Buying Advice 30 acre hay field

[LTR]

Any suggestions for tractor size/type for mowing & baling 30 acres? How about suggestions for a small hay baler?? Would like something under 750 hrs & less than 10 years old. Not sure if I should buy a new baler for minimal headaches baling hay.

 

[bigbull338]

you need to answer some more qs to help pick the right tractor for your needs.do you want to square or round bale the meadow.something along the lines of a 7060 or 8560 kubota will suit your needs.

 

[LTR]

Definitely small baler, maybe one with a hydraulic kicker to flip them into a trailing wagon. What kind of cutter do you recommend??

 

[wolftree]

LTR,

Do you have any equipment at all yet, mower, mower conditioner, rakes, wagons, building for storage? At a conservative figure of 50 bales /acre per cutting you will need several wagons.

You are looking at a serious investment in equipment if you do not have any.

 

[newbury]

LTR,

Do you have any equipment at all yet, mower, mower conditioner, rakes, wagons, building for storage? At a conservative figure of 50 bales /acre per cutting you will need several wagons.

You are looking at a serious investment in equipment if you do not have any.

What size bales would you get at 50/acre?

 

[wolftree]

newbury,

I was figuring conservatively 50# bales. 50 bales each cutting/acre as an average. If you use my numbers, he will have 1500 bales each cutting. That is 10-12 wagons unless he has people helping, hauling wagons back, unloading them and bringing back empties to field.

Most seasons here, the number of 50# bales per acre would be higher on a good field.

If the only equipment he currently has is his Ford 8N, he has a major expense in equipment to be able to do this. I see $10,000 to $30,000 unless he buys all very used equipment. He wrote of a new baler, that alone is $10,000-$20,000.

It is possible to find and repair used equipment in time for next year. Still that is a big outlay of up front cash and lots of work between now and next year.

 

[eddie48]

Gee, it sure would be nice to have a field larger than 2 or 3 acres to mow. Where I live, that's all I have.

 

[flusher]

Any suggestions for tractor size/type for mowing & baling 30 acres? How about suggestions for a small hay baler?? Would like something under 750 hrs & less than 10 years old. Not sure if I should buy a new baler for minimal headaches baling hay.

Pre-owned small baler: buy one that's in use. I bought my Massey Ferguson 124 baler (small squares, 2-twine) right out of the field. The seller used it to bale about 30 acres the previous day. Cost: $2K.

You can get by with a tractor in the 40-50 hp range for 30 acres if you pull a baler that has it's own on-board engine. My neighbor bales about 8 acres with a Kubota L4400 pulling New Holland baler that has a Wisconsin engine (about 20 hp) on-board.

Good luck