End of the Season

[farmersammm]

We're almost ready to pull the trigger on the used roller. Almost...............

The pic of the shaft shows the dismantlers used a grinder on the shaft to get the sprocket off, or whatever was behind the first keyway. Too damn lazy to use a cup brush. Not a problem if my lathe had a 60" bed, but my bed is only 40".

I can use Loctite 660(IIRC the right part number) to bed my sprocket on the messed up shaft, but it's no guarantee it'll be tight. Or.........sleeve the hub, and turn the bore down to grab the shaft.

If I could actually examine the shaft, I'd probably be more comfortable with it............but it's out in Tennessee.

If we have to make the stupid thing, I think cwby has the best solution. Set up a shaft with bulkheads, and have someone roll some tin to cover the assembly. You can control diameters, and do any kind of turning you need to on the drive end of the shaft. I can turn a long shaft on my lathe if it's supported by the steady rest. And length is no problem when milling keyways.

[farmersammm]

I can tell ya................I'm real close to pulling the plug. We're a really small operation, only made possible by running old stuff. I've kept it together for almost 25yr, but it's all at the end of its service life, which means a large outlay. I'm not sure it's worth it at this stage in life.

[whtbaron]

Well... I can tell you there's a cost to hanging on too long too. Had a neighbor phone me this morning to see if I'd cut some hay for him, but I had to explain my headers are too wide for hay and it won't dry down. He's got a grain bin full of flax ( looks like 2 to 3,000 bushels to me) that started to discolor the roof last winter. Now it's smoking. Last summer that flax was trading over $40/bu. This is the second time I've seen him lose a bunch of flax because he didn't get things done. With the value of the bin, we're talking well over $100k in loss this time... not sure if he's got any insurance. He's got neighbors that would have rented that land (most is rented already) and put money in his hand for that grain. Trying to keep going after it's time to hang it up just becomes dangerous and inefficient and we all have to face the reality some day. A hobby? You could always take up restoring old balers....

[Munkul]

Buy the damn roller, get the damn thing fitted, bale your hay, sell the damn thing and move on with your life.

You worry too damn much about stupid things.

If the sprocket is loose, weld the f***ER on! WHO CARES. The next owner certainly won't...

[Munkul]

Go on down to Texas, and see what you'll pay................ https://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/gr...498816506.html And "cow hay/cow quality" is hayspeak for generally lousy hay.

That's the truth... anything approaching nice quality is marketed as "the best horsey hay you'll ever buy"

[52 Ford]

Buy the damn roller, get the damn thing fitted, bale your hay, sell the damn thing and move on with your life.

You worry too damn much about stupid things.

If the sprocket is loose, weld the f***ER on! WHO CARES. The next owner certainly won't...

Yeah... but how do you REALLY feel about it?

Sent from my Lincoln Buzzbox using Tapatalk

[Munkul]

Yeah... but how do you REALLY feel about it?

Sent from my Lincoln Buzzbox using Tapatalk

I REALLY feel that it makes great reading, sat on the other side of the world in a comfy chair, but if I had the misfortune to be working alongside Sam, i wouldn't want a repeat of the Uranus Inc Bushog Shaft Repair scenario.
That was a classic example of Sam trying to do everything perfect, and losing a ton of money and time doing it, for something that doesn't need to last forever.

They used to say "An engineer builds something that will last forever"
They were wrong, that approach doesn't work in this brave new world. That's how you go out of business.

These days they say "An engineer builds something that will last as long as it needs to, as cheaply as possible"

[M J D]

I REALLY feel that it makes great reading, sat on the other side of the world in a comfy chair, but if I had the misfortune to be working alongside Sam, i wouldn't want a repeat of the Uranus Inc Bushog Shaft Repair scenario.
That was a classic example of Sam trying to do everything perfect, and losing a ton of money and time doing it, for something that doesn't need to last forever.

They used to say "An engineer builds something that will last forever"
They were wrong, that approach doesn't work in this brave new world. That's how you go out of business.

These days they say "An engineer builds something that will last as long as it needs to, as cheaply as possible"

You just want to see another 9 page thread on the "proper" way to weld a sprocket.

[John T]

That was a classic example of Sam trying to do everything perfect, and losing a ton of money and time doing it, "

What's interesting to me is, Samm has the ability to run a lathe, use a micrometer, Design and fabricate, use a torch to flame straighten...
Etc etc...

Yet he lacks the ability or common sense to put his lawnmower under cover for the winter and then wonders why it doesn't run in the spring. Same thing with his engine Drive Welder

Leave it out in the tall weeds for over a year and then complain when it's full of mouse piss and excrement with chewed up wires.

Build a steel fuel tank (with no drain plug) and leave it filled with diesel for years with no fuel treatment or stabilizer.... then complain that there is water in the tank (probably algae also)

Lack of common sense or laziness?

Probably a little of both.

[whtbaron]

Age. The days get shorter, the lists get longer, and the computer chair gets more comfy every year...

[John T]

Age. The days get shorter, the lists get longer, and the computer chair gets more comfy every year...

I can certainly relate to that.
I am cutting and splitting today because I am far behind

Although my lawnmowers are still undercover

[Sberry]

Actually thats not a bad idea,,, fix up a piece at a time and sell it off.

[whtbaron]

It is a seller's market right now... farm auctions around here have been absolutely crazy.

[farmersammm]

On its way.



Lotta damn money. Price + 80 shipping

Doesn't even count the probable replacement of at least 2 other gears (around 500), and an idler gear which I have laying around somewhere (about 150)

This assumes the damn bearing is good on the used roller.

[shortfuse]

They're cutting hay around where I live....every time I see a baler working, I think of sammm........

[farmersammm]

The Weeds Yield
Yet Another
Vintage Gem

And.........what should pop out, but a fully(IIRC) restored example of a vintage Kelderman hay rake. Purchased for the princely sum of 800 clams about 7yrs ago. Just waiting for it's day in the sunshine all these years.

Not the "proper" way to weld a sprocket..........but a damn fine example of the "proper" way to run Lo-Hy uphill back in the day when my eyes worked.

Some assembly required. It should all be there. The bucket of fasteners etc. is sitting under the welding table lo these 7 years.

Before the baler puked, I thought this was all I had left to do before heading down across the County line to hit the other field...........but (shrug) I guess I have a few days while the parts get here for the baler.

I'm about 99% sure I finished all the work on this thing before it got parked. Had a thread on it somewhere back in time.

[farmersammm]

Those cows do a fine job of keeping the yard mowed down..............and ya kin leave 'em in the rain for years. I figure we have maybe another full session to clear it all out till sometime in the Fall. K'kins had a great idea.......as always.

[whtbaron]

On its way.



Lotta damn money. Price + 80 shipping

Doesn't even count the probable replacement of at least 2 other gears (around 500), and an idler gear which I have laying around somewhere (about 150)

This assumes the damn bearing is good on the used roller.

That's not bad... new concave and rub bars for the combine was pushing $6k.

[farmersammm]

Found the old thread from 2013

https://weldingweb.com/vbb/threads/3...light=hay+rake

[John T]

9 years ago you were more funner.

[Oxford1]

Found the old thread from 2013

https://weldingweb.com/vbb/threads/3...light=hay+rake

So what have you been using to rake up until you drug this thing out of the weeds?

[John T]

It is a seller's market right now... farm auctions around here have been absolutely crazy.

I'm not sensing a need to liquidate. Seems like samm has a good chunk of land along with many tools/tractors and possessions... With no obvious means to make a living.
"farming" samm style don't pay the bills.

seems like an inheritance situation that he will piss down the toilet the day he gives up the ghost.

Thats what I have gleened over the years.

YMMV

[farmersammm]

So what have you been using to rake up until you drug this thing out of the weeds?

For about 25yrs this has been a rake free zone. Never needed one.

Hesston 1014 HydroSwing 14' width

1014 is strictly a grass machine. Does about 5mph on Bluestem

Hesston 1010 HydroSwing for cropland. A more aggressive machine with a full width conditioner. It'll do about 4ish acres/hr due to the 10' width.

Hesston made good stuff in the 70's. They were the only machines that didn't have wobble boxes. The sickle drives are reciprocal action running from flywheels. Virtually no maintenance. You can't say that for the other machines of that era. Change out sickle sections every year, and sickle guards every 2 years, and they run fine.

Both machines will run at between 4-5.5mph, depending on what's being cut. Younger people tend to forget that this type of machine will literally run circles around the modern disc mower/hay rake combination............or at least keep pace. They're one pass machines. Cut, and windrow at the same time. Just gotta bale what you cut.

I never felt the need to combine windrows. Besides......the old 846 wouldn't handle large windrows at speed without putting out a loose bale. It's the reason we're putting the bucks into the belt baler........it's a 5-6mph machine that will handle a lot of hay in a windrow at speed, all the while putting out a rock hard bale that weighs more, hence less haulage because of fewer bales. Get it squared away, and it will be a good machine..........although I'll still have a soft spot for the 846(which will get new floor chains to keep it available in situations like we're experiencing right now)

This is the reason I didn't ever want a disc mower. It's too damn slow. I can maybe run faster with a disc mower...........but with a 9' cut, I have to spend almost twice as much time cutting the same acreage that a 14' machine will cut. Then I have to rake it all up. Baling will be faster, but it's still more time in the field than the old system. More time, more fuel, more wear and tear on old equipment.

Other than the need to renovate the hay meadow, I will absolutely guarantee you that I will not be happy running the Krone. I figure we'll probably realistically need to use it for 2 seasons.........that and some Chaparral. Then it's back to the old sickle machine.

Most of the custom cutters around here use two disc mowers running on 2 separate tractors in order to get a decent amount of grass cut in a reasonable amount of time. A tandem set of mowers will eat the old 1014's lunch...........but I'm not having to lay out the bucks for the extra equipment. I have less money in the Oliver, 1014, and 1010, than I have in the Krone by itself. The Krone won't stay here more than it's needed.

The hay rake is a holdover from when I used to flip equipment. Luckily I never got rid of it. It'll earn its keep. Depending on how wide it will actually efficiently work, I may use it to combine windrows on the second Johnson Grass cutting this Fall. The NH650 ought to eat a double windrow just fine I'd wager. Least it'll be interesting to find out.

[farmersammm]

Kind of a little extra........................

The contraption hanging on the back of the 1014 is a tow hitch. It has a pylon that attaches, and drops down, in order to tow a truck.

This has always been a one man operation. It was necessary to have a vehicle present when cutting over in the next County. 2.5mi is a long walk home when something breaks.

Took it off some years back. K'kins prefers to drive behind, and take me back to the house to get the truck for the day. Then we reverse the order in the evening.

I imagine it made quite a picture to see tractor, swather, and truck, going down the road Did the same with the baler back in the day. Only difference was that the truck was the middle vehicle, with the baler trailing along behind.

[farmersammm]

I still get a little crazy from time to time though

Same old towbar from back in the day. I was damned if I was gonna pay for a wrecker to go get the truck. Was within a few miles of the house when it quit.

K'kins following along behind, in case she had to bail me out of jail