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In our phone calls and chats with customers, many ask about the Ibex Drawbar Kit–what it does and what baling situations warrant one. This blog will attempt to answer these questions while providing links to videos and other information that should help you determine if a Drawbar Kit would be a useful addition to your baling operation.First, what is an Ibex Drawbar Kit? A Drawbar Kit includes everything you need to convert your 3 point hitch baler to drawbar operation. A crossbar is supplied tha …

In previous blogs, we have shared information about the pine straw industry and how our equipment, especially our Ibex TX31 Mini Round Baler with Net Wrap and Ibex TX80 Belt Rake, can be used to increase pine straw production. In this blog, we are taking a different approach. Tim Collins, TTD customer and owner of Quality Pine Straw Sales in Mississippi, gives us a personal look at the industry–from the baling process he follows, to the equipment he uses, to the product his customers expect. …

At Tractor Tools Direct, we are constantly looking for ways to improve our products. We have great relationships with our manufacturers and work closely with them to tweak our mowers, rakes, and balers and to offer attachments for our implements that allow them to stand out from the competition. Why go this extra mile? To make your job as a small farm operator or pine straw producer easier and more efficient. Let’s take a look at some of the design improvements/attachments that take our products …

There are several ways to bind hay bales. These include twine, net wrap, and wire. Wire is rarely applicable to small farm hay production since it is used mainly for large, high compression bales typically found on large farm and hay marketing operations. Net wrap was addressed in a previous blog. Therefore, let’s delve into the different types of twine and their advantages/disadvantages.There are two basic types of twine--synthetic and natural. Polypropylene is the most common type of synthetic …

As the old adage claims, prevention is worth a pound of cure. More applicably, in the world of hay production, prevention is worth pounds of curing hay--and the best way to prevent problems in the hay field is through regular maintenance of your equipment. Several of our previous blogs have discussed maintenance to prepare for the hay season and maintenance to close out the hay season. This blog will provide a check list of maintenance that should be performed each time your equipment is us …