swathing is not like mowing the lawn

By all appearances, swathing is much like mowing the lawn. The swather moves up and down the field, cutting the crop down and leaving it in windrows or swaths. If you cut an overgrown lawn in the same pattern you will make a similar effect. But it is not the same.

This deep observation comes from a very long day of mowing and then *trying* to swath. Today I started by push mowing (a bit, just where I have to), then I moved up a notch to the rider lawnmower, then went over to the other yard and got the three-point hitch mower to do the barnyard. That in itself was more work than usual since I was not supposed to scatter the dirt left in the trenches that have been recently dug for the new wiring. And they run all over the barnyard. But I digress.

I have previously been trained on the pull type swather. The operation of that machine is relatively uncomplicated, as the operator worries mostly about driving straight in a tractor that has normal steering and rarely operating hydraulics to adjust the cutting height/angle.

So, when my father-in-law came through the yard today to suggest that I go sit in the swather with Dale to try to learn to run it, I felt confident. After all, I am learning to manage most equipment now. My father-in-law was merely concerned that the hydrostatic joystick was on too tight of a spring for any normal human to operate. And as I am a sub-normal human, especially when it comes to wrist and arm strength, he figured that I would have trouble.

Well, I flexed my minuscule biceps and hopped in. Then I found out that the joystick was not my problem. Or at least it was one of the smallest problems.

Swather steering is different. Significantly different. If you have ever operated a zero turning radius mower, it is close to that. But really, the first thing that Dale did when I got in was spin the thing 360 degrees in the same spot. It has a 30 foot header on it. It feels a little tippy. I got dizzy.

Dale said "center yourself over this swath and drive down it."

Okay. Take steering wheel (tiny, by the way, like my lawn mower) in two hands. Release right hand to pull on joystick. I immediately started spinning. As soon as you leave neutral the machine will go wherever you steer it. But, if you're not pushing the joystick forwards or backwards, you move in one spot.

So, still dizzy, I turtle my way down the swath. Except that I'm a drunk turtle, steering to one side, then the next, and no one has told me how to stop (return joystick to neutral position.) Steering a swather is hard. And then Dale tells me about the little buttons on the joystick that raise and lower the cutting table and also independently raise and lower the pickup reel. He tried to tell me about reel speed. I need to keep my reels at about the same speed I'm going. But, when the hydrostat is reading 3, the reel speed knob reads 2. Who designs these things?

Anyway, I have way more respect for my husband who has been running this thing without much of a break for days on end, and am now officially the third trained operator on this lovely machine.

But I can't help but think that I should have spent more time playing jumpman - it would have been a useful career asset.