GIANTS Software - Forum

So... Being an American farmboy, I really don't understand the mower/tedder/windrow thing. Is this how they make hay in Europe? I know that I have always used a swather to cut the hay then a hay rake to roll it over or windrow it as needed. Just curious mostly about how grass can be cut with a mower and still be long enough to make bales out of. And what a tedder is exactly. Would also love to see the option of using a swather and hay rake on American maps. Thanks a lot!

The Tedder spreads out the grass so it drys out faster because in some countrys, the grass is so thick that it wont dry out as fast. That is what i understand from what i seen and heard.

Farming terms are a regional thing. I've herd people call mowers, swathers and windrowers.

Making hay where I stay can be a long and unrewarding process , it depends on the weather , we had a long dry spell this year so managed to make some quality hay for a change . We cut with a disc mower around the end of June leave it in the swath for around 24 hrs then scatter it with a tedder , depending on the weather we may have to turn it 5 or 6 times , we then gather it into a swathe with a rake (windrower) and then bale it as soon as it's swathed, the bales are usually left out for a couple of days to let any heat out of them, they are then stacked under cover, it can be up to 10 days work from beginning to end to make around 600 round bales.
Sounds easy , but it's very weather dependent

That’s all farming for ya I haven’t had the joy (or not depending on how ya look at it) of dealing with animals and making hay but even on an ariable farm if it’s wet there’s not much you can do

Amen to that brother ,we're all at the mercy of mother nature .

I really didn't live on a farm persay, it was more of a hobby farm, but it was with my uncle we moved in with them for a couple of years, but he had alfalfa which wasn't that thick, so he just windrowed it, baled it, and done.

Most years it's a challenge to make good hay here, we feed our sheep about 500 round bales during the winter , less if it's mild more if it's cold, 1982 we had rain from April to September and didn't make any it was in such short supply our hay merchant was bringing container loads of it in from Canada ,we managed to get a couple of loads and I remember it was such lovely hay you could smell the sunshine. All I can say is thank God for round bales and silawrap

Yeah, them draughts gets ya, we hear them all the time.

Grew up farming in the SE US. All of the steps were the same (mowing, tedding, rowing, baling), but I believe the terminology is a little different. We didn't always use a tedder tho (we called it "teasing"), and when we did, it was usually due to no getting it baled before a rain. Most of the time it was mow, "rake", and bale.

Here in europe it is exactly the same way of making hay as in fs, but it is tedded multiple times and no one uses an autostacker for the bales. But, many people in europe look at the american style wheel rakes as "old iron" because they were used here in the 60s in 70s and aren't common any more. Actually don't know why.

I haven't made had in close to 30 years but when we did this in the mid atlantic area of the US we used a haybine or diskbine to cut the alfalfa or timothy and let it sit a day or so as the first post said. then we would use a NH bar rake to roll the drying hay over so the bottom was now on the top and let it sit for another few hours on a good hot sunny day and then bale into small squares which we would have a belt kicker on the baler to toss into a wagon being pulled by the tractor and baler. I usually shuttled empty and full wagons from field to farm yard while another crew put them directly into the barn and stacked them.

In the event we needed to aid the hay in drying we would use what we called a kicker to fluff up the hay. all it did was flip it up into the air a bit not scatter it around like in game tedders.

You may find these mods more what your used to seeing. As they are near identical to what I remember using.

http://modcentral.co.uk/resources/new-h ... -rake.141/

http://modcentral.co.uk/resources/peque ... edder.142/

Nightthunder23 wrote: ↑Sun Oct 14, 2018 10:11 pm So... Being an American farmboy, I really don't understand the mower/tedder/windrow thing. Is this how they make hay in Europe? I know that I have always used a swather to cut the hay then a hay rake to roll it over or windrow it as needed. Just curious mostly about how grass can be cut with a mower and still be long enough to make bales out of. And what a tedder is exactly. Would also love to see the option of using a swather and hay rake on American maps. Thanks a lot!

In my part of the US the steps to making hay in the game are similar to how it's done here. Just a lot more repetition and cure time required IRL lol.

Alfalfa is tricky to ted. Once it dries it becomes brittle and it breaks apart. Tedding it too much will render it pretty much useless. I can understand why your uncle used alternative methods.

There are many different ways to do things OP. Just because you recall you made hay in this one particular method doesn't mean the farmer a few miles down the road does it the same. Just keep that in mind.

Nightthunder23 wrote: ↑Sun Oct 14, 2018 10:11 pm Just curious mostly about how grass can be cut with a mower and still be long enough to make bales out of.

The disc mowers used for hay only cut the grass at ground level, just like a swather, haybine, or sickle mower. They're not like a lawn mower that chops it up in small pieces.

I live in the Appalachian mountains and our climate is very similar to the UK. We have rain almost every day during the summer and it never gets too hot so it's tricky to get hay up. Here everyone uses a tedder (here a lot of folks call them kickers) at least once or twice before raking. My grandpa is the only one I know of that referred to a hay rake as a windrower before I discovered FS.

Remember the United States has an incredibly diverse climate depending on where you are. Farming techniques are very different from region to region.

Also remember, this is a game with rules. Even if it isn't done like that in real life, the game has to make SOME distinction between grass and hay. It doesn't have to make real life sense (remember, the "simulator" part of the name is really just a marketing term), just game sense. It helps if it makes real life sense, but it's not necessary (and in some cases it hurts more than helps).