I am hoping to pick up "swan" oats after they have been windrowed with my belt pickup front. Swan oats are an Australian variety of oat that grow about 5 foot tall, and is prone to lodging. This is why we windrow the crop and not direct harvest them. My only worry is that we sow our crops on 12 inch spacing, and I am worried that the stubble will not support the crop after wndrowing, and I will have trouble picking the crop up if it falls through to the ground. Please give me some reassurance!
which direction do you cut? Like the seeder or across the rows? You might want to try across the rows. Even at an angle it should help it.
Does the crop tiller very much? Or is it more like 10 in of bare ground between the rows? How long are you going to cure the crop? Is it going to rain while the windrow is on the field? Are those very heavy windrows? Those might all be factors to be considered.
Oh what kind of pickup are you using? Belt type or the swathmaster sweeping action? Might make a difference, too.
I would try to cut at an angle if possible. That way you should be fine. Especially with 5' oats. Wow that#s a tall crop.....
The crop is total coverage by windrowing time, and as also a big bulky crop. I think your suggestion of cross windrowing is a great one and I will try that. Hopefully we do not have any rain between windrowing and harvest.
How long should the stubble be left??
We pickup with a "Phillips False Front" which is nearly identical to a JD 914 pickup front.
For me that would depend a lot on what you want to do with your field afterwards.
One thing we tried to achieve was that the stubble height was shorter than the shank spacing on the next machine ie. seeder, etc.
Longer works nicer I guess. You have air flowing underneath helping drying.
On the other hand you might want to work all the straw through the combine like we do over here.
Higher stubble might also give you more shade to prevent drying the soil out.
No real good answer from me I guess. Just what I learned from my limited experience with swathing.
Regarding pickups "fronts". from what I've seen the deere one has belts running in the driving direction of the combine. The swathmaster (?) has a complicated but very nice mechanism that has the fingers moving in an circular motion. That gives some sideway movment. That can help picking up a crop.
I guess my description is not very clear. I try to find some pictures for you.
I agree cutting at an angle is a good choice. As for stubble height we normally shoot for 6-7" of stubble when swathing malting barley or wheat but 5' of oats you may want to cut a little higher than that. That is unless you want to bale the oat straw behind the combine.
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