Have you replaced the rock guards and oiled the roller chains? Have you checked the main drive belt for signs of deterioration? Is there any adjustment left in the belt-tensioning spring? How about the drive-belt pulley’s pillow-block bearings? Are they rattling a bit? Have you switched out the previous year’s chipped and bent knives with a new set of razor-sharp beveled-to-perfection replacements? Have you greased every last zerk – including the inconvenient one beneath the cutter bed? Don’t forget the toolbox bolted to the main frame. Be sure there’s an extra set of knives, several shear bolts, a spare Woodruff key, a hammer and a safety knife nestled in place.
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Greg Galbraith owned and operated for 30 years a grazing-based dairy farm in central Wisconsin, until selling it to another couple who continues to operate an organic grass-based dairy. He’s an agrarian writer who’s involved in projects promoting the environmental and social benefits of an agricultural landscape dedicated to the functional permanent cover that managed pasture provides.
