Spring comes fast in Central Missouri. One week you’re still pulling winter equipment, and the next the grass is growing faster than you can keep up. Before the first cut, it pays to spend a few hours on your hay equipment before you need it — not after it breaks down in the middle of a field.
Here’s what we walk through every spring at Oetting Farms, and what we recommend to customers.
1. Check all hydraulic hoses for wear and cracking
Hydraulic hoses take a beating every season and they’re often ignored until they fail. Look for cracking, bulging, or dried-out fittings. A bad hose can cost you hours in the middle of hay season. We fabricate hoses on-site with Gates fittings — most jobs are same-day. Call ahead with your hose size and we’ll have it ready.
2. Grease every zerk on every implement
This sounds obvious, but it’s the most skipped step. Count the zerks on your rake, your mower, and your baler. Grease them all. Dry bearings are the number one cause of preventable breakdowns in hay equipment. If you’re not sure how many grease points your equipment has, bring it in and we’ll go through it with you.
3. Inspect your baler’s knotting or net wrap system
Whether you’re running twine or net wrap, the tying system needs to be clean, properly timed, and adjusted before you go to the field. Run a few test bales before you’re out there with 200 acres ready to cut. Catching a knotter timing issue in the shop takes 30 minutes. Catching it mid-field costs you a day.
4. Look at your cutter bar and blades
Dull or chipped blades reduce cutting efficiency, leave uneven stubble, and put unnecessary load on your drivetrain. Replacement blades for most mower brands are available through our parts department — call ahead to make sure we have your model covered. We can usually get what we don’t have in stock within a day or two.
5. Check your wagon hitches and transport lighting
If you’re hauling bales on E-Z Trail wagons or similar equipment, check the hitch pins, safety chains, and running lights before they hit the road. We stock E-Z Trail wagon gears and parts. If a lighting connector has corroded over winter, it’s a 20-minute fix now versus a problem at the worst time.
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