Make Hay While the Sun Shines
The sun wasn't shining as much as I would have liked, but it was a decent day and I really needed to get the hay cut down. I haven't been able to make any progress with getting the haybine to work with the Massey-65; To be honest, I'm really leery about re-routing the hydraulics from the loader's bucket to the rear. I'd much prefer to have a completely separate set of controls for the rear, and leave the loader controls intact. :/
I thought that the dryer condition of the hay now might actually make it easier for the old IH-201 windrower to chew its way through it. On a whim, I fired the machine up and guided it into the West field. It started chewing through it pretty well, so I continued on, hoping that the old machine would be able to complete the job. The problem with dry hay, is that while it's more brittle, it's actually harder to cut than fresh green hay. The stems are hard and tough, and you can definitely feel that through the machine as it tries to cut through it. What irks me now, is that it would seem that the problem I had earlier with the 201 wasn't so much that the teeth were dull (they are, but that's beside the point) but rather that I just didn't have the machine's drive mechanism turned up high enough to chew through the crop! I could have cut this down a couple of months ago, had I known that! I had a problem with the reel drive-belt coming loose whenever it got bogged down, and I felt it would be a more prudent choice to cut down as much of the sheltered East hayfield as I could.
The IH-201 actually did very well heading over to the East field, cutting a swath all along the path from behind the quonset-shop to the entrance to the field. That swath alone should yield a half-dozen or more bales once I get the baler hooked up to the tractor. That will likely be next weekend's project. The image on the left is the view from the driver's seat of the windrower.
Unfortunately, I was only able to get three complete passes made around the field before the machine broke down too much for any quick-fix repairs. Unless I can get the haybine working properly, or we can get a neighbour in to help, these three swaths represent the 2011 hay-crop.
Here, the windrower sits idle in the hayfield after the breakdown.
Having the drive-belt coming loose every time the machine bogged down too much didn't help the situation. The problem is that the large white pulley is warped, so it doesn't take much for it to dislodge the belt.
These shattered wooden arms on the pickup-reel are the true death-knoll for the machine though. Even modern machines may still have a few parts made of wood, but this machine is from the 1960's! These are likely the original parts, and after nearly 50 years, they've had it. You can see where the original owner tried to hold them together with baling-wire, but they're finished now. I'll have to find the best one (there are plenty) to use as a reference for making new ones. I'm wondering if I wouldn't be better off making new ones from metal (aluminium?) rather than wood again.
On a lighter note, here are a couple pictures of Bonnie and Molly. The rails on the corral-panels are 1' apart, which gives some reference as to their height. It's not easy trying to get a decent picture when they're both very curious (the camera might be edible!) and attention-hogs!
I thought that the dryer condition of the hay now might actually make it easier for the old IH-201 windrower to chew its way through it. On a whim, I fired the machine up and guided it into the West field. It started chewing through it pretty well, so I continued on, hoping that the old machine would be able to complete the job. The problem with dry hay, is that while it's more brittle, it's actually harder to cut than fresh green hay. The stems are hard and tough, and you can definitely feel that through the machine as it tries to cut through it. What irks me now, is that it would seem that the problem I had earlier with the 201 wasn't so much that the teeth were dull (they are, but that's beside the point) but rather that I just didn't have the machine's drive mechanism turned up high enough to chew through the crop! I could have cut this down a couple of months ago, had I known that! I had a problem with the reel drive-belt coming loose whenever it got bogged down, and I felt it would be a more prudent choice to cut down as much of the sheltered East hayfield as I could.
The IH-201 actually did very well heading over to the East field, cutting a swath all along the path from behind the quonset-shop to the entrance to the field. That swath alone should yield a half-dozen or more bales once I get the baler hooked up to the tractor. That will likely be next weekend's project. The image on the left is the view from the driver's seat of the windrower.
Unfortunately, I was only able to get three complete passes made around the field before the machine broke down too much for any quick-fix repairs. Unless I can get the haybine working properly, or we can get a neighbour in to help, these three swaths represent the 2011 hay-crop.
Here, the windrower sits idle in the hayfield after the breakdown.
Having the drive-belt coming loose every time the machine bogged down too much didn't help the situation. The problem is that the large white pulley is warped, so it doesn't take much for it to dislodge the belt.
These shattered wooden arms on the pickup-reel are the true death-knoll for the machine though. Even modern machines may still have a few parts made of wood, but this machine is from the 1960's! These are likely the original parts, and after nearly 50 years, they've had it. You can see where the original owner tried to hold them together with baling-wire, but they're finished now. I'll have to find the best one (there are plenty) to use as a reference for making new ones. I'm wondering if I wouldn't be better off making new ones from metal (aluminium?) rather than wood again.
On a lighter note, here are a couple pictures of Bonnie and Molly. The rails on the corral-panels are 1' apart, which gives some reference as to their height. It's not easy trying to get a decent picture when they're both very curious (the camera might be edible!) and attention-hogs!