06/09/2026
Never thought I’d have a photo of our tractor, Big Red, and 2 fire trucks in the background. That’s a first!
Last week had a lot firsts.
First time with our full fleet of equipment at the new property.
First time baling hay.
First time calling the fire department.
First time racing a severe thunderstorm back to the home farm with 160 bales of hay.
It was a doozy.
And regarding that call to the fire department…. Matt was on his 5th or 6th round bale when all of a sudden he saw flames coming out of the baler.
He leapt out of Big Red with the fire extinguisher to start managing the issue.
The hay was on fire inside the baler so he released the bale to try and minimize damage to the baler and called the fire department.
Within 5 or 6 minutes, the first truck arrived followed by two of the brush trucks that you can see in the pic.
Those trucks 4x4’d to the middle of our 20 acre field.
The crew hosed down the burning hay and surrounding field, and in no time it was out. So grateful for our responsive volunteer fire department. Our field and equipment might have been torched without them.
Turned out that one of the bearings in the bailer failed and started heating up. All that heat caused the dry grass in the baler to catch fire.
The next day, as we were baling the last of the hay, I kept catching a whiff of the burnt field. An eerie reminder of the events the day before.
Fortunately, fire was managed.
Matt was unharmed, just a little shaken.
Big Red is 💯
We are investigating the baler. Hopefully we can replace the bearing and it will still work. 😅
5 days later the burnt patch is noticeably smaller. I am guessing in a few weeks this will all just be a memory.
What’s on the bingo card this week?? Stay tuned!
