# Can you hay a small field...



## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

without a hay cutter (or whatever you call it)? I'm getting tired of expensive inferior hay and we have a nice little field of grass and weeds, so I was wondering if we can hay it? It wouldn't be efficient to pay someone with a hay cutter to do it for us, but is there a way we could do it ourselves?


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

It sure can be used.... I've used an old time mowing scythe to cut my field before I fenced it bit I found that using a weed eater went faster...cut , spread to dry, flipped, then raked into rows and bundled up and tied with baling twine.


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

That is very cool! I wish I coud do that!


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

Oooh! I will try that - thanks Liz! :hi5:


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Wear boots when you do cut, high grass hides "critters" well and when it's cut and spread be cautious when picking it up, I used a fork to avoid any surprises by snakes.


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

:thumb: We've had a lot of snakes this year - I will be careful!


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

If you can find a book called "The new complete guide to self sufficiency" by John.Seymour it has a section about making your own hay.


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

Cool! Thanks!


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## Dreamchaser (Oct 30, 2008)

I wondered the same thing, and I have the book too. Might help to read it again...


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

My bro had a good idea. Mount a hedge trimmer on a lawn tractor. We tried a hedge trimmer to cut the hay and it works great! Now we just have to buy a mountable one. I will post pictures when we do that and let you guys know how it goes!


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Thats funny you bring that up because Im getting ready to do the same thing lol. There is a field with vetch, which IMO is way better then alfalfa, Its up in the mtns so it is still green and it is growing up the trees about 6 feet. What my plan is, is weed eat it down, put it in my trailer then when I get home lay it out in the field so it can dry and they can eat it at the same time. If your going to tie yours up, just make sure it is DRY!! I can not stress this enough, not only will it get moldy, but depending on what is in it might catch on fire.


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

:thumb: Thank you for the advice!


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