Mauch Farms Alfalfa 2012

[gmauch]

Our first cutting was the best it has been in several years but unfortunately thanks to the worst Colorado mountain snow fall in over 70yrs we ran our of irrigating water in early June. Our second cutting was very poor to fair and our third cutting is looking non existent at the moment. Most of the hay has already went dormant. We figure it would take a minimum of 5in of rain just to get it to green up again. Sadly though 5in is our total moisture for the year to date. Well enough with the wining. On the the pics.
Our crew consists of:
JD 7520 w/ Darf 917 rake
JD 6420 w/ Darf 917 rake
MX 245 w/ Massey 2190 4x4 baler
MX 245 w/ Massey 2190 4x4 baler
KW T-600 Haying mantis

Another Colorado sunrise from the seat of the tractor.


Raking and baling on one of our pivots.


Chasing the rake.


Chasing the other baler.


Racing the storm.


Our fuel delivery man likes to take pics. I think fuel haulers have too much time on their hands. I know another one who is always taking pics too. Clayton. lol.





Here is the mantis lined up with all of our semis. The blue freightshaker isnt ours. We let a neighbor park it here.


We contracted 1000ton to a buyer in Oklahoma. Here is a load I hauled with our W-900.


Here is a bunch of old pics I took of how our mantis works.


















Questions and comments welcome.

[johndeere61]

That is a real slick setup, that mantis would be a really cool project for someone to build. Any volunteers, lol, great pics. Michael

[gmauch]

Yea I want to build a pair of them.

[CDC]

The mantis are slow
Year 1 2 bale scoops out stacked a mantis
Year 2 1 pt millstack out stacked it (75 bale per hr)
Year 3 stinger beats millstack by 10 bales an hour 85 bales per hr

[drtycaseihsprckt]

Pretty cool operation. Hay has some great color. How far are y'all from Ok?

Jul 8, 2012 15:27:41 GMT -5 CDC said:

The mantis are slow
Year 1 2 bale scoops out stacked a mantis
Year 2 1 pt millstack out stacked it (75 bale per hr)
Year 3 stinger beats millstack by 10 bales an hour 85 bales per hr

That's what's great about the world, everyone has their own preference/needs.

[gmauch]

Jul 8, 2012 16:16:52 GMT -5 drtycaseihsprckt said:

Pretty cool operation. Hay has some great color. How far are y'all from Ok?

Jul 8, 2012 15:27:41 GMT -5 CDC said:

The mantis are slow
Year 1 2 bale scoops out stacked a mantis
Year 2 1 pt millstack out stacked it (75 bale per hr)
Year 3 stinger beats millstack by 10 bales an hour 85 bales per hr

That's what's great about the world, everyone has their own preference/needs.

We are about 2 hours from OK. Where we haul to its about a 5hr round trip.

[gmauch]

Jul 8, 2012 15:27:41 GMT -5 CDC said:

The mantis are slow
Year 1 2 bale scoops out stacked a mantis
Year 2 1 pt millstack out stacked it (75 bale per hr)
Year 3 stinger beats millstack by 10 bales an hour 85 bales per hr

Down side to pull types is they require another tractor. So you buy a tractor for summer use and it costs 100k+ and the cost of the stacker. A newer stinger with the hydraulic options for stacking will easily run you 150-200k. This mantis is a 91 T-600 and we bought it used at auction for 60k. So strickly dollar wise this was the way to go for us.
Now for stacking. Alot of times we are moving the bales several miles and there is no possible way a pull type could keep up with the mantis. If the hay has to be put into a barn then a stinger can get the bales there faster by just sliding them off the back but then the loader has to double them to move them into the barn whereas the mantis is already stacked for easy moving. Plus a mantis can back under a pile and reload them to move where a stinger cant.
I have seen all three types in this area and I like the new stinger the best but its not worth the money in my opinion. But everyone has their preference.

[CDC]

The stinger can stack in barns 6 high (3x4) and does 55-60mph automatic trany truck motor truck axel our cost per hr is dirt cheap

[CDC]

And a stinger u can back under a pile

[CDC]

We have tryed em all and the stinger or the bale scoop is the best

[gmauch]

Yea if you can get it in your barn that way then a stinger is definitely the way to go. With how tight we pack bales in our barns though we need a loader.

[70ds]

Dang fuel haulers and their cameras. ;D ;D ;D That Mantis is pretty cool. You guys get any rain out there yet?

[gmauch]

.2in last night. Pretty good chance over the next 48hrs.

[Southern]

Very neat set up there on the bale hauler. Around here large squares has yet to come around. Round is what most of us use. Other than a few small squares that is still around.