Pitchforking the Hay Provides a Good Morning Workout

I fed the cows by pitchfork this morning. It was about 20 degrees fahrenheit, but by the time I had made several trips from the barn carrying a load of hay on my upraised pitchfork, I was shedding layers of clothing because I was working up a sweat. It certainly is more work to make and use loose hay, the primative way, or semi-primative way like I make it, but it gives you some exercise.

I go back and forth on to bale or not to bale hay. My John Deere 24T let me down this year, and was in the shop for enough time to make my hay season a failure. I have it fixed now, and it is waiting in the barn for next summer. I think I will keep it and give it another try, because it is a lot easier and more convenient to have small square bales around here, but for a small herd you could do it loose and your equipment costs would be minimal.

I made hay this year with a Farmall M, an old Woods 5 foot pull behind rotary mower, a New Holland Rollabar rake, my 5x8 utility trailer and a pitchfork. It wasn't as back breaking as you might expect. Now if you are thinking that sounds like a lot of equipment and it must cost a bit, you would be surprised how inexpensive some of this old working-condition farm equipment is on Craigslist and at local auctions.

For that matter, you can also get an old square baler like my 24 T for a pretty reasonable price, but while the other equipment seems to always come through the baler sometimes doesn't. I remember making hay on my grandfather's farm as a kid, and we spent a lot of time working on his Oliver baler.

Most farmers used to have a back-up baler, but for the small-herd or part-time farmer that is a big expense, and it also takes up a lot of space to store them. You need to keep your balers in a nice dry shed or in the barn, safe from the elements or you are just about guaranteed to have it fail. The rake and the rotary cutter can sit outside for decades and still work fine if you grease them up as needed.

Well I am going to end it here. I had a nice morning feeding the cows, and when I was done I enjoyed my coffee and eggs (fresh from the chickens) a bit more after my loose hay workout.