Hay Cutting/Baling

[rvb]

I have 10 acres. Most of it is grass. I would like to use my large pasture (about 6 acres) to grow hay for my two horses. I've looked for someone to come cut and bale it for me, but have had no luck.

So, I'm wondering... What do I need to do it myself? I have a New Holland TC 30 (30 HP) tractor. Can I do what I want with my tractor? I just bought a FEL with quick attach and pallet forks. I really don't want to have to upgrade, but need to know my rig is viable for hay making.

 

[VistanTN]

The simple answer is: mower, tedder, rake, and baler -- and judiciously selected, you can probably stick with your tractor BUT even the smallest square baler is gonna shake you around quite a bit. I'm haying about 24 acres with a sickle bar mower (7'), small tedder (9'), 5-wheel 3PH rake, and a 50-year old IH baler. The first three are fine on the Kubota and even the little Allis (though the rake is hard to adjust so it lifts completely off the ground). Now the baler is another story. The Allis will pull it ... or power it ... but not both. Haven't tried it behind the Kubota (my dear wife is always raking with it while I run the baler). My Mahindra (65HP and 8,000# with filled tires) moves some with the baler at full speed and tractor sitting, but is hardly noticeable moving in the field. My great uncle operated almost the identical baler with a smaller Oliver back in the early 60's ... not sure th HP, but HP is not the major issue -- tractor weight is. That plunger moves back and forth about 60 times a minute and that's a lot of weight to start and stop in a forward-back direction. My baler manual says "a two plow tractor" is sufficient size. There are some mini-balers out there, but I don't have any experience with them.

Send me a private note if you want to discuss haying on small acreage more. It's something of a task and not everyone's cup o'tea.

 

[flusher]

I have 10 acres. Most of it is grass. I would like to use my large pasture (about 6 acres) to grow hay for my two horses. I've looked for someone to come cut and bale it for me, but have had no luck.

So, I'm wondering... What do I need to do it myself? I have a New Holland TC 30 (30 HP) tractor. Can I do what I want with my tractor? I just bought a FEL with quick attach and pallet forks. I really don't want to have to upgrade, but need to know my rig is viable for hay making.

I have the same situation as you--10 acres of flat pasture land, 7 acres for hay. I plan to plant orchardgrass/rye mix this Fall if the drought permits (my pasture is non-irrigated). I've been assembling the necessary haying hardware the past 6 months. Here's what I have so far:

IH #8 Little Genius 2-14 pull plow ($350 plus $700 shipping from Illinois to CA). I really like those old plows. That's my 1964 MF-135 diesel (45 hp engine, 37 hp pto) in the background ($3600 in July06). I'll use it to pull the grain drill, sicklebar mower and hay rake. The heavy plowing/discing and baling will be handled by my new Mahindra 5525 (55 hp engine, 45 hp pto).

Ferguson 7-ft tandem pull disc ($200). I shopping now for a 7 ft tandem disc that I can carry on the Mahindra's 3pt hitch. Hope to get that disc in the next few weeks.

Cultipacker (10 ft, $600)

Minneapolis Moline P3-6 grain drill with grass box (10 ft, $275 for a primary unit and a spares unit). The fertilizer box needs to be removed and cleaned thoroughly. The previous owner didn't clean it last time he used it and the seed cups are jammed.

Allis Chalmers 80T sicklebar mower (6 ft bar, $125). Works fine.

JD 350 side delivery hay rake (8 ft, $800). It fits on the 3pt hitch and is pto-driven, not ground driven.

MF-124 two-twine square baler ($2000). Bought this baby right out of the field. The owner used it the previous day to finish baling on his 35 acres. New chains. New bale knives. Lotsa grease on the fittings (a good sign).

It produces 14"x18" bales 25-50 inches long (30-60 lb). The horse people around here prefer small twine-tied bales, no wire, no round bales, no jumbo square bales.

Don't have a tedder. It's hot and dry in this part of the Sacramento Valley so tedding is rarely necessary. It's possible to tilt the JD rake to turn the windrows to dry them out more thoroughly. I find that tedders are generally overpriced, IMHO.

Rounding up used equipment is the cost effective way to do small-time baling. Of course, you need to invest in the operation, service and parts manuals for all your equipment and be handy with tools to keep these things running. For me that's as much fun as the actual haying work.

 

[MarkLeininger]

Check this thread:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...y-operation-what-equipment-4.html#post1429272

Haystacks are an option if it's for your own use. Since you've already got pallet forks, you can probably get by with those for stacking. You'd need an old sickle mower, probably a couple hundred bucks, and a dump rake, probably less if you can find one. Since you don't have anyone to show you how to make the stack so it sheds water, you can tarp them to keep them dry. Bales are easier to handle, but the cost and maintenance on a baler is pretty high, particularly for such a small field.

 

[Egon]

Right on Mark.

For many people with small acreage that make hay and keep it for themselves the easiest would be to stack it.

It should not be too hard to make a hay sweep for the loader to use for the stacking.

 

[MarkLeininger]

For many people with small acreage that make hay and keep it for themselves the easiest would be to stack it.

It should not be too hard to make a hay sweep for the loader to use for the stacking.

I'm starting to feel old. I remember when I was a kid they all talked about how they stacked hay by hand, and how expensive it was to buy all this new fangled machinery. Now I'm talking about making haystacks instead of bales because it costs so much for this new fangled machinery. The other funny thing is they used to use horses for haying. Now I have horses and they stand around in the field eating and watching me use all my expensive machinery on a little field to make more food for them to eat in the winter. Only in America.

 

[scott_vt]

I'm starting to feel old. I remember when I was a kid they all talked about how they stacked hay by hand, and how expensive it was to buy all this new fangled machinery. Now I'm talking about making haystacks instead of bales because it costs so much for this new fangled machinery. The other funny thing is they used to use horses for haying. Now I have horses and they stand around in the field eating and watching me use all my expensive machinery on a little field to make more food for them to eat in the winter. Only in America.

Good Mornin Guys,
Flusher great post and congrats on that Massey baler find !

Mark, interesting post on the old ways of handling hay ! Im 57 and I remember my grandfather telling me how they used to do all his haying on his very small 100 acre dairy farm with his team of horses. Horse drawn sicklebar mower, horse drawn dump rake, hay wagons and a bunch of hay forks ! It scared my Pop so bad he inlisted in the WW2 !

Of course then there was the one lung engine that powered the cordwood saw with the flatbelt, ahh the good old days !

Sorry to have gotten off topic, with patience you could do alot with a smaller tractor, just go slow !

 

[atgreene]

Is there any chance you could get someone with a baler to bale it for you? Most people with balers won't lend them, but we've baled fields for friends when they have breakdowns or need to get caught-up.

 

[pitt_md]

I have 10 acres. Most of it is grass. I would like to use my large pasture (about 6 acres) to grow hay for my two horses. I've looked for someone to come cut and bale it for me, but have had no luck.

So, I'm wondering... What do I need to do it myself? I have a New Holland TC 30 (30 HP) tractor. Can I do what I want with my tractor? I just bought a FEL with quick attach and pallet forks. I really don't want to have to upgrade, but need to know my rig is viable for hay making.

The answer is yes. I have a neighbor with a little NH that would be pushing things to say is 30HP. I see him cutting/crimping, raking, and bailing his hay all with his little NH. I can not tell you exactly what equipment he has but it all looks like newer stuff. I should also mention that his fields are as flat as they get. Its a good thing they are flat too when he pulls a wagon load of hay around the wagon looks to be about 5 times the size of the tractor!

 

[rvb]

Is there any chance you could get someone with a baler to bale it for you? Most people with balers won't lend them, but we've baled fields for friends when they have breakdowns or need to get caught-up.

Yup. But, I've had no luck so far. It seems that most people don't want to bother with this small of a plot. I have been talking to my neighbor who cuts his with a walk-behind sickle bar mower and teds it by hand. I'm thinking, as some others mentioned, that it might be best to do hay stacks. I'm very new to this, though. So I'm going to learn as I go and see what happens.

This week an auction sign went up at a farm nearby. There will be 25 tractors for sale and other equipment. I'm thinking my attendance will be mandatory.

Now if I just knew what all this equipment looked like! - Thanks to Flusher for all the pictures and descriptions.

I guess now I just also have to learn what each one does. I understand the sickle bar mower, and the rake, but not the tedder (I think it's for spreading out the hay on the ground to dry it quicker, but don't know if it flips it over to dry the other side too).

By the way, thanks to all that posted. I don't get much time to sit in front of the computer, but I really appreciate your responses!