Hay Handling Made Simple

Hay Handling Made Simple HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Bale Handling (5) 7-6-8 Putting up over 3,000 tons of hay at the Two Dot Ranch in Leadore, Idaho is no longer a headache. Thanks to lots of ingenuity and homebuilt equipment, the entire task is automated and relatively simple. "We think this way of handling hay is the best that has ever been developed. It's not only fast but cheap," says F.J. Whittaker, owner of the Two Dot Ranch. "We cut hay with four 7-ft. tractor-mounted mowers because the ground is too rough for anything larger and the hay is too short and thick for other methods, such as a swather. Our tractors cut 150 to 200 tons per day. We designed a large 12-wheel rake that'll travel at high speeds, yet rake a large 21-ft. windrow. We pick up windrowed hay with our own specially built sweep rake that hauls the hay to our stack. "The hay is stacked with a large grapple arm on a large hydraulically-operated boom that pulls behind a tractor. One person can stack 150 tons a day without anyone on the stack to help. "We designed the equipment and had most of it built in local farm shops." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, F.J. Whittaker, Two Dot Ranch, Leadore, Idaho 83464 (ph 208 768-2491).

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