I'll see if I can get all the info in the right order ..my brains a bit dead , I'm now just turned 60 yrs old ... I've had a mild stroke a while back which caused a bit of memory loss ..here goes
Back in the 1950's & 60's dad was a farm labourer on a 150 acre farm ... making hay was a big family occasion .
The haystacks my Dad , mum , two elder brothers & Ron the farmer plus his wife used to make were firstly set on a bed of dyking hay ( hay made from the stuff that was hand mown out of the dykes / ditches orchards and any other poor quality grassed area inc willow herbs & thistles around the farm which had nettles and all sorts of crud in it but no ragwort in it ) to a depth of about 18 inches when compressed.. this bed was to keep the good hay dry and off the ground.
The base of the stack was around 30 feet long by 20 feet wide . The laid hay was straight and laid in platforms about 12 inches thick , all laid in the same direction by the person in the " layers " position. Keeping the layers level and even is an art to be appreciated.
Work from the edge to the middle of each stack layer & slightly increase the overhang by 2 inches or so each yard of height so it slightly resembles a muffin or an old fashioned loaf made in a rectangular bread tin .. smaller at the base than at the top and then reducing to the ridge.
Once a layer is completed the next one is laid off the fork at 90 degrees across it .. this helps stop the stack sliding ..it gives the stack strength & integrity .
On the really big stacks they had someone in the " steer hole " ,, the steersman would recieve the hay off the fork of the guy on the hay wagon or trailer and throw it up to the "layer " still in the same orientation .
By now you can guess that the hay on the wagon / trailer was not interlocked like the stack but all laid in the same orientation ie heads to the outside of the wagon sides & laid across the trailer .. this helps in the forking off the trailer ,the laying of the stack & helps stop the hay sliding off the sides when the wagon is moving across the fields .. the front , rear & sides of the wagon/trailer had extender boards & rails to allow a bigger load of hay to be carted off in one go .
Once the stack starts to reach near the top four of five rungs of the ladder now is the time to start reducing the stack bonnet to make it like a thatched roof ie reducing to a cap /ridge .
When finished then cover with another cap of dyking hay and shove a few 6 foot , split , bent over like a letter " n" hazel sticks ( stack nails ) in the topping to stop the wind ripping it off ... make a series of XXXX using the stack nails and some longer hazle rods in the roof all round the stack .. Better still if possible use a stack net and weigh it down by hanging off the net on ropes old tyre , bricks , logs , bags of sand or soil etc.
The stack will be quite weather proof and can tghe stored hay can be good for several years .
Watch out for mould in the hay when using it .. best to wear a breathing mask when playing with hay for it carries a mould spore when the right moisture conditions are present that used to give rise to a complaint called " Farmers lung ".
Locate a " stack knife " ..it's a two handed 30 inch or so scythe looking blade blade with a handle at 90 degrees to the blade .Looks like a letter seven the top being the handle . First uncover by carefully lifting the dyking hay then cut the block and recover with the dyking hay to keep the rain out.
You stand on the hay and push it down into the hay to cut blocks ..... cut in about 3 foot squares and lift a foot thick block at a time .
When the stack settles & as you build it the newly laid 12 inch layers of hay compress down to about 1 to 1 & 1/2 inches thick .
Topic: what do i do now? (Read 7208 times)
