Can I Call Myself a Farmer Now? 

A big part of the "tarp" over the cutter head is that they are heavy and some are weighted on the ft side. That heaviness helps bend the grass away from the cutter head so that when the grass is cut it will actually flip up at the base and lay flat across the ground so it will dry better.

My philosophy on mowing a field is always leave a stip of grass around the perimeter of the field until last. I do that incase there's broken fence or something that gets snagged in the mower and breaks the mower I have the majority of the field cut

The "shoe" on the tractor side of the mower is supposed to rest on the ground. The pins in the lift arms of the tractor should be a certain distance from the ground depending on the make of mower. A chain should be hooked from where the top link is back to the mower to prevent it from bouncing and scalping. Use the top link to fine tune how far the blades are off the ground...usually 1 1/2"- 2". Your top link threads should always show the same amount of thread on either end for maximum strength.

Brush mowing is really enjoyable I bet that was really fun.

Good job Brock. Nicely done. Work and learn, that's the ticket.

I sold a lot of new and used disc mowers over my career at the dealership. I believe every mower had a height adjusting stay chain that hooked at the tractor’s toplink bracket and then hooked to a pin on the mower. Typically, the operator manual would call out a measurement of the distance from the mower lift arm pin to the ground and you set the chain to hold it there when you lowered the 3 pt hitch. This allowed the big spring to take some of the weight of the cutterbar off the ground so the mower would “float” a little better. But I never sold any disc mowers smaller than about a 6-1/2 ft cut, with 5 discs. Did Jake show you how to check the oil in the cutterbar or had he serviced it already. The new mower tarps are probably at least $500 or more now so that’s probably the reason it didn’t have a good one on it. Most of these mowers are imported from Europe and were sold as private label cutters; they carry every sort of brand name under the sun and parts can be very problematic to identify and obtain. We sold Panorama disc mowers for a while, until the importer distributor closed down; then we had a hard time identifying the equivalent European manufacturer and getting the correct parts for our customers. Never a problem with the main brand New Holland, Vicon, Kuhn, or other mowers except when Tonutti of Italy closed down for a couple of years. (Good luck; have fun with your haying. You’re a smart guy and will figure it out.

Brock, you learned how to mow with that cutter bar very quickly. I think you did a great job. I can’t wait till your video raking and bailing. I enjoyed this video. Thanks

On the mower adjustment I usually lower my right side lift arm more than the left. This allows you to hold the mower frame higher while still letting the cutter bar ride evenly on the ground. When mowing cut the field into smaller blocks and don’t worry about mowing across the ends. For example if you mow a section that’s 600ft long but only 70 feet wide you’re not gaining any advantage when trying to mow across the end of the field. Come out square and go back into the other side of the blocked off section square. This eliminates skipping grass on the turns. Hope that makes sense.

Good video Brock. Nice to see older equipment working like a charm. They don't make some things like they used to. Good to see you mowing your hay. You've been talking about it for quite a while. Success. God Bless.

Brock, you can definitely call yourself a farmer. Those are some classic farm fixes. 🙂

Blowing out radiators is a daily task when out in the hay field for us. That Chaff and dust loves to suck up and plug around the grill on the hood

You got the first part of being a farmer right. Being behind schedule lol.

Good job, Brock. I enjoy all your content and wish you continued success!

You’re not a farmer just because you cut the hay…. but taking a downed piece of machinery, reviving it and using it just might make you part of the club! Nice work! Not everything has to be perfect… just has to get the job done

Here's how to switch the temperature display to Fahrenheit. Set the parking brake. Turn the ignition switch from OFF to RUN. Set the headlight switch to the HIGH position. Press the INFO button so the display shows the temperature and battery voltage. Press and hold INFO until the display changes from Celsius to Fahrenheit (10 to 15 seconds). Turn off headlights. Turn ignition to OFF. You can switch it back to Celsius using the same steps. To change the speed display from kilometers to MPH, use the exact same procedure, but set the the headlight switch to the LOW position.

Brock, maybe a simple weighted frame would keep the lower part of the tarp in place.

Happy fourth. May the lord bless and protect you

Brock, making square corners is easy. Let's say you are mowing north. You just keep mowing past where you would normally turn to go east, then make a left turn, circle around and you are then lined up cut east. I call this a "Crazy Ivan" turn which I got from the movie The Hunt for Red October.

15 acres is a bunch with that small bar. Good job with the first cut.

Nice days work, and lots of nice protections on that tractor.

Great job Brock! It's got to feel good to cut your first harvest! My Tenant farmer takes hay sometimes. (We're in soybeans this year) I've always thought I'd like to learn to take the hay myself sometimes..... but haven't yet! Best, -- J. Andre. / Old Iron Acres

My goodness I’ve never had to blow out my radiator while working and I’ve cut a lot of hay and bush hogging I guess maybe that’s the difference between a compact tractor and a full size??? And when I say I’ve cut a lot I mean a lot lol.

Awesome 😎

To turn right 90° turn left 270°. Perfect square corner.

Howdy Brock! I think I use my EGO battery leaf blower more for cleaning the radiator screen on the tractor than for actually blowing leaves lol. I'm wading into new territory this weekend... had a new warning light pop up and was causing the RPM limiter to kick in... then stopped running all together. Ugh... this could get expensive... Nicely done, be safe this 4th of July, and thanks for sharing 🤠

yes

On the turning go past just a little bit and you should be able to use the hydraulics to pick the cutter up so you will not drag the grass that you just cut, and when you put the cutter bar down I know on the bigger cutters there is a pin you have to move.

You did good for your first time. I always preferred a sickle bar over a rotary cutter. The grass recovers quicker since it's clipped off instead of torn off.

Bibs. You definitely need some denim bib overalls. And a filthy and tattered cap that your wife has threatened to throw away multiple times.

I always start mowing going clockwise so you can use the tractor as your spacer from trees, fences, etc. Shut tractor off so crap falls off then restart (unless it's my JD, won't start when hot). To square corners only go around a few times then just mow from the sides.

As far as your pattern, start with the cutterbar to the inside and drive as close to the outside fence or tree row and just cut the whole field. When your done go around the outside the opposite direction to get the hay you drove over on the first pass. Also make your corners as sharp as you can, the 3 point will swing the cutterbar around and cut all the hay.

Nice work!

Your "make the right angle turn as best you can and then do a corner cleanup pass later" technique does the job, especially with a disk mower. Not so much if you were running a sickle bar mower, which can get easily plugged up running through already downed crop (yes, I know this from past experience). Two alternatives, both of which add significant time to the mowing process, would be: 1) Cut straight out past the corner far enough so that if you make a 270º counter clockwise (left) turn, your mower is lined up to go straight into the crop again on the next leg. 2) Cut straight out past the corner far enough so you can stop, then back up making a hard reversing 90º counter clock wise (left hand down while backing) turn to reset the tractor so it's all lined up to enter the crop straight on again.

Morning Brock!

It is crazy in some field we mow after the mower goes over an area is doesn't look like it cut anything then you check it and it mowed everything nicely. Also always thought it was a little crazy that those 3" blades would cut down tall grass in a hurry.

The guys I've always been around lift the cutter at the end of the run make a circle turn to the left come back in line drop and run.

I'm wondering if you could hang a heavy-ish piece of pipe on that leading edge of the tarp, to keep it down and help it do its job.

I would have zip ties a chain to the bottom edge of that tarp to keep it from swinging backwards. Or if you have something not quite as heavy you could zip tie that to the grommets. Just enough to fight the wind. That reminds me I need to find a chain mail or mesh to put a skirt on my brush hog. I care less about rocks and more.aboit mitigating the amount of dust/dirt from scalping and allergens.

Like your t shirt but perhaps replace it with one that says I love free markets and love freedom.

Don’t know about farmer? But a lot of people have a hammer and say they’re carpenters. 😁

Your right. The disc mower has turtles a drum mower has drums. You don’t want it to ride on the ground you will wear out the skid plates. You want it to hover over the ground.

110c - Fahrenheit 230, great example you should always keep an eye on the temperature!! That is the easiest way to have internal components fail! Happy 4th 🇺🇸

100c is 212 f

That whole mower needs to float on the ground. Preferably you want to put your hydraulics and float detent. And usually you do five or six rounds around a field with the mower to the inside and then do your back swath around the perimeter. That way you can see what you’re doing and you don’t run your mower into something, and when you leave tire tracks with the grass push down in the same direction it doesn’t cut as well as when you go against the tire tracks. Keep your corners tight that way when you’re finishing, you can follow the corners going toward the edge of the field, then spinning the tractor around and mowing back towards the center. And when there’s obstacles in the field, such as trees go around them and then try to straighten the obstacle up With each pass after that or it will make it worse. The straighter you can keep things even with raking the faster and more efficient it is. Everything is a learning curve and you’re doing great.

I think an older used mower conditioner (haybine) would be a better choice.

It just occurred to me that you probably haven’t lost enough money yet to be a farmer. But there are some tax advantages that might apply to you.Here in Missouri, farmers do not have to pay sales tax for qualifying purchases when they are producing a crop. Kansas may have the same.

to go the other way just manipulate the formula solve for C F - 32 = C x 1.8 180/1.8 180/1.8 = C 100 = C no pen needed for this either

F=C x 9/5 + 32 or F=C x 1.8 + 32 212=100 x 1.8 + 32 212+180 + 32 212F = 212F = 100C if the world goes to chit you are covered . don't even need a pencil! PS ignition on high beam on then you hit the info button 3 x or hold it till it changes. tony tractor channel or Hank Hamilton has a vidja on this

Does that tractor have split breaks to help steer it around the corners

Morning #2🤪

Nope, still not a farmer! Work harder! Still loving that T-shirt though!

Really been looking forward to this Mr Brock.

put weights on tarp???

You will get better at the corners the more h a y do you cut

Tractor shouldn't be overheating with that small of cutter

NO!