New to hay...questions

[bridler]

I just bought a farm and currently have about 15 acres in hay. The previous owner was letting a neighbor cut and bale in round bales. They were getting the hay for free.

My first question is: what is a 5 ft round bale worth? I think I should be getting something for the hay but not sure what is a resonable share.

Down the road I would like to cut and bale and sell the hay myself. I'm thinking square bales. I,ll be doing this as a hobby and for extra money. My second question: What size tractor horsepower to perform this work on a small scale for 15 acres?

Thanks

[rdbigfarmboy]

If the hay was well fertilized, seeded, weed free, cut at the right time, didnt get wet and rolled well it goes for between 15 and 25 in the field. Mine (cost me) cash cost fertilizer reseeding and fuel to work a little over 18 for each 5x4 as it drops out of the roller.

If it wasnt fertilized had weeds or wild stuff that cattle dont eat unless starving then it sometimes turns to compost. If theres sedge or other stuff then its not worth cutting.

To work it yourself I would go with 40 to 70 hp tractor and let the dealer match you up with good equipment.

The only money in hay is higher value alfalfa or good bermuda for horses IF you have local users that ARE reliable and not a lot of competition selling

[SPYDERLK]

I just bought a farm and currently have about 15 acres in hay. The previous owner was letting a neighbor cut and bale in round bales. They were getting the hay for free.

My first question is: what is a 5 ft round bale worth? I think I should be getting something for the hay but not sure what is a resonable share.

Down the road I would like to cut and bale and sell the hay myself. I'm thinking square bales. I,ll be doing this as a hobby and for extra money. My second question: What size tractor horsepower to perform this work on a small scale for 15 acres?

Thanks

To have more equipment at the ready, for square bales I would go with 2 CUT tractors in the 20 to 40 HP range. If one is an HST make it the larger one. The equipment listed in my signature goes well with Our 2 L Kubotas. Tedder is a great +, but not listed.
...Having the next implement installed sitting ready is often very valuable.
larry

[cowski]

i would get a old mf 150 and a mf 124 square baler.i would stay away from a tractor any smaller than a 80 inch wheelbase and around 40 pto horse.with some good older equipment ,you can make some money selling quality square bale horse hay.

[Jules083]

I just bought a farm and currently have about 15 acres in hay. The previous owner was letting a neighbor cut and bale in round bales. They were getting the hay for free.

My first question is: what is a 5 ft round bale worth? I think I should be getting something for the hay but not sure what is a resonable share.

Down the road I would like to cut and bale and sell the hay myself. I'm thinking square bales. I,ll be doing this as a hobby and for extra money. My second question: What size tractor horsepower to perform this work on a small scale for 15 acres?

Thanks

A reasonable share, IMO, would be $5 a bale max assuming your neighbor is applying good farming practice. He is spending a lot of money on fuel, seed and fertilizer, plus time.

As far as when you start doing it yourself, don't expect to make much, if any, money. You will have a lot of upfront costs with getting started, and it will take a very long time to recover those costs on 15 acres.

Depending on your hills you may need a full-size, meaning not a compact, tractor. I've done a lot of work with a Farmall M, but the big hold-up with it is the hydraulics. The newer your equipment is, the better the hydraulics have to be on your tractor.

Compact tractors, based on running my 2720 and my friend's New Holland 45 HP something, aren't built as heavy. They'll do the work OK, but aren't up to the task of running flat-out for 8 to 10 hours at a time. I also don't think hydrostatic drive belongs on anything that pulls heavy equipment. Running a tractor hard makes heat, and hydrostatic drive adds to that heat. At the end of the day every part of my tractor is hot to the touch. The 2720 gets hotter just cutting grass, due IMO to the hydrostatic and smaller capacities. There's almost 5 gallons of oil running through the motor of my 6215.

I do rounds now, but when we used to do squares we used an International 674, at 65 HP, a 9' John deere haybine, and a JD 338 baler. Probably could have gotten away with a little bit smaller tractor, but not much because of the hills here. We had a JD 2240 as a loader tractor, it would handle the equipment but I wouldn't go any smaller. I would recommend one for sure, it never gave us a lick of trouble.

One thing to remember when equipment shopping. Farmers generally don't sell something to get the latest and greatest, we sell stuff when it's worn out and doesn't perform anymore. I've never met a farmer that cared about shiny paint and the newest gadgets, as long as something works it's still in service. The only used equipment I buy is from guys that are retiring. If something was traded in on a new model, it's a safe bet that it's worn out.

Also, think about how much you will depend on each item. If your haybine breaks, it's not too big of a deal. If you baler breaks, now you have hay down and ready to bale, and nothing to bale it with. Here we help each other out, I've worked my neighbors fields and they have worked mine. Normally no money changes hands, just fuel each others tractors up, replace baling twine, stuff like that.

If you buy everything, do yourself a favor and start very slowly the first few days to make sure everything works. Like maybe an acre at most. That way when something breaks, or doesn't work like it should, you don't have the whole farm cut.

[bridler]

Thanks for all the great advice....I will consider all of these ideas and begin to formulate a plan that makes sense for me. I'm going to take it slow.

based on all your input - Right now I'm thinking a good 50- 60HP. tractor with FEL - 2 wheel drive - reg.shift. nothing fancy. Used hay implements.