What did you do with your Red tractor today?

[billonthefarm]

Worked a little ground after Easter dinner.  rain moving in now.

[nate]

Stole the fenders off the old cab “hiniker” and made them work on the year a round cab.   Got the front windows and filler plates put in.   Most of wiring done.  

 

[MT Matt]

Disked the hay ground I plowed a couple days ago. Two passes.

The view was pretty good!

Filled the grain drill for the first time this year.

and seeded about 6 acres before dark.

I’ll finish the field today. Supposed to be 70 today!

[MacAR]

4 hours ago, MT Matt said:

Disked the hay ground I plowed a couple days ago. Two passes.

The view was pretty good!

Filled the grain drill for the first time this year.

and seeded about 6 acres before dark.

I’ll finish the field today. Supposed to be 70 today!

Seeding oats Matt? Sure do like that 400 and disk set-up!

Mac

[MT Matt]

3 hours ago, MacAR said:

Seeding oats Matt? Sure do like that 400 and disk set-up!

Mac

Yep, I cut it in the soft dough stage for hay.  Just when you start to see a little color change from green to a smidgin of light yellow is the right time.  The heads will have bulk to them and the leaves/stems are green enough yet for critters to eat. Horse people really like oat hay around here during the winter.  Some of my customers have goats, fattens them right up.  Plus it’s a good nurse crop for grass seedlings during year two.  The first year when I break up an old field it’s just straight oats while the sod breaks down.

Some fields, it REALLY grows well!

I bought the 400 and disk last fall. First fast hitch implement I’ve had. I like how it can be controlled easily. Hard to turn without fully pulling the disk out of the ground though.

[MacAR]

26 minutes ago, MT Matt said:

Yep, I cut it in the soft dough stage for hay.  Just when you start to see a little color change from green to a smidgin of light yellow is the right time.  The heads will have bulk to them and the leaves/stems are green enough yet for critters to eat. Horse people really like oat hay around here during the winter.  Some of my customers have goats, fattens them right up.  Plus it’s a good nurse crop for grass seedlings during year two.  The first year when I break up an old field it’s just straight oats while the sod breaks down.

Some fields, it REALLY grows well!

I bought the 400 and disk last fall. First fast hitch implement I’ve had. I like how it can be controlled easily. Hard to turn without fully pulling the disk out of the ground though.

Thanks! The reason I asked, I have a couple places in my hayfield I'm trying to rejuvenate and I'm thinking of drilling oats and fescue together to try and get them "right". I figured the oats would shade the weeds out fairly well, and it sure looks like they do. How many pounds do you drill to the acre? I was thinking around 60 pounds of oats and 5 pounds of grass seed but I may figure wrong. 

On the fast hitch stuff, it's handy when hooking and unhooking to be sure. The only thing I don't like about some of my stuff is the fast hitch on the 340 utility don't lift it up high enough and it drags. 

Mac

[MT Matt]

So 60 lbs an acre is the rate I do if just oats. When using as a nurse crop, 25-30 lbs of oats and 12 lbs of grass seed. Need the oats thin enough for light down to the grass seedlings. Orchard grass or brome/orchard/wheatgrass mix is what I plant out here but fescue is similar to orchard as far as size I believe.  I lived in Missouri for 25 years, seen fescue get combined.

I don’t work up the poor spots and plant right back in with grass. I’ve done it but didn’t have good results. Best to plow it under, 1st year of oats and plow again. Then all of the sod has time to break down and the nutrients are “turned” back up. The 2nd spring you are ready to plant grass. At least this has shown to be the best way for me to do it. Results may vary, lol. 

[hardtail]

Do the bears roll in it before you cut?

[MT Matt]

1 hour ago, hardtail said:

Do the bears roll in it before you cut?

Not sure what you mean?

[db1486]

2 hours ago, hardtail said:

Do the bears roll in it before you cut?

They love oats around here. Nothing to have a few acres flattened out by them on a field. Or sometimes they will get into the bales and rip twines off and scattered the feed

[db1486]

18 hours ago, MT Matt said:

Yep, I cut it in the soft dough stage for hay.  Just when you start to see a little color change from green to a smidgin of light yellow is the right time.  The heads will have bulk to them and the leaves/stems are green enough yet for critters to eat. Horse people really like oat hay around here during the winter.  Some of my customers have goats, fattens them right up.  Plus it’s a good nurse crop for grass seedlings during year two.  The first year when I break up an old field it’s just straight oats while the sod breaks down.

Some fields, it REALLY grows well!

I bought the 400 and disk last fall. First fast hitch implement I’ve had. I like how it can be controlled easily. Hard to turn without fully pulling the disk out of the ground though.

Thats a beautiful crop of oats! Do you just use a regular seed oat or a forage oat? They got a few different varieties of forage oat here and they sure grow, but we've been having just as good of luck with seed oats we grow to harvest. Pretty common to get 4-5 5x6 round bales per acre here. Most guys silage it though.

[MT Matt]

12 minutes ago, db1486 said:

Thats a beautiful crop of oats! Do you just use a regular seed oat or a forage oat? They got a few different varieties of forage oat here and they sure grow, but we've been having just as good of luck with seed oats we grow to harvest. Pretty common to get 4-5 5x6 round bales per acre here. Most guys silage it though.

Never had a problem with bears in my fields around here. Apple trees?  Absolutely!  No grizzlies in this part of the state, the little black bears stay away for the most part.  Elk and deer?  Yep, probably eat 20% of the crop. Elk have kicked apart square bales for me, ripped through windrows also.

I plant Otana oats. It’s a forage oats. I can average 60 squares an acre on non-irrigated land, sometimes up to 75. I don’t fertilize either.  Some customers feed to cows so I don’t want to raise the possible nitrate content. 

[nepoweshiekfarmalls]

Pulled the 656 hydro out of the shop. Ran out of fuel.... dumped in 5 gallons.  Unhooked rear blade for the season.   Carried the 311 fast hitch plow up from the barn.  Dad wants to plow a little bit, change the grass strip next to a driveway.   The neighbors who harvest our crops need a different configuration then we used. 

[billonthefarm]

I didn’t do a thing with my red tractors today.  For the past 2 months myself and a couple of friends have been working with the local FFA chapter helping them practice for the section Ag Mechanics contest.  Our chapter hasn’t done it in several years.  I finally got them talked into it this year.  The contest was at a nearby community college and consist of carpentry, welding, electrical, surveying, and power mechanics.  As coaches we didn’t know what we were doing,  I had been in the contest 35 years ago.  The kids were very raw but they were willing and they managed to get 3rd place.  Time well spent!  

[Alan Dinan]

3 hours ago, billonthefarm said:

I didn’t do a thing with my red tractors today.  For the past 2 months myself and a couple of friends have been working with the local FFA chapter helping them practice for the section Ag Mechanics contest.  Our chapter hasn’t done it in several years.  I finally got them talked into it this year.  The contest was at a nearby community college and consist of carpentry, welding, electrical, surveying, and power mechanics.  As coaches we didn’t know what we were doing,  I had been in the contest 35 years ago.  The kids were very raw but they were willing and they managed to get 3rd place.  Time well spent!  

Great job Eric!! Hopefully they learned a lot and can continue to do the contest in the future!! Also that you can continue to coach them!! They are our future!!

[nepoweshiekfarmalls]

Fired up Dad's old GMC grain truck after winter slumber and pulled out the water tanker.  Gonna fill it up.  I pay for 2,000 gallons a month minimum.   So, gonna get some of the pre emergence spraying done.  Will likely have COOP handle post emergence.  Seed corn is delivered today.  Spring is coming!

[MacAR]

A lot of little things yesterday and today. The lightbar toolbox for the H finally came after the post office held it hostage for 3 weeks, and I got it put on:

Also found a little drawbar extension on ebay for the Cub and put it on also:

Today I put a new footboard on the #10 drill, that way little brother has a place to stand tomorrow while we're drilling oats. 

Mac

[acem]

Wife on the 4366 and field cultivator.

Notice her PPE.

 

[acem]

Me planting rice with the 886.

Sorry, no water. It's dry enough to plant it with a drill this year.

[acem]

Stepson on the 826 rolling after planting.

[acem]

Spraying burn down a few acres that are still standing in water.

Will plant when it rains next week.

We're having an eclipse so it has to rain...

[utility 64]

My three tractors.
Whoever owns a hay mower dates from the 1950s and runs on gasoline.
It has been restored.
It's been in a shed for 12 years and it hasn't worked.
It was full of dust.

[utility 64]

[acem]

Here's the pic I forgot to attach to my post above...

 

[utility 64]