Running Fast, Cutting Clean
Monte and Julie Innes picked up an additional 900 acres worth of hay to farm this year, in large part, because of their new Hesston® by Massey Ferguson WR9770 windrower.
Hesston® by Massey Ferguson WR9770 windrower.
A new customer had seen the clean, close cut the Inneses had achieved on a nearby property and realized his existing custom balers—who used equipment of a certain green color—were leaving money in the fields. “He came over and looked at these fields,” Monte says, “and saw they were way different than how these other guys cut.”
“This is the third RazorBar disc header we’ve had, and we now wouldn’t own anything else,” Monte says. “We get all the hay. It is a clean cut an inch from the ground.”
He also appreciates the speed with which the machine can travel in the field and on the highway. “It is awesome traveling down the road at 20 mph from one field to another,” he continues, noting how important that speed is when you’re working numerous scattered fields and dodging weather to get a sole cutting following a brief 70-day growing season.
Though he isn’t traveling 20 mph cutting hay, the windrower is quick. “Today I cut 180 acres in six-and-a-half hours,” Monte says, “and I couldn’t have done that with any other machine.”
Their dealer, Luke Sharpe, of Sharpe Equipment and Irrigation in Salida, says that the care and ability of the operators also play a role in how well the couple do their jobs. “Monte and Julie work their butts off, and their hay quality is phenomenal,” he says.
Their new Hesston by Massey Ferguson 2170 XD baler, which is being pulled by an MF6495 tractor, is making and saving them money. “Our new baler is a home run for us,” Monte says.
Julie, who typically runs the baler, agrees. “This takes the hay in so much quicker, so much easier,” she says. “There are no problems breaking any bales or getting the mechanism clogged. It is a cleaner system.”
The 2170 XD also produces bales that are denser, heavier. Because of that, they can now get 26 to 27 tons of hay on a semi trailer truck for shipment, rather than 22 tons.
“That saves us about 50 loads per season,” says Monte, “which saves us about $25,000 in shipping costs.”
As for the tractor, “it is phenomenal on fuel running the baler,” says Monte. “I kept calling the dealership saying, ‘I think the fuel gauge is wrong.’ It wasn’t broke; it was just getting that much better fuel economy.”
