outside the corral slowed the feeder movement, but he still did move the feeder some distance.

When I was moving pipes in the north pasture he would stop and look at me.  His tail kept swishing and his head was held high.  I kept an eye on him as I moved pipes even though I was some distance away from him.  If he ever left the feeder to come my way I would be out of that pasture right away.  Haynes never left the feeder to come over to me and the cows and calves who were around me as I moved the pipes.  As I walked back across the middle pasture to open the valve and start irrigating the north line he watched me as I walked across the pasture.  He kept his eyes on me the whole time I walked.   When I was done I walked across the hayfield instead of the north pasture to return home.  I didn't want to be in the same pasture as Haynes as he seemed to have an attitude at that time.   He reminded me of the bulls in the bull riding events.  They have an attitude.  Donna loves watching bull riding.  I'm sure she would have liked to watch Haynes - from on the other side of the fence.

Cattle into the middle pasture

Friday I finally let the cattle into the middle pasture.  It would have been a week earlier but first I had to work on fence near the river.  Then I wanted to burn a tree stump before letting the cattle into the pasture.   As you can see the grass is tall in this pasture.

Here is a video of Haynes.   He has a limp now.  I think it is due to him breeding the cows. He is getting big and the cows will move away if they are not ready to be bred. So up-and-down and up-and-down until the cows are bred. He probably pulled a muscle. Time for the bull to be sold in a month or so. The cows should be bred by now and this will give him time to recover.   https://youtu.be/ECmc2ZZoL4M

My plan was to fill in the dirt from the burnt tree stump before letting the cattle into the middle pasture.   But I had to help Donna with her well pump failure.  In the evening I decided to let the cattle into the pasture before it got dark.  I figured the cattle had plenty to eat and see and I would have time to push the dirt back into the hole before they found it.

After opening the gate and letting the cows into the pasture I went and got the salt block from the north pasture and carried it to the feeder in the middle pasture.  By the time I did this, even though the dirt was across the pasture from the gate and somewhat hidden by tall grass, some of the cows already were at the dirt and rubbing in it. 

I chased the cows away.   Then the calves came and got into the act.   https://youtu.be/L2quZEQmXhY

Then Haynes the bull came over before I got all of the dirt back into the hole.  Everyone had to stand back and watch as he rolled around in the dirt.   Some of the calves wanted to join him but Haynes would shake his head at them and the calves would run away.  I just stood and watched. No way was I going to make the bull mad.   Eventually Haynes just stood there. Standing over his domain.  I waited and waited until he finally walked off to go join the cows elsewhere.   That is why the light had faded in these photos.   I raked what was left of the dirt into the hole.

Cattle to the north pasture

A hot day today.  It got up to 95 degrees with no wind and plenty of sun.  I didn't do much today.  Mostly stayed inside the house and slept more.  Mainly taking a break from my projects.

The birds took a break from the heat and sat in the shade for a while.

In the afternoon I let the cattle go from the south pasture over into the north pasture.  Time for a change of pastures for the cattle.

Most of the cattle have lost their Winter fur.  Here is Little Buelah next to the gate.  She is the smoothest I have ever seen her.  Being part Simmental means she usually has some curly fur.

The cow in front lost all her Winter fur.  The cow behind still has some Winter fur on her side.

Haynes is all smooth.  Lightning Picasso still has some Winter fur on her sides.

The calves took a break to see what I was up to when I was taking photos.   Then they were off.

Yard cleanup and cattle

Slept 10 hours to catch up on the lack of sleep during the election day.  Even so, I still fell asleep for a while in the afternoon while sitting on my couch with Rascal.  Otherwise I spent the rest of the day removing the cattle protection stuff from the yard.

Part of the rail was broken earlier from a fallen tree branch when I was cutting branches off the box elders tree.  The reason I took this photo now was the cattle got past the protective fencing to eat some of the lilac leaves.  The leaves near the bottom rails survived, the other - mid-level - leaves didn't. 

I spent time with the caragana trees.   The first photo was before the cattle were let into the yard.

This was after the cattle were let into the yard.  As you can see the cattle ate up the lower half of the trees.   It took some effort to straighten and roll up the fencing the cattle took down.  They had twisted the fencing around and around as they pulled it away from the trees.

Also when cleaning up around the caragana trees I found the ear tag from calf 8, the first-born calf from this year.  She somehow pulled the ear tag out of her ear.

Cow 60 was in heat this afternoon.  Cow 60 is the black cow behind Haynes.  After a while Beulah got interested in cow 60 and eventually Haynes had to push Beulah away.

Fence fix

I forgot to mention in my previous blog post that when I let the cattle into the yard I also did a little fence work.   Last Fall when I did the rail fence work, I didn't finish it all.  I had a short section that went from the rail fence to the driveway's entrance post.

I didn't have any short rail sections to use.  I had some plans on making something to use, but recently Donna had her property fenced for her daughter's horses.  She had a fence section that was split rails.  That was old and replaced.  Most she gave to a friend to use as firewood.   A half dozen or so rails were still decent and I got those.  And she also had two short sections of split rails.  I got the rails from Donna on Friday.  

After I let the cattle into the yard so they could eat grass - and stop mooing at me - I immediately went and cut up the short split rails and nailed them to this fence section.  Now the rail fence is done and I don't have to worry about the cattle slipping out of the yard.

The yard grass is getting eaten down. Tomorrow it should be down and I will let the cattle into the NE pasture.

Today I saw a rail was partially off the corral fence by the water trough.  I think Hayne or one of the cows didn't want to walk around and into the corral to drink from the water trough.  They put their head through the fence to reach the water trough and pushed the rail partially off the fence.  I re-nailed the rail

Here are some photos of Haynes scratching his back on the large walnut tree.   This walnut tree isn't leafing out.  Last year it didn't leaf out until the beginning of July.  I hope it does again this year.  A few days ago I was talking with my neighbor Jan.  A number of her specialty trees aren't leafing out this year.  She said a friend told her the cherry trees near Flathead Lake were affected and they are predicting a smaller cherry harvest this year.   This past Winter was not as cold as the previous Winter, but we did have a day or two where the overnight low temperatures was minus 32 degrees.