He Harvests Hay With Mini Horses

He Harvests Hay With Mini Horses HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Miscellaneous To simplify his small farming operation Ken Gies switched from full-sized draft horses to 5 mini horses less than 40 in tall He modified his equipment so they could handle it “My motivation was that I saw so many mini horses doing nothing These guys are strong They can mow lawn or pull a small log arch or even a stone boat ” he says On his family’s 10-acre hobby farm in Fort Plain N Y his minis provide the power for a variety of jobs including putting up hay They mow rake and load 6 acres of hay 3 times a summer Each of the cuttings takes about 10 days to complete Though he continues to tweak and improve equipment he’s pleased with what he has built so far Mower: He modified a one-horse ground drive mower “I put a steerable axle on the mower tongue which eliminated side draft ” he says With a team of 3 minis he has had the best success using a 32-in long SCH EasyCut cutterbar Rake: The used rake Gies purchased online had been used to rake leaves at an estate It weighs less than 200 lbs and works well for the second and third hay cuttings The heavier first cutting is more of a struggle as the long hay tends to wrap around the wheels when he doubles or triples up windrows Tedder: Gies started with a 4 star Kuhn tedder He removed the two outer wings and reversed the shaft direction “I don’t want them to spin too fast ” he explains “You want to sweep the hay and stand it up not throw it It spins slow so it requires less power ” Hayrack: Gies built his hayrack for about $500 including a 5 by 8-ft running gear out of schedule 40 2-in pipe and light duty 12-in trailer hubs and tires The wheels have tapered bearings and bolt-on rims With a pressure treated lumber deck and sides made of cattle panels cut in half he estimates the wagon hauls about 1 000 lbs of hay at a time Hay loader: In the past Gies and his four children hand-loaded loose hay With only one “hired hand” at home last year he got serious about creating a hayloader After trying and failing with a prototype made mostly with scrap materials he invested in an 18-ft long 4-ft wide hay inverter belt and about 500 nylon teeth The first set-up didn’t work so Gies reversed the direction and put the hay loader in front of the wagon He reversed the direction of the teeth and added tin to the top to hold the hay The drive belts were twisted to reverse the driving direction and Gies built the rollers out of 5-in thin-wall pipe and cold-rolled 3/4-in rod “I used one-way pulleys from old alternators ” he notes “If I were to change anything I would slow the belt down just a bit maybe with 3-in pulleys on the rollers This would hopefully reduce the power needed to run the loader ” After getting the hay off the field comes the best part filling the haymow “I unload with my existing hayfork and trolley A team of two minis can lift as much hay as the forks can hold It is a real blast looking back and seeing a 6-ft wide jag of hay rise off the wagon as the team moves forward ” Gies says Working with mini horses requires a more gentle manner and attitude than working with large horses he says It generally takes minis a couple hours to settle when they start doing farm work He emphasizes he is not an expert horseman and has no desire to build equipment for others He just wants to inspire other horse owners to figure out ways to work with mini horses Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Ken Gies 660 Fordsbush Rd Fort Plain N Y 13339 ph 518 568-5322; kn2g@frontier com

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