Cumbrian Hay ‘25. ‘A Step Back in Time’ Hill farm haymaking with MF 135, 565,390 & classic MF balers

‘One man went to mow’ was definitely the case as one man mowed, tedded, baled and carted hay on his hill farm, a new and very interesting family owned farm for me to visit.
Set in the distant Cumbrian countryside this upland stock farm with traditional buildings was like a step back in time for me reminding me of the type of farm I remember from my childhood.
As for the machinery fleet well nothing modern here, the farms newest tractor is 35-years young and all the implements are from the classic era from an PZ Haybob to a 1980s MF round baler and even a vintage bale sledge!
Rowing up ahead of the baler and what better way to set the scene was non other than a MF 135 and PZ Haybob (again fond memories of my youth as like many of a certain age it was the first tractor I ever drove) making up just the right sized windrows ahead of a classic pair of MF balers.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a MF 1450 round baler working in this area so this was definitely a first! Hitched up behind a MF 390 the 40-year-old round baler, pre-net wrap and instead good old-fashioned baler twine (also ideal for a makeshift trouser belt!) while not as quick as a modern machine was nevertheless making a fine job of baling the hay around the end riggs.
Next to leave the yard and head to the field was an early MF 565 hitched to a very late build (both I gather from 1976) and one of the last off the production line MF 20 traditional small baler.
Baling the middle rows of the field and watching the combination of the MF 565/MF 20 and old-school sledge (when did you last see one of those?) was like going back in time to the 1970s.
Unfortunately I had to head home before the bales were hand stacked into 17s so missed out on seeing them being carted to the barn on the linkage mounted bale carrier though hopefully I’ll catch this next time.
Despite the owner having a very busy afternoon changing over machines in the race to gather his hay crop before the following day’s thunder and lightning storms (it’s put some rain down since!) he kindly gave me some of his valuable time for a guided tour of the farm buildings and even gave the MF 35 and transport box (the farm quad bike!) a run round the yard for me to film. It was literally like an Aladdin’s cave of vintage machinery (they even use an ancient cutter bar mower to top the pastures!) and very reminiscent of my late uncle’s farm that 50 years on I can still remember every tractor and every implement that lived in every shed.
A lovely farm visit, off the beaten track and set high in the hills so absolutely stunning views of the surrounding countryside and fantastic machinery. However it wasn’t just the haymaking that made my day, the wander around the lush green pastures with animals grazing in the sunshine and traditional buildings of the farmyard were just as I remembered as a child on my first ever visit to a farm, it was like being transported back in time!
A throughly enjoyable day out, I’ll hopefully return here soon!
Filmed in Cumbria 20th June 2025.

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