freedomlives
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2015
- Messages
- 581
- Location
- Husak, Slovakia, EU
- Tractor
- Iseki TS35F, Goldoni Special 140 with powered trailer -- Goldoni Special 128 -- Goldoni Uno for mowing -- Czech Vari system
Hi,
I'm in Slovakia. I know that larger bales exist, but for our field, the guy who comes and bales, his weigh no more than 700 pounds, and basically that's what is usually for sale as well if I have to buy from someone.
Last summer I had half of our 5 acre hay field baled by him, and I managed to roll the 10 bales up a ramp onto a trailer behind my Goldoni powered trailer set up, and one onto the Goldoni itself, so I was able to transport 3 at a time with a 12HP diesel motor. An achievement I felt good about, but my back did not appreciate. Of course, storing the bales was a problem-- with a superhuman effort and my wife's help-- I was able to manhandle one of the bales up on top of 4 others, where it sat itself lopsided instead of neatly in a triangle ontop of just two. Obviously, it is extremely undesirable to have the bales not even stacked two high.
So that's the background why I feel a pretty desperate need for a tractor with a FEL. We're also moving up from having just around 16 goats/sheep to adding cattle to the mix this year and rotational grazing. My goal is not to feed much hay (a friend hasn't fed his Angus any this winter), but we do have winters here, and the winter of 2017 was a real hard one with a lot of snow, so I know I've got to be prepared with hay in the reserve in case we get a foot or two of snow that sticks around for a couple of weeks-- or in the worst case of last year, several months.
Of course, all the other uses of a FEL would be cool to have to-- moving around gravel when we're making concrete here, digging in combination with the rotary plow to loosen the soil, moving soil to even out dips in fields and roads, etc.
My problem is of course that I have limited funds, and also there seems to be a bit of a gap in tractors available on the used market here. A lot of Japanese tractors up to around 35HP (though most common seems like 27HP), and then a lot of Zetors with anything having a front end loader being at least 60HP and up, with the obvious jump in price. 4WD is a must because of how our house is down in a valley and most of our fields up a steep rise above us.
What would you see as a sort of minimum not to look below?
I'm in Slovakia. I know that larger bales exist, but for our field, the guy who comes and bales, his weigh no more than 700 pounds, and basically that's what is usually for sale as well if I have to buy from someone.
Last summer I had half of our 5 acre hay field baled by him, and I managed to roll the 10 bales up a ramp onto a trailer behind my Goldoni powered trailer set up, and one onto the Goldoni itself, so I was able to transport 3 at a time with a 12HP diesel motor. An achievement I felt good about, but my back did not appreciate. Of course, storing the bales was a problem-- with a superhuman effort and my wife's help-- I was able to manhandle one of the bales up on top of 4 others, where it sat itself lopsided instead of neatly in a triangle ontop of just two. Obviously, it is extremely undesirable to have the bales not even stacked two high.
So that's the background why I feel a pretty desperate need for a tractor with a FEL. We're also moving up from having just around 16 goats/sheep to adding cattle to the mix this year and rotational grazing. My goal is not to feed much hay (a friend hasn't fed his Angus any this winter), but we do have winters here, and the winter of 2017 was a real hard one with a lot of snow, so I know I've got to be prepared with hay in the reserve in case we get a foot or two of snow that sticks around for a couple of weeks-- or in the worst case of last year, several months.
Of course, all the other uses of a FEL would be cool to have to-- moving around gravel when we're making concrete here, digging in combination with the rotary plow to loosen the soil, moving soil to even out dips in fields and roads, etc.
My problem is of course that I have limited funds, and also there seems to be a bit of a gap in tractors available on the used market here. A lot of Japanese tractors up to around 35HP (though most common seems like 27HP), and then a lot of Zetors with anything having a front end loader being at least 60HP and up, with the obvious jump in price. 4WD is a must because of how our house is down in a valley and most of our fields up a steep rise above us.
What would you see as a sort of minimum not to look below?
