Swathing Peas

[jd3007]

I'm new to growing peas. Dont have a straight cut header but have a newer Macdon swather and want to swath but am concerned about losses. Only have 350 acres of peas and that's hardly enough to justify a flex header. Just want to see what others are doing.

[farmaholic]

Yikes man. Swathed peas are wind prone and slow drying after being soaked with rain. Green peas are prone to more sun bleaching standing than in a swath. I haven't grown yellows for ever and only once...I think they can be swathed too green and then some won't cure out yellow(???? Anyone?) Standing peas don't "stand" forever. ...they will go down. Peeling downed peas off the ground whether straight cutting or swathing is no fun. Desiccating is needed for straight cutting. I dont know if I would want to go back to swathing peas.

Today's technology.... if you have a true flex head with both auto header height and auto tilt control you can sure do a nice job. This year's peas were the easiest I ever straight cut...standing and not real heavy because of dryness. Last year started out fine but we had more acres and it took longer to do them so by the time we were almost done they were going down a little every day...way more material too.

Good luck.

[ajl]

Swathed peas in front of combine last year at work. Used a 972 header and had to swath one way as the peas were 4 in tall at harvest. Did not have much shelling loses but it was damp last fall harvest. I have seen it done with a swath roller if you want to do it a couple of days ahead so it doesn't blow. Swath NW to SE in this area since the hardest wind comes out of the NW in the northern and central prairies.

[Koldkanuck]

Swath in front of the combine. Did that for years. Most peas are standing real good this year, so you will have no problem.

[farmaholic]

Shatter losses from swathing that ripe? If they are down sometimes I have to get a little aggressive with the reels.

Vines lifters. ..we've used Flexifinger.

Last year we had some popping open on their own just standing there.

Nothing is perfect...pros and cons...work with what you have.

[bucket]

I am running a d60 on one combine and an fd70 on another ....can't see much difference with shitty lentils...with an adapter you may be able to use your swather header....


Guys have done that....I am thinking of getting a tractor unit and pull the d60 for swathing canola. ...

[bucket]

I am running a d60 on one combine and an fd70 on another ....can't see much difference with shitty lentils...with an adapter you may be able to use your swather header....


Guys have done that....I am thinking of getting a tractor unit and pull the d60 off the adapter for swathing canola. ...

[Ache4Acres]

The peas around here didn't need any desication and were straight cut

I see one fellow couldn't get his straight cut header working on his lentils and just swathed right directly in front of the combine...looks like they did ok

[hobbyfrmr]

A few years back, a neighbor had 3 quarters in a row with a great crop of peas. They were impossibly flat! They had desiccated then used a wheel rake as the swather. 4 combines I think. Anyway, they peeled it off rather well. Following harvest they used a Lemken disk on that field. The shelled peas germinated. Naturally other neighbors criticized the Color of the combines.
What I saw was a perfectly uniform field of nitrogen production. Frost came later in the fall and I bet they got about 40 days of N fixation for the cost of a pass of a disk.
Shelling loss from the rake " looked" to me about 4 bu/acre. I think it was a smart move and the others could only see and criticize the negatives.

[newguy]

have seen people swath peas with success.swath before dead ripe and roll flat.Pea swath will not be as fluffy and not as much she'll loss.Picking up swath is easy and you end up with no dirt so sample is much cleaner.if you swath too late a high risk of swath blowing.So you need to decide early and live with your decision.

[Quadtrack]

Swathing right ahead of the combine (like 50 feet) is how we started a long time ago. Worked ok. Some shell loss but clean sample.
I have had the best success with the empire stubby crop lifters. They slide along the soil and don't dig up mud as a rule. The longer ones work too-have a couple sets of those in the shed.
Have seen some near complete disasters when a whole field was swathed and a wind rolled them all into the trees. Don't cut a whole field. Too risky.
Straight cutting peas works well and uses the least machine and manpower. But swathing just in front of combine works fine and a good way to get started.

[blackpowder]

A 5 bushel loss would pay for header quickly.
You dont necessarily need a flex.

[grefer]

I have swathed peas many times. Depending on crop conditions it was sometimes right in front of the combine sometimes weeks ahead. One time years ago I had swathed them early before they were dead ripe and rolled them. I few days later a bad wind got up in the night. I remember laying in bed thinking that would be the end of my pea crop. When I went out the next morning my canola was blown all over hell and the pea swath had not moved. Go figure.