1st Cut!

The engine blew out in the swather and we weren't able to finish cutting the hay..  Then the bailer broke down, and we were not going to be ableto bale the hay we did get cut.  Eventually everyone agreed to hire a local man to cut and bale.  He had a baler that makes those giant round bales.  We measured them, and they are 5 1/2 feet in diameter!  Nearly as tall as Dad.  They weigh 1500 lbs and are approximately the equivalent of 20+ of the regular sized bales.

Today Glen called to say he was nearly finished loading those bales.   Dad was so excited about the hay being cut and baled that he woke me up from a lovely nap this afternoon to go film and shoot the final bales.  He even dusted off HIS camera.  So if you ever wondered how they ever got those big bales on to a truck and out of the field, this video will show you the answer.  Here's the video:
I'm having technical difficulties. Be back with a video as soon as I can.

In the meantime, here are a couple of pics:

You can tell how tall those bales are if you consider that 2 of them are as tall as the tractor Glen is using here.

There are several reasons Dad is so happy about this hay.  For obvious reasons he is happy that it has been cut and baled and stacked...and he didn't have to do it.  2)The weight of completion is off his shoulders.  3) He can now begin irrigating the field just cut for the 2nd cutting/crop of hay.  and last of all:  4) This hay, in addition to being a much bigger crop, is the cutting we didn't even get last summer.  (Apparently we were short a cutting--so it's like a bonus at the start!) 

I'll be back with the video once I figure out the magic trick to loading it.