finished baling hay

[Watertender]

I was on the wagon stacking bales when the tractor driver had his new Stetson hat blow off of his head and ended up getting baled with the hay.
He was cussing like crazy and that made us laugh even harder. When the bale with the mangled hat in it came out of the baler we could see that it was totally destroyed.
One of those funny moments in life that are hilarious over 50 years later.

 

[warren5421]

In the late 50's to the late 60's I worked for a farmer in southern Ohio that had the biggest barn in the state, he milked 150 cows twice a day. He used a Row Crop 88 to bale and we used a 66 to pickup. Load 10 wagons, unload in the morning and reload in the afternoon. He had an elevator across the top of the barn, the barn was 250-300 yards long. He also baled Soy-Beans, they weighted almost more than the help could lift. Did this for .50 then .75 cents/hour.

 

[RoninPA]

When I helped my FIL in NW CO, the topography really didn't allow a large wheeled wagon to be pulled behind to get the bales on to. They baled it and it lay on the ground. Then they got out a smaller tractor with a hand made (from 2x12's) slip (sled) attached and went around to get the bailes. I stood on the slip and the driver would get it close to the bale and I would grab it with the hay hooks and heft it on to the slip. When the tractor started to lose traction from the weight of the bales we would take it to the stack we were working on and stack it. Then back out to the field. After the stack was 3 bales high, we got out the bale elevator because you couldn't lift the bales high enough on pure strength. When we were all done, we had 14 stacks with between 1000 and 1250 bales each. His hay, I guess, was a very good quality as people came from as far as Kansas with flat bed semi trailers to buy it. When I was involved my FIL had gotten out the cattle business and just farmed the hay.

We didn't start picking up hay until after 10 in the morning to let the bales dry off from the dew. The first time, they told me to wear a long sleeve work shirt along with my leather chaps, leather gloves, work boots and either a cowboy hat or a ball cap. I wore a ball cap and by the end of the haying I WAS a redneck. Well, the long sleeve shirt lasted one day, it was just too hot. Went to a T shirt. Yep, My arms showed it but I was younger and figured the scrapes would heal. That was some of the hardest work I had ever done but I felt good for being able to help. Oh yes, I still have my hay hooks hanging in my shop.

 

[twerpymoon]

Back in my salad years, I threw bales for quite a few farmers. One particularly hot, windless, humid saturday, I got home just before dark. I was covered with alfalfa leaves, sweaty mud rivulets, and grit in my teeth. I stomped into the front room in a foul mood.
My old man was sitting in his recliner watching Hee Haw. He had a bowl of popcorn in his lap, a Winston in his left hand, and a Falstaff in his right. He looked sideways at me and said, "What's your problem, sunshine?"
"That old tightwad Harry Slawnyk is only paying 50 cents and all the others are at 65 cents!"
Dad's jaw dropped, his eyebrows arched, and he said, "Really? My God boy, that's exactly what I used to get. FOR THE WHOLE DAMN DAY!! Now shut up and take a shower."

 

[wproct]

Back in my salad years, I threw bales for quite a few farmers. One particularly hot, windless, humid saturday, I got home just before dark. I was covered with alfalfa leaves, sweaty mud rivulets, and grit in my teeth. I stomped into the front room in a foul mood.
My old man was sitting in his recliner watching Hee Haw. He had a bowl of popcorn in his lap, a Winston in his left hand, and a Falstaff in his right. He looked sideways at me and said, "What's your problem, sunshine?"
"That old tightwad Harry Slawnyk is only paying 50 cents and all the others are at 65 cents!"
Dad's jaw dropped, his eyebrows arched, and he said, "Really? My God boy, that's exactly what I used to get. FOR THE WHOLE DAMN DAY!! Now shut up and take a shower."

Yes, my Dad was born in 1895 and he used to tell me that in his day you could hire a farm hand for 50 cents a day and 2 meals included.

 

[JiminMaine]

I was on the wagon stacking bales when the tractor driver had his new Stetson hat blow off of his head and ended up getting baled with the hay.
He was cussing like crazy and that made us laugh even harder. When the bale with the mangled hat in it came out of the baler we could see that it was totally destroyed.
One of those funny moments in life that are hilarious over 50 years later.

One funny moment I remember was the time my brother went to pick up a bale and found that there were two garter snakes trapped under the baling twine and wiggling like crazy trying to get out. My brother was deathly afraid of snakes, he quit that day.

 

[gnappi]

All that land and you only got 2 bales??? Just joking, I helped my FIL on his ranch (NW Colorado) cut and bale AND stack hay on about 700 acres. They were square bales about 75lbs per bale and we built some pretty big stacks. People who have never done it don't know the work that goes into baling hay and putting it up.

I remember when my ex came home from "work" in a dress, heels with perfectly coiffed hair not a crack in her nails and she never had to leave her 76 degree office crab about how hard a day she had.

I silently turned away and rolled my eyes thinking how clueless some are as to who actually built the United States and what work really is.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

I wore a T-shirt my first day, and came home with shredded forearms. Discovered that a long-sleeve shirt prevented this and more area for sweat evaporation cooling was a good thing.

We used to put the baled snakes into the tractor's tool box. The boss didn't care for snakes much. :ROFLMAO:

 

[wproct]

I don't like snakes either, and I've also grabbed a bale that had a bull snake flopping around at the end of the bale.

 

[Mobuck]

There was a 3-4' snake in one of the bales I moved yesterday. It appeared to have been both crushed and cooked. The friction from the rotating bales plus the pressure of the compacting makes the sidewalls of the baler get pretty hot when things are rolling right along. ;)
Back in the square baler days, I saw the 'wagon stacker' bail off the wagon waving and flailing. First thought was bumblebees but turned out that half a garter snake had popped out of the bale he was tossing onto the top row and went down the neck of his shirt. Everyone but him thought it was hilarious.:oops: