First cutting, new wrapper, Mario takes a vacation and other fun things!

Well, I want to start off this post with Mario.  I am working on doing all my first cutting hay last week and this week and I was wrapping bales.  During this process I needed to access the pasture.  Due to the fact that I just opened the six acre field across the creek up to the cattle they have not bothered to come back to the barn at all so the only one around was Mario.  Well, he didn't bother anything or anyone the entire time I was wrapping.  However, when I finished I forgot to put the gates back up.  Soooo, during the night he decided to take a walk and see where it lead.  It wasn't till I got a call from my brother who was talking to a neighbor boy on the school bus that I found out he was missing.  The neighbor found him by the barn when they headed out to milk and put him in a pen till my brother got home from school and went and picked him up in the trailer.  

The picture above was taken upon his arrival home.  He gleefully trotted back into the pasture and went on about his business realizing that the grass isn't really any greener on the other side of the fence!

Now, on to first cutting.  Dad purchased a bale wrapper the same week I started mowing.  He and I have both wanted one for many many years and finally this year it became a reality.  It is an Anderson NWX-660 with the bale Extractor.  It is fully self propelled so it can be moved around the area you are wrapping in to start new rows without the use of a tractor.  It has hydraulic steering and brakes and everything.  It is so awesome!!

Here is a pic of it in action.  Everything is levers and hydraulics.  There are no electrical switches to go bad or pushers to bend.  Just pure wrapping bliss.  

Once you get it lined up you set the steer wheels straight and just start feeding it.   I have never had rows this straight before.   Last year it took pretty much all my space to house 120 bales.  This year I should be able to put 150 in the same area for a couple of reasons.  First, straight rows. Second, there is a hydraulic braking system on it that forces the bales tighter together so the rows are tight and less space used.  Also, the plastic stretchers stretch the plastic 65% so instead of the 35 bales/roll that I got with my cousins wrapper I get 55-65 from one roll of plastic with this one.  That is huge!

The best feature this machine has, hands down, is the bale extractor!!!  When you finish a row with an H&S machine you have to pull some pins and swing some arms down and you can push the bales on through the hoop but they are still on the ramp.  So what happens frequently is you tear one of the seams at the end of the row trying to pull the wrapper out from under the row.  The Anderson wrapper has a new feature that actually pushes the bales out with a hydraulic pusher rod!  You just pull a lever and the pusher shoves the bales completely, yes completely, off the wrapper including the tailgate.  So when you drive it away from the row there are no tears of any kind!

 Picture of the pusher as full extension.

Another sweet option is the hydraulic jack.  It also tows from the back allowing it to tow on just the two wheels allowing you to move quicker from farm to farm!

 The boss recently put up a set of poles at the end of his drive and he would like to get it landscaped and finished up for the summer for entertaining guests.  So we went to our favorite place to pick out rocks and got some good ones.

Here is one.  We painted little rocks and laid on top to mark for the guys loading and hauling.

Here is a pic of an awesome one we picked out.  The weight of the rocks ranged from 3 tons to 11 tons each.  The one above and one below are 10-11 tons.

This rock is probably about 9.5-10 tons.  We stood it up and thought it looked awesome so we put it in that way.  

 Here is a pic we took at lunch of the boulders around the entrance.  The large posts in center will eventually hold a gate.  Many people think the drive is a road and this should change that perception. 

Unfortunately the Boss didn't like the one we stood up on the left and wanted us to change it.  Upon doing so it broke in half so it only exists in my photos now but at least I will have them.

I am still waiting on calves, they are all way past when the vet said they were due, but that is the way it goes sometimes.  Piggies are coming this week.  We are rushing to get everything ready for the customer party and I can't wait to see everyone.  Should be a great time!